Two Legislators, Lobbyist Indicted for Corruption

On Thursday, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara charged Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. and Senator Carl Kruger, both Democrats, with taking money in exchange for official favors. The criminal complaint alleges that Kruger took over $1 million from lobbyists since 2006.

Prosecutors allege that Kruger took money from lobbyist Richard Lipsky (among others), and hid the money in shell companies.  Lipsky or the other lobbyists would be paid by a client to represent the client’s interests.  Lipsky would then request Kruger take an official action in return for placing part of his fees into Kruger’s shell companies; Kruger would then take some official action on behalf of the client.

Boyland, Kruger and Lipsky pleaded not guilty to the charges on last Thursday.

Senate Minority Leader John Sampson stripped Kruger of his position as the Ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.  Kruger had distributed campaign funds to many of his fellow Democrats.  A number of them have announced that they will donate those contributions to charity.

Governor Cuomo, who has called for a comprehensive overhaul of legislative ethics, reminded lawmakers of his threat to convene a panel of special investigators if they do not act on this issue before June:

“During the campaign, I made a commitment that we would either pass real ethics reform with real disclosure and real enforcement or I would form a Moreland Commission on public integrity. New Yorkers deserve a clean and transparent government comprised of officials who work for the people, not for the special interests and certainly not for their own corrupt self-interests. Today, I reaffirm my commitment to clean up Albany and state clearly that either ethics legislation will be passed or I will form a Moreland Commission by the end of this legislative session.”

These latest charges have led to renewed calls for ethics reform in Albany.