Friday, March 11, 2011

Sen. Carl Kruger, Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. charged in corruption case






Sen. Carl Kruger, Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. charged in corruption case
Published: Thursday, March 10, 2011

By TOM HAYS and MICHAEL GORMLEY
Associated Press
NEW YORK — An influential New York state senator, an assemblyman and a well-known lobbyist were among eight people charged Thursday in what federal prosecutors called “a broad-based bribery racket” that lined the senator’s pockets with more than $1 million.

A criminal complaint charges Sen. Carl Kruger and Assemblyman William Boyland Jr., both Brooklyn Democrats, and Manhattan-based lobbyist Richard Lipsky with two counts of conspiracy and one count of money laundering — the latest in a string of corruption cases to rock Albany. Lipsky was accused of directing about $252,000 in lobbying fees into a bank account used by Kruger between 2007 and 2010 in exchange for the senator giving legislative support to Lipsky & Associates’ clients. Among them were beer distributors concerned about pricing and local markets fighting to stop “superstores” from opening in the city. During a search of Lipsky’s home on Monday, agents recovered $106,000 in cash, including $4,000 in “crisp, large denomination bills in his suit pocket,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said at a news conference in Manhattan.

“At its core, the complaint describes a broad-based bribery racket reflecting an unholy alliance of politicians, lobbyists and businessmen,” Bharara said. After Kruger, Boyland and Lipsky all surrendered to the FBI on Thursday, a judge released them without having to post bonds of up to $1 million — a condition sought by prosecutors. They did not enter pleas.

Defense attorney Ben Brafman said Kruger had known for several months about the investigation and was eager to fight the charges. Attorneys for Boyland and Lipsky also denied any wrongdoing by their clients. “Today’s arrests again spotlight the failings of New York state government and highlight the urgent need for the Legislature to pass comprehensive ethics reform — now,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose top policy goal is a tougher ethics law.

Bharara said the case against Kruger and Boyland was discouraging, given the negative publicity surrounding his office’s recent prosecutions of five other former and current state legislators. “Every single time we arrest a state senator or assemblyman, it should be a jarring wake-up call,” he said. “Instead, it seems that no matter how many times the alarm goes off, Albany just hits the snooze button. When prosecutors charge politicians, it should not feel like a scene from Groundhog Day.”

State Republican Chairman Ed Cox said the charges show ethics is a “Democrat problem.” He is calling on the Democrats’ Senate campaign committee to return the nearly $500,000 Kruger gave to the party last year, calling it “dirty money.” A senator since 1994, Kruger was the powerful Senate Finance Committee chairman from 2008 to 2010 when Democrats controlled the Senate.

The complaint alleges that since 2006, Kruger “received a stream of bribes totaling at least $1 million in exchange for taking official action on behalf the bribe payers as opportunities arose.” Aside from Lipksy, the alleged bribe payers included a real estate developer and a consulting firm for the health care industry.The payments were funneled into bank accounts of shell companies set up by a longtime associate of Kruger, Michael Turano, the complaint says. Turano, a Manhattan gynecologist, used some of the money to lease a Bentley and pay the mortgage on a multimillion dollar home in Brooklyn he shares with his mother and brother.

The complaint says wiretaps on Kruger’s phone revealed he was unusually close to Turano and his family: The two were in daily contact and “relied on and supported one another.” Kruger often went shopping for the family, buying light bulbs, travel snacks and “stockings for the Turano mother,” it adds.

The FBI also was listening in on Lipsky’s phone. The complaint says agents intercepted a call from Kruger to Lipsky on the morning agents were searching the lobbyist’s home. They “heard no conversation between Lipsky and Kruger, but could overhear Lipsky responding to questions from agents about, among other things, the relationship between Kruger and Mrs. Turano.”

After that, Kruger tried to call Lipsky 26 times over the next 90 minutes but go no answer, the complaint says.

The complaint accuses Boyland of taking bribes from a health care executive also linked to Kruger in exchange for asking the speaker of the Assembly to allocate millions of dollars to the executive’s hospitals. Under the arrangement, Boyland had “what amounted to a no-show consulting job” that paid him almost $3,000 a month from December 2003 to November 2008, or about $177,000, Bharara said. Continued...

The Boyland family has a long political history representing Brooklyn. Boyland’s uncle, Thomas Boyland, represented the district in the Assembly from 1977 to 1982. After he died in office, his brother, William Boyland Sr., was elected to fill the seat. In 2002, the elder Boyland easily won re-election to an 11th, two-year term, but resigned between the election and the January start of the session to turn the seat over to his son, William Boyland Jr. If convicted, Kruger, Boyland and Lipsky face up to 20 years in prison.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey bk- how come you dont post on the jig anymore?

Anonymous said...

Boyland looking a bit smug are we. Have fun in jail Mr. Gangsta

brooklynpolitico said...

Did yeaterday, two comments. lol. I was n't even doing posts here. Been tied up at work and family

Anonymous said...

Say Bye to the assembly boyland and to being a district leader. Cuz for real man you are going to boy-land, lol