Edward Mullins, the former head of the NYPD’s Sergeants Benevolent Association and Port Washington resident, was charged with defrauding the union of $1 million on Wednesday, according to federal prosecutors.
Mullins, 60, was charged with wire fraud in connection with a scheme to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Sergeants Benevolent Association by submitting falsified expense reports, officials said. On Wednesday, Mullins pleaded not guilty and was released on $250,000 bail.
Around September 2017, officials said, Mullins allegedly defrauded the association by using his personal credit card to pay for various luxury items and meals at high-end restaurants before submitting the inflated expense reports for reimbursement.
In one instance, officials said, Mullins submitted an expense report to the association’s treasurer for a $3,000 meal at a Manhattan restaurant, when the meal had no relevance to police work. Mullins also rarely included receipts when seeking reimbursements, according to officials.
Mullins was ultimately reimbursed for more than $1 million, a majority of which was fraudulently obtained, officials said.
“Mullins submitted hundreds of phony expense reports to further his scheme, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the SBA,” Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. “This Office is committed to rooting out corruption at all levels of government, and that includes public officials like Mullins who use their positions of power to line their own pockets to the detriment of others.”
“As SBA president, Mullins allegedly went above and beyond to best serve his own interests,” FBI New York Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll said in a statement. “Our NYPD sergeants expect and deserve more from their union leadership than they received. Today, thanks to the joint efforts of those on the FBI/NYPD Public Corruption Task Force, we’re righting that wrong.”
Mullins earned more than $220,000 from his job at the NYPD in 2020, according to public data. The Sergeants Benevolent Association manages a $264 million retirement fund and its 13,000 members make it the fifth-largest police union in the nation, according to the group’s website.
Mullins’ attorney, Marc Mukasey, declined to comment on the matter.
Mullins, who served as a member of the NYPD since 1982, assumed his role as president of the police union on July 1, 2002. FBI agents raided the union’s Manhattan office and his Port Washington home in September. Mullins filed documents to resign from the NYPD in October, but it did not become official until Nov. 5.
Mullins was also docked more than $31,000 for comments he made about two government officials and for tweeting arrest information about former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s daughter. Mullins was docked 70 vacation days after being found guilty of administrative charges the same day his resignation became official.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board, which tried the case regarding the language Mullins used about the two officials, former Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot and Congressman Ritchie Torres, wanted him fired.
Mullins said he felt the need to speak out against Barbot last year when she reportedly denied a request from a former Police Department chief to provide officers with protective equipment.
Mullins also said he spoke out against Torres, an openly gay person who was in the midst of a campaign for public office because he had accused officers of engaging in a work slowdown that resulted in an uptick in murders and shootings.
Officials also said Mullins was found guilty of publicizing the information about the arrest of de Blasio’s daughter, Chiara, at a demonstration in 2020 over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Mullins argued that the information in the report he tweeted was already posted online.
Mullins is due back in federal court on March 17, according to officials.
