Smith's failure to disclose

From the NY Post:

State Senate President Malcolm Smith kept to himself details of a lucrative land deal that grossed $500,000 for two companies he controlled, The Post has learned.

Smith, through his Smith M. Realty company, acquired two adjoining properties on 230th Street -- one with a house and one vacant -- in 1995 from [Joan] Flowers and her husband, Neville. City records do not show any money changing hands in the transaction.

In 1999, architect Robert Gaskin submitted building plans to the city for the land, but no work took place for years.

In 2002, Smith M. Realty transferred one of the two parcels to another of the senator's companies, 230th Street Associates.

That company took out a $100,000 mortgage on the property from Farnaz Tabaroki, a private lender in Queens. Such private borrowing is usually done, at high interest rates, when a bank won't lend money.

Flowers was involved in the deal, signing onto the $100,000 mortgage as a "borrower" for 230th Street Associates and as its secretary.

Six months later, Smith M. Realty and 230th Street Associates sold the parcels to a developer for $249,500 each. It is unclear whether Smith shared the proceeds with Flowers.

Smith did not record any capital gains from the sale on his initial 2002 legislative disclosure form. He later amended the form with a vague declaration of income from "230 St."

The senator also failed to disclose, as is required, his affiliations with either 230th Street Associates or Smith M. Realty.