John Liu's questionable filings

"I was looking at John Liu's filings and I noticed something weird with regard to Chuck Apelian. Chuck's occupation is listed as a Sales Executive at Irene Hermann Incorporated/Prestone Printing.

If you notice, the corporation and Chuck have the same address. The biggest question is why is the corporation getting $5K for consulting twice when it's a printing company?

Irene Hermann Incorporated got $5,000 for consulting on July 21st and the address is 145-30 29 Road which is Chuck's address.

On August 11th, "Irene Hermann Incorporated" was reimbursed $420 for buttons and it's Chuck's home address again.

Then 7 days later, Chuck gets reimbursed over a thousand dollars for office supplies at the same address.

On August 21st, Irene Hermann Incorporated got $5,000 for consulting fees.

I am confused who exists at 145-30 29th Road, Chuck or the corporation or both? This is a single family home." - Sad about the state of Queens

(Ha! And the Vice Chair of Queens CB7 running a political campaign isn't a conflict-of-interest or anything.)

But wait, that's not all! Let's see who else Johnny has on his payroll:

Sharon Lee, who agreed to turn state's evidence against Jenny Hou and Oliver Pan in return for immunity.

Chung Seto, who ran his shady campaign - and his office as an unpaid staffer - a conflict of interest.

Mei Hua Ru, a former aide to John, who likes using mafia terms.

But I'm sure John Liu would bring a breath of fresh air to Albany if elected...

Seto owes more back taxes

From the NY Post:

City Comptroller John Liu’s top political adviser is in hot water again with tax authorities.

The state Department of Taxation and Finance has slapped Chung Seto with a warrant for $25,924 in back taxes.

An agency spokesman said the money Seto owed was from 2008 and 2009.

The warrant was issued on April 24.

The Post previously reported that the IRS is also on Seto’s case, slapping her with liens of $100,871 for 2007 and $74,206 for 2008.

The latest Liu lies

From the NY Post:

Nice try.

City Comptroller John Liu was telling a tall tale when he claimed to have a letter from city ethics officials allowing his campaign manager to oversee operations at the Comptroller’s Office.

The only document Liu could produce yesterday was a memo signed by his general counsel, which does not clear Chung Seto — the architect of Liu’s political climb — to run the Comptroller’s Office.

The six-page memo purports to set conditions for Seto to “donate her labor and services” because “the parties desire to work together to further their mutual and individual aims.”

City ethics laws require that elected officials keep their political operations completely separate from their government offices, unless the arrangement is approved by the Conflicts of Interest Board.

Susan Lerner, an attorney and executive director of the watchdog group Common Cause New York, said, “This is a clear, blatant attempt to circumvent the city’s ethics law. You can’t exempt yourself by contract from the ethics law or any other law.”

From the NY Post:

Embattled city Comptroller John Liu’s campaign treasurer is trying to cut a deal with the feds over charges she steered illegal contributions into his campaign war chest, according to court papers filed yesterday.

Prosecutors “have had discussions regarding a possible disposition of this case” with lawyers for Jia “Jenny” Hou, but “the negotiations have not been completed,” the papers say.

“We plan to continue our discussions but do not anticipate a resolution before [yesterday’s] deadline under the Speedy Trial Act,” Manhattan federal prosecutor Brian Jacobs wrote.

From the Daily News:

Embattled City Controller John Liu has insisted he wasn’t involved with his campaign’s daily operations, but an email exchange shows he was meticulous and closely instructed his neophyte ex-treasurer.

He even objected to an instruction from the city Campaign Finance Board, all over a matter of style on a simple donation form.

Jia (Jenny) Hou — the 25-year-old former Liu treasurer charged by the feds as having played a key role in a conspiracy to duck campaign finance laws — was told by the CFB in 2010 that changes needed to be made to the card donors had to fill out.

The form contained multiple questions with corresponding boxes that donors had to check to affirm, as required by law, that the contributions were from their personal funds.

CFB ordered that a simple affirmation line be used, and recommended the accompanying language.

Hou — who was arrested last month in the ongoing federal probe of Liu’s 2013 mayoral campaign — responded by objecting in her boss’s name.

“I fixed the phrasing into exactly what you quoted in your email,” she wrote on Nov. 25, 2010. “John would like to keep the check boxes.”

The email messages, obtained by the Daily News under the Freedom of Information Law, seem to support the notion that Liu — an actuary by trade — nitpicked his campaign staff just like he is said to do with workers in his office.

From the NY Post:

It’s a bedrock rule of office that city officials separate their political activities from city business. All the more so for the comptroller, who oversees New York’s $70 billion budget and $120 billion pension funds.

But e-mails show Seto mixing both from Day One: referring financial advisers (and huge potential tax-funded fees) to the city’s pension czar, a Liu deputy; managing Liu’s official communications with the White House; even choosing decorations in Liu’s office.

Moreover, as The Post reported last year, Seto even joined Liu when he visited potential pension investors — where she presented herself as a top aide with a hand in making his office’s financial decisions.

This reputed “co-comptroller” may be next in line for arrest as the feds deepen their two-year investigation of Liu’s dubious fund-raising. Seto helped run the very campaign that the feds believe was a vast criminal enterprise that swallowed tens of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign cash from so-called “straw donors.”

The feds arrested Liu’s erstwhile campaign treasurer last month, but all indications are that she’s a small fish. Next up could well be the sharks: Seto and perhaps Liu himself.

Meet Johnny's co-comptroller

From the NY Post:

Comptroller John Liu has turned to his top political adviser, Chung Seto, for more than just campaign advice — he has actually let her run much of his office, even though she is not a city employee, The Post has learned.

Seto, who orchestrated Liu’s political ascent, has been dealing with everything from redecorating to communications with the White House — and has even referred financial advisers to the city’s pension czar, according to e-mails between Seto and Comptroller’s Office staffers obtained by The Post through a freedom- of-information request.

Correspondence between Seto — a former chief of the state Democratic Party — and the Comptroller’s Office shows that there was no division between Liu’s political operation and the office of the city’s fiscal watchdog.

The e-mails show there were no details too small for Seto, such as including a recycling symbol on business cards, getting an extra key for a secretary, deciding where individual staffers would work and what Liu would say in an economic speech.

And the documents show Seto had use of staff and space at the comptroller’s downtown offices, where she held sway like a chief of staff or operations director.

“Nothing important happens without Chung’s approval,” one insider said, echoing the e-mails. “She is basically co-comptroller.”