Fagan was charged with misapplication of entrusted property, theft by unlawful taking, money laundering and misconduct by a corporate official, all second-degree felonies that carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison. Fagan was also charged with three counts of failure to file a personal income tax return in New Jersey.

Fagan was president and CEO of Energex Systems Inc., a developer of biotech products where he allegedly sold $9.5 million in unregistered  stock to 784 investors. Only one Energez product received FDA approval and the company never had significant sales.

In 2009, Fagan founded Arbios Acquisition Partners to take over Arbios Systems Inc. a medical device company. Fagan allegedly sold more than $1.6 million in unregistered notes and stocks. Both companies were based in Allendale, N.J.

The attorney general’s office alleges Fagan used the investment money to cover casino gambling losses in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, and made company checks payable to himself.

Fagan allegedly structured $84,000 in transactions to disguise instances where he stole or misappropriated funds.

“We are making it a priority to investigate major financial crimes,” said Elie Honig, director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “This type of white-collar crime has a devastating impact on victims and we will aggressively prosecute this man and any others who prey on investors and consumers.”

In response, the mayor said in a letter the city requested the audit five years ago.

“Perhaps had it been done when it was requested some of the problems you noted would have been corrected sooner,” Mayor John Tkazyik wrote to the comptroller’s office. He said four issues plague city finances – unfunded state mandates, pension costs, health care and the most serious recession since the Great Depression.

But, Tkazyik said, “Unlike the state of New York, the city has refused to use ‘one-shots’ to balance its budget.” He noted several bellwether metrics that support Poughkeepsie’s economic health, including reduced short- and long-term debt.

“Communities across New York are dealing with increased fiscal stress and Poughkeepsie is no different,” DiNapoli said.

In 2010 and 2011, auditors found city officials overestimated revenues by $3.2 million and underbudgeted appropriations by $4.7 million. This includes overestimating payments in lieu of taxes ($381,000), rental payments ($305,000) and interest earnings ($426,000), as well as overexpending budget line items for health insurance ($944,000), accumulated sick pay and vacation pay ($750,000) and workers compensation ($415,000).

The disagreement includes the comptroller’s request for realistic budgets and the mayor’s counter, “The 2013 budget was formulated by determining realistic revenue estimates based on prior actual period.”

The Labor Department said stop-work orders are issued to companies that incorrectly classify workers as independent contractors with the intent of avoiding their obligations, under federal and state employment laws, that cover areas like workers’ compensation, unemployment taxes and payroll reporting.

Each company that was cited was required to halt work on the sites in question and to pay a $300 fine for every day it did not carry workers’ compensation coverage. Work could resume after proof of coverage was attained.

Over the last 12 months, 189 stop-work orders have been issued to Connecticut work sites, according to the Labor Department.

Contractors on the following Fairfield County construction sites were issued work-stop orders between March 20 and May 20:

Project site: 810 Boston Ave., Bridgeport
-Park Lane Group L.L.C. (based in Litchfield)

Project site: Pacific Street, Stamford
-GM CT Drywall L.L.C. (based in Hartford)
-GM Drywall L.L.C. (based in Jackson, N.J.)

Project site: 100 Stamford Place, Stamford
-Chivas Carpet Installation L.L.C. (based in Windsor)
-Oliver Drywall (based in Waterbury)

Empire State Development tapped Gigi Semone, a New York City resident and Colgate University alumna, for the job.

“Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership, productions and post-productions are flocking to New York, creating new jobs and pumping billions into our economy,” said Kenneth Adams, ESD’s president, CEO and commissioner. “I am pleased to welcome Gigi Semone to our team, and look forward to working with her as we continue to make the Empire State the place to be for the film and television industry.”

Westchester County hosts consistent shooting for 14 TV shows; 14 feature films also have shot in the county recently.

As executive director, Semone will be responsible for marketing the state as a location for film and television production and will also oversee new initiatives, especially upstate. Semone will report to Rhoda Glickman, senior vice president for arts, culture and film development.

The governor’s office estimates 349 projects have filmed or applied to film since Jan. 1, 2011, which has resulted and will result in more than $5.5 billion in direct spending in New York state.

ESD is New York’s chief economic development agency. The mission of ESD is “to promote a vigorous and growing economy by supporting private sector investment and job growth” through the use of loans, grants, tax credits and other forms of assistance.

