Senate Majority Leader, Dean Skelos, in front of New York State House
[From article]
The feds busted the second of New York’s infamous “three men in a room” on Monday, charging state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos in a corruption scheme to peddle his influence in exchange for cash and work for his ne’er-do-well son.
Authorities say Skelos, the state’s most powerful Republican lawmaker, shook down two firms that paid his son, Adam, more than $200,000 for jobs he either didn’t perform or for which he wasn’t qualified.
In exchange, Skelos allegedly voted on legislation that favored one of the firms and used his power to help the other score a $12 million government contract.
The case against the Skeloses was partly built on secretly recorded phone conversations, despite Adam allegedly using a disposable “burner” phone to evade investigators working with Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara.
“You can’t talk normally because it’s like f- -king Preet Bharara is listening to every f- -king phone call,” Adam whined to his dad on March 28, according to the criminal complaint. “It’s jus t f- -king frustrating .”
[. . .]
A similar corruption case was brought little more than three months ago against Assembly man Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), who resigned his post as speaker but held onto his seat.
“By now, two things should be abundantly clear,” Bharara said Monday. “First, public corruption is a deep-seated problem in New York state. It is a problem in both chambers. It is a problem on both sides of the aisle. And, second, we are deadly serious about tackling that problem.”
[. . .]
Dean Skelos, prosecutors said, even pushed Nassau County officials on payments to an environmental technology firm during the wake of slain NYPD Detective Wenjian Liu on Jan. 4.
In a phone call from the wake, he told his son in coded language that payments to the firm, which sources identified as AbTech Industries, would be coming.
“All claims that are in will be taken care of,” the elder Skelos said twice, according to court papers.
The son allegedly replied: “Oh, OK. Gotcha.”
Dean Skelos was also caught on tape bragging to his son that he would wield even more power by the end of this year.
“I’m going to be president of the Senate [in the 2015-16 session]. I’m going to be majority leader,” he allegedly said.
“I’m going to control everythi ng. I’m going to control who gets on what committees, what legislation goes to the floor, what legislation comes through committees, the budget, everything.”
http://nypost.com/2015/05/04/state-majority-leader-dean-skelos-and-son-charged-with-corruption/
Skelos and son busted in latest corruption scheme
By Josh Saul, Bruce Golding and David K. Li
New York Post
May 4, 2015 | 10:11am
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