Mark G. Peters

Special Deputy Superintendent in Charge

Mark G. Peters has been named Special Deputy Superintendent in charge of the New York Liquidation Bureau (NYLB).

Mr. Peters brings to the office extensive experience as a public official and prosecutor.  He joins the Bureau from the law firm of Scarola Ellis, where he was a partner since 2006.  Prior to joining Scarola Ellis, he was in charge, statewide, of all government corruption prosecutions for the New York State Attorney General’s office, serving as Chief of the Public Integrity Unit.  From 1999 until 2001, Special Deputy Superintendent Peters served as Deputy Chief of Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau.

At the Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Peters initiated some of New York State’s most important and complex cases, covering issues ranging from the misuse of government funds by public officials to police misconduct to predatory lending.  Among other cases, Mr. Peters managed the investigation and indictment of senior officials at one of the largest health care providers in the Bronx who diverted funding from AIDS and WIC programs to various political campaigns.  Mr. Peters also led the investigations into the Wallkill police department and managed the Attorney General’s first systemic predatory lending cases.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Peters served as Senior Staff Attorney at Children’s Rights, Inc., a national watchdog organization advocating on behalf of abused and neglected children in the United States.  At Children’s Rights, Mr. Peters was instrumental in reforming various foster care systems across the country.  Mr. Peters clerked for the Hon. Charles P. Sifton of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York and was in private practice at Sullivan & Cromwell.

Mr. Peters earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School in 1990 and his Bachelor of Arts from Brown University in 1987.

Susan J. Pogoda

First Assistant Special Deputy Superintendent and Chief of Staff

Susan J. Pogoda has been named as First Assistant Special Deputy Superintendent and Chief of Staff. As First Assistant and Chief of Staff, Ms. Pogoda manages the daily operation of the Liquidation Bureau.

Ms. Pogoda served for almost 20 years in the Claims Bureau in the Office of the New York State Attorney General. The Claims Bureau defends personal injury and medical malpractice actions brought against the State of New York in the Court of Claims and against individual State employees in Supreme Court. In her capacity as an Assistant Attorney General assigned to the Tort Section, Ms. Pogoda tried hundreds of liability and/or damage cases.

In 1995, Ms. Pogoda was promoted to Tort Section Chief with responsibility for the management and supervision of lawyers and other staff. In August 2001, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer promoted Ms. Pogoda to Bureau Chief of the Claims Bureau based on her proven ability in organizational leadership, people management skills and litigation experience. Ms. Pogoda has an established record of success in increasing operating efficiency, enhancing staff performance and resourceful problem solving.

During her years in the Attorney General’s office, Ms. Pogoda co-authored legislation resulting in an amendment to the Judiciary Law, became one of the leading authorities in the State of New York on the Unjust Conviction and Imprisonment Act and was a National Institute for Trial Advocacy trainer.

From August 1984 to February 1988, Ms. Pogoda served as an Assistant District Attorney in Queens County.

Ms. Pogoda earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brooklyn College with a major in history and graduated with honors in European Urban History. She earned her Juris Doctor degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 1984.

Dennis J. Hayes

Assistant Special Deputy Superintendent

Dennis J. Hayes has been named as an Assistant Special Deputy Superintendent. Mr. Hayes has been involved in several key areas of the Bureau since joining the staff in 1996, having been the Executive Director for Receivership Operations, the Estate Manager for the Reliance Insurance Company in Liquidation (PA) New York proceeding, as well as the Estate Manager for Executive Life Insurance Company in Rehabilitation (NY). Mr. Hayes also had significant roles in the successful rehabilitation and conversion of Interboro Mutual Indemnity Insurance Company, now Interboro Insurance Company (2007), and in the rehabilitation of Rochdale Insurance Company (2001). Mr. Hayes was in private practice from 1987 to 1996 specializing in insurance, reinsurance and insurance regulatory matters. He started his career in the insurance industry in 1982 as an attorney for the New York Insurance Exchange before going into private practice.