1 Landmark Square

Sacred Heart University announced plans this morning to open a graduate studies center at Landmark Square in Stamford to increase the school’s outreach within the region’s business community.

The satellite campus will give students access to courses typically taught at the university’s Fairfield campus, including its classes for degrees in digital marketing, human resource management, film, educational leadership and administration.

Previously, the university has held limited initiatives in Stamford, including  corporate training and continuing education and undergraduate courses.

“We are excited to increase our presence in Stamford,” said  John J. Petillo, university president, in a May 22 statement. “The new graduate center will offer greater options for our graduate students while giving us an opportunity to build on an already strong relationship with the Stamford community.”

The center is expect to open for the fall 2013 semester.

The proposed funding comprises a portion of Malloy’s plan to invest $500 million in affordable housing over the next 10 years. So far his administration has submitted funding proposals more than $250 million worth of projects.

“Working with our municipal and nonprofit partners, we are building strong neighborhoods that will attract businesses, create jobs, and offer residents an attractive place to work and live,” Malloy said in a May 21 statement.

Of the programs that would receive funding, both the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and the Housing Development Fund have proposed plans for housing improvements in Fairfield County.

With $2 million, the Children’s Medical Center plans to remove lead and other health hazards from low- and moderate-income housing units in 15 towns, including Bridgeport, Danbury, Norwalk and Stamford.

The Housing Development fund plans to use $1 million for energy efficiency projects in greater Bridgeport.

The funding is subject to State Bond Commission approval.

Earlier this spring the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority also approved about $7.5 million in tax credits to build 347 affordable housing units in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Simsbury and Waterbury. The Bridgeport housing development will be built on a vacant lot near Beardsley Zoo.

Commuters board buses at the Bridgeport Transportation Center May 21. Photo by John Miskulin, courtesy of Metro-North Railroad.

Both Amtrak and the Metro-North Railroad have resumed their regular weekday service schedules between Bridgeport and New York City after repairs to the tracks damaged by the May 17 derailment were completed.

Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James P. Redeker called the progress “quite remarkable.”

“Metro-North and Amtrak are important components in keeping the regional economy moving forward and I want to commend Metro-North for its round-the-clock efforts toward getting service back on line,” Redeker said in a May 22 statement.

In the absence of rail service the past two days, Metro-North and the Connecticut Department of Transportation had arranged for 120 buses to provide transportation to commuters on May 20 and 21 between Stamford and Bridgeport.

It took workers just under five days to complete the necessary track repairs in the wake of last week’s derailment and subsequent collision.

At about 6:10 p.m. May 17, a train heading east on the line derailed in Fairfield before getting hit by another train heading in the opposite direction. The trains were traveling at about 70 miles per hour just prior to the crash.

More than 70 people sustained injuries and about seven people remain hospitalized, with one in critical condition, said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy at a press conference May 20.

Malloy said the line’s Wednesday opening was tremendous news and much earlier than anticipated. The damaged rail cars and track have been removed for further investigation and crews are working to restore the the line. Metro-North officials have also ordered special equipment to examine potential safety issues along the rest of the track system. Amtrak service between Boston and New York was also expected to be restored May 22.

“This is very good news and not something we thought could be accomplished,” Malloy said of the quick recovery. “However that means we will have one more day of great difficulty.”

About 30,000 commuters use the New Haven line daily and with service suspended between Westport and Bridgeport, state officials are urging commuters to stay home or work from home.

Malloy said traffic on May 20 was relatively unaffected by the rail closure, suggesting residents had followed state officials’ advice. That day traffic on the Merritt Parkway was below average levels and traffic on Interstate 95 was just slightly above normal.

[Editor's note: This article was updated on May 23 to reflect updated information from the Connecticut Department of Transportation. An initial version of this article was published the morning of May 22.]

The 340-megawatt plant, which features two oil-burning generators and a combustion turbine, has been in service since 1960. NRG, based in Princeton, N.J., is among the largest power generation companies in the U.S. with a portfolio consisting of about 47,000 megawatts.

An NRG representative told the Hartford Courant that energy prices have been consistently dropping in the region, which in turn has had a negative affect on the plant’s revenues.

“We’re dependent on the capacity market for all our revenues, and the capacity revenues aren’t sufficient to keep the plant going,” NRG spokesman David Gaier told the Courant.

