Grand Jury Indicts Former Assembly Speaker on Fraud, Extortion Charges

A federal grand jury has indicted former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The three-count indictment, filed by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara, accuses the Manhattan Democrat of honest services mail fraud, honest services wire fraud and extortion under color of official right. [Read the indictment here.]

Last month, Silver was accused of using his position as Assembly Speaker to collect $4 million in bribes and kickbacks that were disguised as legal fees. The indictment alleges that then-Speaker Silver directed state grants to a doctor who referred asbestos claims to a law firm. The law firm provided Silver with one-third of the firm’s share of any recovery on behalf of those clients. He is also accused of steering steered real estate developers to a law firm which seeks reductions in real estate taxes on behalf of its clients; the law firm then paid him kickbacks disguised as “referral fees.”

The indictment also alleges that he “repeatedly took actions and used his official position to prevent the public, investigators and others from learning about his corrupt arrangements,” and made fraudulent representations and omissions about his outside income on state financial disclosure forms to hide the payments.

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