A longstanding member of the Insurance Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Mr. Hayes has appeared on several panels and CLE programs on reinsurance recoveries. He is also the author of Identifying and Recovering Reinsurance: A Receiver’s Perspective, the Journal of Reinsurance, Vol. 8 No 4, Fall 2001.

Mr. Hayes is a 1974 magna cum laude graduate of Saint Leo University, as well as the recipient of the school’s general excellence award. He is a 1981 graduate of St. John’s University School of Law.

John Pearson Kelly

Assistant Special Deputy Superintendent and Chief Compliance Officer

John Pearson Kelly has been named as Assistant Special Deputy Superintendent and Chief Compliance Officer.  He previously served as Acting Chief Compliance Officer.  As Assistant Special Deputy Superintendent and Chief Compliance Officer, Mr. Kelly will continue to implement and maintain the Bureau’s investigative and internal control functions.

Prior to joining the Bureau, Mr. Kelly worked in the New York State Attorney General’s Office, initially as an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Prosecutions Bureau, then as Chief of the Auto Insurance Fraud Unit.  The Unit employed 50 attorneys, investigators and analysts to investigate and prosecute auto insurance fraud, especially no-fault insurance conspiracies, through wiretaps and undercover operations.  Among his many achievements, in May of 2006, Mr. Kelly tried and convicted the leader of a staged accident ring in Bronx Supreme Court.

Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Kelly was in private civil practice and handled numerous trials, appeals, arbitrations and mediations in his focus areas of commercial and insurance law, trusts and estates, and architectural and engineering malpractice.  He also spent six years as an Assistant District Attorney in Kings County, where he tried more than 30 felony cases, nearly half of them homicides, and served as Trial Supervisor to the Sex Crimes and Special Victims Bureau.

Mr. Kelly earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College with a specialization in English and American Literature and Language and his Master of Arts degree from the Department of Philosophy of Claremont Graduate School.  He received his Juris Doctor with Honors from The Ohio State University College of Law.

Joseph J. Liberatore

Assistant Special Deputy Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer

Joseph J. Liberatore has been named Assistant Special Deputy Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Liberatore brings to the NYLB extensive financial services and insurance industry experience.  Most recently, Mr. Liberatore served as Vice President, Finance & Controls, for Citigroup Alternative Investments.  In this role at Citigroup, Mr. Liberatore enhanced the operational risk controls of the business in addition to reviewing daily and monthly financials of the Hedge Fund Group.   He was a project leader for the implementation of a Risk Control Self Assessments Policy and a General Ledger application for the business unit.  Mr. Liberatore also served as Vice President, Strategy and Business Development with Citigroup Global Investments where he played a role in the organization and streamlining of financial reporting and associated information flows across various business units.

Before joining Citigroup, Mr. Liberatore held various financial management positions at AXA Financial (Equitable Life Assurance) including Assistant Vice President, Financial Reporting for Investment Services and Controller for a Real Estate subsidiary.  He also acted as the Japanese Liaison with Meiji Life Insurance while in Tokyo, Japan and was part of the Demutualization team that converted the mutual life insurer into a public company.  Prior to AXA Financial, Mr. Liberatore was with Deloitte & Touche, where he led audits for a number of clients in varied industries including financial services, insurance and banking.

Mr. Liberatore is a Certified Public Accountant and holds Series 7 and 31 licenses.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Fordham University and earned an MBA with a concentration in International Finance from Fordham Graduate School of Business Administration.

Andrew Lorin

Assistant Special Deputy Superintendent and General Counsel

Andrew J. Lorin has been named Assistant Special Deputy Superintendent and General Counsel. As General Counsel, Mr. Lorin is the chief attorney of the NYLB, as well as the head of the NYLB’s Legal Department.

Mr. Lorin brings to the NYLB extensive private sector and government experience. Most recently, Mr. Lorin served as Enforcement Section Chief of the New York State Attorney General’s Investment Protection Bureau. During his three years at the Investment Protection Bureau, Mr. Lorin conducted major investigations of banks, broker dealers, hedge funds, traders, sponsors, trustees and others regarding derivatives and complex securities, brokerage products, corporate fraud, and real estate transactions. He also prosecuted a number of high-profile civil actions, including those against Bernard Ebbers and Clark McLeod, the latter of which led to the landmark Martin Act decision, State v. McLeod, 12 Misc.3d 1157(A), 2006 N.Y. Slip Op. 50942(U), *1 (Sup. Ct., N.Y. County 2006), holding that a corporate executive’s IPO spinning constitutes securities fraud.