While natural gas has surged in energy markets, oil accounted for less than one percent of New England’s electrical generation last year, according to the Independent System Operator-New England, which operates the region’s grid.

CI is the state’s quasi-public financing entity, focused on providing financial assistance to companies starting and growing in Connecticut. This round of funding, Orthozon, along with three other bioscience companies, will receive a total of $560,000.

Slated to receive $150,000, Orthozon develops spinal implants and medical instrumentation for minimally-invasive surgeries. Company officials also plan to adapt their technology for additional markets, including cardiology, gastroenterology, neurosurgery, otolaryngology and other orthopedic areas.

“The fields of biotechnology and medical science continue to expand in Connecticut, and to grow in their importance to our state’s economy,” said State Sen. Carlo Leone of Stamford in a press release. “I welcome the development of Orthozon Technologies in Stamford, and I applaud Connecticut Innovations for providing this early-stage support.”

The three other companies to receive funding are in Farmington.

Greater Hudson Bank said this partnership will allow the bank to provide more assistance and support to small businesses with the goal of growing the economy and creating jobs.

“We are appreciative that Greater Hudson recognizes our special business loan products are a natural fit for their customer base,” Barry Sloane, president and CEO of Newtek said.

Greater Hudson Bank runs five branches in the Hudson Valley and manages some $300 million in deposits.

IBMsaid its new software will help businesses extend applications running on System z mainframes to the web, cloud and mobile environments. The software is billed as enabling companies to reduce operating costs and help business extend services for support of modern infrastructures.

Applications using the new software have shown performance increases of 10 to 20 percent, IBM reported.

“With this new software, IBM is helping companies reduce operating costs and processing time associated with these applications while delivering new capabilities to take advantage of cloud, web and mobile devices,” said Kevin Stoodley, IBM chief technology officer.

The chamber rolls out its “Around the Way” smartphone app on Thursday, May 23, from 6-8 p.m. in the New York Power Authority Building, 123 Main St., White Plains.

The app helps consumers find nearby black-owned establishments, presents directions to those businesses and with a finger tap offers the ability to share the information on platforms like Facebook.

“Around the Way” automatically identifies the user’s position using the phone’s GPS technology and pinpoints participating businesses nearby. The phone’s mapping function highlights the route.

“Businesses will do anything to micro-target their customers,” according to the app’s Brooklyn-based developers. “This new smart phone application – created by a Brooklyn woman – turns this on its head by letting customers do the targeting. It shows them where they can find local black-owned businesses.”

Admission is free. The event will feature a networking reception and light refreshments.

The index tracks the performance of a set of securities listed on the NASDAQ stock market that are classified by industry as either biotechnology or pharmaceuticals.  It is a modified market capitalization weighted index. Companies must meet eligibility criteria that include a market capitalization of at least $200 million and average daily trading volume of at least 100,000 shares.

Index stocks are evaluated semiannually in May and November and serve as the basis for the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index Fund, which seeks investment results that correspond generally to price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. Options based on the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index and the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index Fund trade on various exchanges.

Headquartered on the Landmark at Eastview life sciences campus, Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. develops drugs for oncology. Its first commercial product, Relistor, is used to treat for opioid-induced constipation in terminally ill cancer patients.

NRG Energy Inc., through its NRG Solar L.L.C. subsidiary, will initially install solar systems on three Starwood properties. The systems themselves will be owned and operated by NRG Solar, with Starwood purchasing the electricity they generate through a multi-year purchasing agreement.

The systems include a 1.3-megawatt solar array that will be installed at the Westin St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. NRG Solar is among the largest developers of solar systems in the U.S., with more than 2,000 megawatts of solar photovoltaic and solar thermal projects in operation, under construction or in development across the southwest U.S.

Ken Siegel, chief administrative officer and general counsel for Starwood, said the Stamford hotel developer  has committed to reducing its energy consumption by 30 percent and its water consumption by 20 percent throughout its global hotel and resort portfolio by 2020.

“We are making great progress against those goals through a variety of programs in place around the world, and we’re pleased to partner with NRG to be able to provide affordable and sustainable electricity that will benefit the environment, our guests and our business,” Siegel said in a prepared statement.

David Crane, NRG’s president and CEO, said in a statement that solar “is well on its way to becoming the most cost-effective, environmentally beneficial and aesthetically pleasing energy option for any consumer-facing business.”