Recchia doled out funds improperly

City Councilman Domenic Recchia sponsored thousands of taxpayer dollars for a nonprofit that gave a wealthy board member an improper interest-free loan, a Daily News probe has found.

City councilman funds group that improperly made big loan

The $60,000 in Council funds was earmarked last year for the Sephardic Angel Fund, a nonprofit that's supposed to award no-interest loans to "poor, distressed or underprivileged persons" to start or improve businesses.

But the group's treasurer, Eddie Shamah, got a $50,000 interest-free loan in 2005, tax documents show. The nonprofit later admitted the loan was a blatant conflict of interest when it applied for a federal program that bars such self-dealing.