Before joining the Attorney General’s office, Mr. Lorin was an equity partner at the New York office of Wolf Block Schorr and Solis-Cohen, a large corporate law firm based in Philadelphia. As a partner, and earlier as an associate, at Wolf Block, Mr. Lorin practiced as a commercial litigator and bankruptcy attorney across numerous areas of law, in particular handling securities litigations, insurance cases, complex business disputes, and real estate litigations. Prior to Wolf Block, Mr. Lorin was an associate at Lowenthal Landau Fischer & Bring (1991-1997) and Webster & Sheffield (1989-1991).

Mr. Lorin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University in 1985. In 1989 he earned his Juris Doctorate from New York University School of Law, where he was a member of the Moot Court Board.

Administrative Services

"Customer Service" is the paramount objective of the Administrative Services Division. It provides administrative and operational support to the NYLB through timely and economical procurement of goods and services, as well as effective administration of facilities maintenance, records management and office services.

Claims

The Claims Division ensures the prompt and equitable disposition of claims that meet the criteria for coverage under the New York Security Fund, thereby contributing to the NYLB's efforts to close the proceedings of Estates in a timely manner.

Estate Management

The Division of Estate Management oversees the administration of liquidating and settling the affairs of insolvent insurers and assists the Superintendent in discharging his responsibilities as Receiver of New York Liquidations, Rehabilitations, Conservations and Ancillary Proceedings.  The Division ensures compliance with applicable statutes, regulations, and policies and adherence to established procedures and controls in the adjudication of all creditors’ claims, the distribution of domestic estates’ assets to creditors in accordance with §7434 of the Insurance Law and the expedited closure of the insolvency proceedings.

Finance

The Finance Division of the NYLB safeguards the assets within the Bureau’s jurisdiction by maintaining and exercising internal accounting, reporting and financial controls and procedures. State-of-the-art technology, systems and business practice enable the division to effectively administer the NYLB’s financial activities, in a cost-efficient manner, for the benefit of claimants and creditors.

Human Resources

The Human Resources Division protects the NYLB, minimizing risk to the estates' assets by ensuring compliance with the various laws regulating the workplace, and by promoting fair and equitable treatment of its employees. The division also codifies and implements policies and procedures to ensure the effective operation of the NYLB. The Human Resources Division's functions include administration and recordkeeping, employee benefits, compensation, employee and labor relations, employment, and training and development.

Information Technology Systems (ITS)

The Information Technology Systems (ITS) Division provides technical information, support and services to its clients, the NYLB's employees, as well as maintaining the Bureau's computers and telecommunication equipment.

Investigations

The Investigations Division conducts thorough investigations of potentially fraudulent claims and activities that could prevent the NYLB from efficiently and expeditiously performing the necessary proceedings to liquidate and rehabilitate estates in accordance with the policies, rules, regulations and statutes of the New York State Insurance Law.

Please submit a report if you are aware of any potentially fraudulent insurance activity or official misconduct by a Liquidation Bureau employee or vendor.

Legal

The Legal Division ensures that the NYLB properly fulfills the Superintendent's duties as Receiver and various duties as Administrator of the Security Fund. The Legal Division represents the Superintendent as Receiver and provides advice, drafts and reviews contracts and proposed legislation.

Reinsurance

The Reinsurance Division monitors and collects the reinsurance assets of the insolvent domestic insurers on behalf of the Superintendent as Receiver to assist in maximizing recovery by creditors and the timely closing of estates.  This is accomplished by adjudicating reinsurance proofs of claim, allowance of assumed claims, audits, billing reinsurance recoverables, pursuing collections, commutations and release agreements, filing proofs of claim in ancillary proceedings, applying letters of credit and processing assumed accounts.