http://nypost.com/2015/01/22/sheldon-silver-arrested/
Sheldon Silver arrested, accused of taking millions in bribes
By David K. Li
January 22, 2015 | 8:28am
New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, center, is driven by federal agents to federal court, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015 in New York.
Photo: AP
Sheldon Silver, the longtime speaker of the New York state Assembly, was arrested Thursday morning on charges that he abused his position to pocket $4 million in bribes and kickbacks.
Silver was hit with a five-count criminal complaint brought by Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, which claims that his corruption dates back to 2000.
In that time, the speaker claimed to receive $6 million in outside income for alleged work at two firms – $700,000 from an unnamed real estate law firm and $5.3 million of which came from the asbestos-abatement law practice
Weitz & Luxenberg.
Robert Ryan, a criminal investigator for the US Attorney’s Office, reported that Silver did not perform any real estate law or asbestos -related work for the firms.
“There is probable cause to believe that Silver obtained approximately $4 million in payments characterized as attorney referral fees solely through the corrupt use of his official position,” Ryan reported in the federal complaint.
Silver has shown a long pattern of using his office for personal gain, investigators said.
“Sheldon Silver .. has engaged in and continues to engage in a secret and corrupt scheme to deprive the citizens of the State of New York of his honest services, and to extort individuals and entities under color of official right,” Ryan wrote.
“For more than a decade, Silver repeatedly has represented publicly that his outside income as a private lawyer is derived from private citizens who seek him out for legal services in personal injury matters, and that none of his clients has any business before the state.
Instead, Silver used his credentials as a lawyer to funnel money into his own pockets, authorities said.
“These representations were materially false and misleading. In truth and in fact, Silver has obtained millions of dollars in outside income as a direct result of his corrupt use of his official position to obtain attorney referral fees for himself, including from clients with substantial business before the state, and not as a result of legitimate outside income Silver earned as private lawyer.”
Silver showed up at 26 Federal Plaza in downtown Manhattan at 8 a.m. Thursday where he was arrested by FBI agents.
Two hours later he drove away to 500 Pearl St., the federal courthouse, three blocks away.
“As alleged, Silver took advantage of the political pulpit to benefit from unlawful profits. When all was said and done, he amassed nearly $4 million in illegitimate proceeds and arranged for approximately $500,000 in state funds to be used for projects that benefited his personal plans,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Frankel said.
“We hold our elected representatives to the highest standards and expect them to act in the best interest of their constituents. In good faith, we trust they will do so while defending the fundamental tenets of the legal system. But as we are reminded today, those who make the laws don’t have the right to break the laws.”
Silver set to make his initial appearance before a federal judge Thursday at 2 p.m.
US Attorney Preet Bharara scheduled a press conference at 1 p.m. to detail the charges.
The charges against Silver are “meritless,” his attorney
Joel Cohen said. :rofl
“Mr. Silver looks forward to responding to them — in court — and ultimately his full exoneration,” Cohen said.
The powerful Manhattan Democrat Silver has been the target of an on-going federal probe of undocumented payments he received from a law firm, sources said.
The speaker’s arrest sent political shockwaves from Albany to New York City.
“He needs to step down as speaker while the justice process takes its course,” said Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island).
The state Republican party wants Silver out of the Assembly now.
“Sheldon Silver must immediately resign from the State Assembly,” said NYGOP spokesman David Laska. “While this is another sad day for New York, we cannot be distracted from the important business of growing our economy and creating jobs.”
Democratic District Leader Paul Newell, who ran in an unsuccessful primary against Silver in 2008, called the arrest a “sad day for lower Manhattan, and a sad day for New York.”
“I can’t speak to the specific charges against the Speaker,” said Newell.
“But I can say that outside income for legislators is a certain recipe for corruption. Speaker Silver and Majority Leader (Dean) Skelos should have banned it long ago.”
He added: “The 65th Assembly District (represented by Silver), and all New Yorkers, deserve better.”
Political insiders who attended Gov. Cuomo’s State of the State speech on Wednesday suspected something was wrong when Silver cancelled the buffet luncheon he hosts every year after the governor’s address.
“Everyone was wondering what was going on,” said one insider.”No one was in his (Silver’s) office. It was eerie. Everyone was talking about it.”
Before the scheduled buffett, Silver kept up appearances by sitting through Cuomo’s entire 80-minute speech as though nothing was amiss.
Silver, who has served as speaker for more than 20 years, was ensnared in an investigation sparked by Gov. Cuomo’s abrupt shut down of an anti-corruption commission he had created in 2013.
Sheldon Silver in custody on Thursday morning.
Photo: William Farrington
Throughout the criminal complaint, investigators cited Silver’s ties to “co-conspirator 1,” who “previously served as counsel to Sheldon Silver, the defendant, in the Assembly and who founded and controls the real estate law firm.”
While the complaint doesn’t name this alleged co-conspirator – who has not been indicted – it fits the profile of long-time Silver ally, attorney Jay Arthur Goldberg, sources said.
His firm, Goldberg & Iryami PC, made the payments over about a decade, but Silver failed to list the income on his financial-disclosure forms, sources told The Post.
Silver’s outside income has always been questioned by his critics.
Last year, Silver reported income of $750,000 for legal he performed for the trial firm Weitz & Luxenberg.
As speaker, Silver controls which legislation can be voted on, and has broad powers over the state budget.
Silver, 70, has been criticized by opponents for wielding too much power, and has been ensnared in controversy.
The FBI and prosecutors from Bharara’s office began an investigation into the undisclosed money in December.
The prosecutors were looking into exactly what Silver did to earn the money, sources told The Post in December.
The probe came after an investigation by Cuomo’s Moreland Commission panel, which was looking into corruption in Albany when the governor shut it down.
One of the issues that the panel was looking into was how state lawmakers earn income from their non-government jobs.
Silver is a personal-injury lawyer associated with the high-profile law firm Weitz and Luxenberg.
Goldberg & Iryami specializes in challenging property tax assessments — an area where Silver has no known expertise.
The firm appears to have only two lawyers.
Since 2001, the firm and its principals have made six donations to Silver, totaling $7,600.
The most recent was in February, when it gave him $1,800.
In addition the financial controversies, Silver also became entangled in the Vito Lopez sex-harassment case when it became public that the speaker had hired two firms to defend the disgraced former assemblyman, spending nearly $700,000 in public funds.
Silver was nearly ousted as Assembly speaker by his fellow Democrats in 2000, when they unexpectedly challenged his leadership position. The coup failed.
Silver graduated from Brooklyn Law School and has long championed liberal causes in Albany, where he’s used his position as a powerbroker to support teachers, trial lawyers and public employee unions.
Even before Thursday’s arrest, Silver had been dodging scandal and corruption allegations.
Back in 2003, Silver’s then-counsel, Michael Boxley, was convicted of sexual misconduct.
And then nine years later, Silver’s office quietly made a $103,000 settlement – with public funds – with two women who said they were sexually harassed by their boss, then-Assemblyman Vito Lopez.
Silver was widely criticized for keeping the matter quiet and shielding the Brooklyn Democrat Lopez from the ethics committee.
