From TimesUnion.com:

– Embattled state Sen. Pedro Espada enriched himself at the expense of poorly paid laborers by setting up a sham job training program, state authorities charged Wednesday in a civil lawsuit.

The suit, filed by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, claims that a property management company set up by Espada and his son to perform work at health clinics they controlled paid janitorial workers as little as $1.70 per hour by mislabeling them as trainees.

In lieu of a full paycheck, the suit said, workers earned a worthless certificate recognizing them for completing a “healthcare maintenance internship.”

“The job training program was a sham. There was no training, there was no program,” Cuomo said Wednesday. He said at least 100 workers had been victimized since 2005.

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