From the NY Post:Acting under pressure from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., the state Independence Party is finally coughing up more than a quarter-million dollars that prosecutors charge was part of a $1.1 million political rip-off of Mayor Bloomberg.
Campaign filings made public yesterday show the party sent $260,000 to the Long Island law firm of Sinnreich, Kosakoff & Messina as a "refund" that would eventually make its way back to the mayor.
Bloomberg gave the party $1.2 million last year for what was supposed to be an Election Day poll-watching operation run by Republican political operative John Haggerty Jr., a trusted mayoral ally.
According to prosecutors, Haggerty was supposed to spend $1.1 million on the effort and the party was supposed to keep $100,000 for acting as the intermediary agent.
Haggerty has been indicted for allegedly stealing at least $750,000. He has pleaded not guilty.
A month ago, the DA's Office demanded that the Independence Party return whatever else was left of the mayor's money.
It was not clear why it gave back only $260,000, since the filings indicate the party still has $51,045 left in its account.
1 comment:
We still have not heard from the Mayor on this. Why so uncharacteristically silent? What was the money really for? Is there anything in writing?
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