Sunday, December 12, 2004
Kerik's mob ties
This Kerik story is the gift that keeps on giving!
And No More Mister Nice Blog goes on to ask, and answer, Who is Lawrence Ray?
This stuff is really, really obvious. It's all there in plain sight, which is why the reporters are having such an easy, gleeful time digging it up.
So at this point, the question has to be asked: Were Kerik's mob ties in fact his qualifications? (Like JFK, the CIA, and the mob, eh?) And has the Bush team gotten so arrogant they just thought nobody would call them on it?
UPDATE More from The Daily News.
However, The News probe calls into question his conduct while holding two of the city's most important public offices.
The probe revealed that for many years, one of Kerik's main benefactors was Lawrence Ray, the best man at Kerik's 1998 wedding, according to Ray, other sources and checks shown by Ray to The News.
Ray and another Kerik pal, restaurant owner Carmen Cabell, helped bankroll Kerik's 1998 wedding reception, contributing nearly 10,000.
Ray also gave Kerik nearly $2,000 to buy a bejeweled Tiffany badge that Kerik coveted when he was Correction commissioner.
And Ray said he gave Kerik $4,300 more to buy high-end Bellini furniture when Kerik allegedly griped that he couldn't afford to furnish a bedroom for a soon-to-be born daughter.
The city's Conflicts of Interest Board requires officials to report any gifts of $1,000 or more.
The board's definition of gifts includes cash, free travel, and wedding presents not given by relatives.
Intentionally failing to report gifts is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of $1,000. The board also can impose civil fines of up to $10,000. The News has examined Kerik's disclosure forms and there is no record of any of the gifts for the period concerned.
At the time of the gifts, Ray was working for Interstate Industrial, then a major city contractor. City ethics rules bar officials from accepting gifts worth more than $50 from anyone doing business with the city. The company hired Ray based on a recommendation from Kerik, according to a sworn deposition by Interstate's owner Frank DiTomasso. New Jersey gaming regulators said Kerik had confirmed to them that he had vouched for Ray.
A week after Kerik's daughter was born, Ray and 18 other men were indicted in a $40 million, mob-run, pump-and-dump stock swindle. Kerik repeatedly spoke to Ray's criminal defense attorney before the indictment, but he dropped his longtime benefactor when the case became public.
(New York Daiy News via No More Mister Nice Blog)
And No More Mister Nice Blog goes on to ask, and answer, Who is Lawrence Ray?
The Federal investigation of the DiTommaso brothers concerned their purchase of a Staten Island waste station controlled by Edward Garafola. who is married to the sister of former Gambino Family Underboss Sammy "The Bull" Gravano. Garafola was indicted in March 2000 along with Lawrence Ray, an executive of the DiTommaso brothers’ Interstate Industrial Corporation, and Daniel Persico, nephew of Colombo Family Godfather Carmine "The Snake" Persico, on Federal charges involving a $40 million stock ‘pump and dump’ scam. Interstate Industrial Corporation was also denied a contract by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in 2000 to perform work on an Atlantic City gambling casino.
This stuff is really, really obvious. It's all there in plain sight, which is why the reporters are having such an easy, gleeful time digging it up.
So at this point, the question has to be asked: Were Kerik's mob ties in fact his qualifications? (Like JFK, the CIA, and the mob, eh?) And has the Bush team gotten so arrogant they just thought nobody would call them on it?
UPDATE More from The Daily News.
