New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver Faces Arrest On Corruption Charges

[Valin]

Friends of Ours:

Jan. 22 2015

 

Federal authorities are expected to arrest Sheldon Silver, the Democrat from Manhattan's Lower East Side who has served as the powerful Assembly Speaker in Albany, NY for the last two decades, on corruption charges arising from payments Silver allegedly received from real-estate tax law firm Goldberg & Iryami PC over the last decade which the politician failed to disclose as reported by Joe Tacopino for the New York Post.

 

The "investigation . . . grew out of the work of the Moreland Commission, an anticorruption panel that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, created in 2013 but abruptly shut down in March" as reported by The New York Times. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara was suspicious over the abrupt decision by Cuomo to shut it down, and last year the federal prosecutor took "possession of all of the panel's case files" as reported by The New York Times.

 

Silver "is a consummate back-room player, one of Albany's 'three men in a room,' along with the governor and Senate majority leader, who negotiate the state budget and hammer out deals on important legislation" as reported by The New York Times.

 

(Snip)

 

 

[Valin]

[Valin]

In Silver Case, U.S. Cites Link to Litigation Tied to Asbestos

DIONNE SEARCEY, ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS, RUSS BUETTNER and DAVID W. CHEN

JAN. 24, 2015

 

In the criminal complaint against Sheldon Silver, he is identified simply as “Doctor-1.”

But Dr. Robert N. Taub, who headed a Columbia University center dedicated to curing a rare form of cancer caused by asbestos, is no ordinary doctor.

 

With a reputation as a devoted clinician intent on trying out innovative therapies, Dr. Taub is something of a hero in the world of mesothelioma, a devastating cancer that is nearly always fatal. Specializing in abdominal cases, a particularly horrific form of the disease, Dr. Taub, 78, attracted last-chance patients from across the country and the world.

 

(Snip)

 

Dr. Taub, however, was obsessive about raising money for mesothelioma research, according to current and former colleagues.

 

That, it turns out, helped set off the extraordinary chain of events that culminated with Mr. Silver surrendering to federal agents on Thursday and the doctor losing his post on Friday. Prosecutors say Dr. Taub referred his patients to a law firm that employed Mr. Silver, enabling him to garner millions. In exchange, Mr. Silver secretly directed state money to the doctor’s center.

 

(Snip)

[snowfall]

Interesting, who did he finally piss off to get turned in?

[Valin]

Interesting, who did he finally piss off to get turned in?

 

 

I am assuming this is coming from the The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. You really really don't want these guys on your case!

[Valin]

The fall of Sheldon Silver continues
Jazz Shaw

January 26, 2015

 

“When you strike at a king, you must kill him.”

 

The blow has been struck at New York State’s long time Democrat power broker Sheldon Silver, and while he may not be legally and politically dead, he’s metaphorically bleeding out rather quickly. We first brought you this news only four days ago, but by this weekend Silver’s office had announced that he will be handing off his responsibilities as Speaker of the Assembly to a five person committee.

 

(Snip)

 

Technically this is only cosmetic, since the “5-man committee” is not only hand picked by Silver, but – at least before last week – would do whatever he wanted anyway out of a combination of loyalty and fear for their political lives. But it simply has to be a gigantic blow to his ego to give up even a sliver of his power and perceived authority over the state government, which has been pretty much the same as a crime syndicate boss.

 

(Snip)

 

The PACB is the gold mine of New York politics, with massive amounts of taxpayer cash being handed out every year. There are traditionally only three people who get a vote in how and where that money goes, (the infamous “three men in a room”) with Silver being the lead dog in the sled team. That kind of power can buy you an unimaginable amount of influence and “favors” from people in all walks of life, and Silver seems to have enjoyed the benefits of that position a great deal.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Weitz & Luxenberg Shelves Sheldon Silver

Jan. 29 2015

 

They're putting him on the shelf.

 

Over the years tort lawyers Weitz & Luxenberg paid millions to New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and now it's suspending ties with the disgraced politician who federal prosecutors accuse of taking bribes which were disguised as referral fees through the law firm by an apparently corrupt doctor who wanted state funds for asbestos research as reported by the New York Post:

 

 

"We were shocked to learn about the allegations against him of impropriety in the referral of cases to our firm. We have asked Mr. Silver to take a leave of absence until these allegations are resolved," said Perry Weitz, founder and president of Weitz & Luxenberg.

 

 

It's so sad when a law firm gets duped by a trusted colleague.

 

(Snip)

 

 

 

The obligatory scene

 

[Valin]

Sheldon Silver hit with new charges over investments tied to alleged kickback schemes
Stephen Rex Brown
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, April 23, 2015

 

Federal prosecutors brought new charges Thursday against disgraced former state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver that detailed the lengths the pol allegedly used to yield big returns on his $4 million in corrupt cash.

 

The dirty money Silver earned through his twin kickback schemes was parked in a “private, high-yield” low-risk investment vehicle not available to the general public, the new indictment charged.

 

In return, Silver “took certain official actions as requested by the investor” who was not paid for his services, the indictment charged.

 

Silver began investing the money — along with legally earned cash — in the vehicle, papers charged. By January, he had transferred $642,000 into the investment vehicle, which had grown to a value of $1.4 million.

 

(Snip)

 

 

H/T Friends of Ours