From the NY Post:An Albany politician from Brooklyn is the focus of a pay-to-play probe into whether he and a staff member offered his political muscle to locals in exchange for campaign donations, prosecutors revealed yesterday.
A lawyer for one of the pol's alleged middlemen -- who was in Brooklyn federal court yesterday charged with lying to the FBI in connection with the probe -- identified the target of the two-year probe as state Sen. Carl Kruger, who represents portions of southern Brooklyn.
Michael Levitis, the alleged middleman, is a Brooklyn nightclub owner. His lawyer, Geoffrey Lichtman, yesterday pointed the finger at Kruger, a Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, as the "public official" accused of accepting kickbacks, saying Levitis is facing federal charges only because "he refused to testify against Senator Kruger."
Levitis "is a very small part of a very significant criminal investigation," Lichtman told The Post. "There is an allegation of quid pro quo between the senator and his constituents."
Levitis, a lawyer who owns the Russian nightspot Rasputin in Gravesend, was caught on audiotape on April 14, 2009, telling a federal informant that the informant needed to pay off a public official's staff member to get assistance on an upcoming business inspection.
"To start off, you'll have to throw in a few thousand . . . and then he solves your problem . . . depends on whether the problem is big or small . . . how much work he has put in," Levitis said.
The informant is instructed by Levitis that he'll "have to do a fund-raiser for" the official. The informant agreed and, on the FBI's instruction, recorded another conversation with Levitis on April 22, 2009.
During that meeting, the informant agreed to give Levitis $3,000 -- $2,000 for the official's staffer and the rest for Levitis.
The transaction was made five days later and caught on video.
3 comments:
All of us in South Brooklyn , Brighton Beach, Coney Island etc. knew this guy Kruger is a crook.
Kruger & his other colleagues such as Councilman Domenic Recchia. BP President Marty Markowitz, Councilman Mike Nelson, Assemblyman Krasny, they are all cut from the same "Pay for Play" fabric. And they "Pay for Play" all the time.
They are the fix it "to go guys."
Kruger will sing like a canary to save his own ass. I hope & pray that the net is large enough to get all these BUMS locked up.
In fact I think I hear the little birds singing now. The FBI should also investigate the money that is solicited by Marty Markowitz at his Summer Concerts. He sells seats for $ 5 & $ 1) depending on who is performing.
He also send around the 5 gallon plastic buckets for donations. May I remind everyone that all this is done in CASH.
They don't have a permit for this activity which must be given by the Dept. of Social Services. That's nothng new . Marty never got a Sound Permit for those concerts either.
Marty what happens to all this CASH? At some events ther are over 10,000 concert goers. That's alot of $ 5 & $ 10 & $ 1 & $ 20 bills .
The whole system is rotten from top to bottom & it's about time the FBI & the courts clean up the politicians & throw away the key.
The Senate leadership should call for the stepping down of kruger as the Finance Chair.
He's a under FBI Investigation that alone should be enough to end his career.
"Follow the money" as one of my friends says at the NYC DOI.
NY Post made a mistake. Kruger is no longer the Chair of the Finance Committee. He's the chair of nothing now. Both the Dems and the GOP hate him, so he lost all of his considerable power, and is now nothing more than a guy sending out press releases.
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