Posted on 07/06/2004 3:59:28 PM PDT by Not a Friend of Bill
Democratic fund-raiser indicted on extortion charges
By JOHN P. McALPIN The Associated Press 7/6/2004, 6:02 p.m. ET
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A Democratic fund-raiser linked to Gov. James E. McGreevey extorted $40,000 in campaign donations by promising a farmer that public officials would help him get top dollar for his land, federal authorities said Tuesday.
Carteret businessman David D'Amiano is charged with extortion, mail fraud and bribery. According to an indictment released Tuesday, D'Amiano told the owner of a Piscataway farm he would not get premium value for his property unless he made donations to the Democratic Party.
Middlesex County officials had offered Mark Halper $3 million for development rights to his 74-acre family farm, a dilapidated dairy operation surrounded by strip malls and highways. After D'Amiano got involved, that offer rose to $7.4 million, according to the indictment.
D'Amiano, 45, of Edison, who owns a recycling and mulch business in Carteret, did not enter a plea during an arraignment Tuesday in federal court in Newark. He was released after posting a $100,000 bond.
After the hearing, D'Amiano refused to answer questions.
His lawyer, Edward J. Plaza, said he would plead not guilty. "Mr. D'Amiano did not bribe anyone," Plaza said.
McGreevey is not named in the 41-page, 11-count indictment. He has acknowledged discussing the land matter with D'Amiano and Halper, but has denied any wrongdoing.
McGreevey said he believes he is one of the unnamed state officials mentioned throughout the indictment who discussed the land deal with Halper and D'Amiano. U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie would not say whether McGreevey was one of the officials.
"I'm not going to comment on any other people who may or may not be involved in this investigation. We do not identify anyone by name who is not being charged in the indictment," Christie said.
The indictment says "State Official 1" discussed the deal with D'Amiano and Halper during a cell phone conversation in December 2002. "State Official 1" also met with Halper and D'Amiano in a hallway outside a state Democratic meeting at an East Brunswick hotel in February 2003, according to the indictment.
McGreevey has acknowledged that the meeting took place, but said he did nothing wrong.
=> Read the US Attorney indictment at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/publicaffairs/NJ_Press/break.html
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
You may be interested in this thread.
Real estate developer Charles Kushner hired a call girl to have sex with the witness, had someone videotape them, and then sent the man's wife a copy of the tape, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie said.
Kushner apparently was attempting to influence the witness' testimony in a criminal investigation of Kushner for possible tax fraud and illegal campaign contributions, authorities said.
Kushner, 50, was charged of conspiracy, obstructing a federal investigation and promoting prostitution.
A call to Kushner's office was not immediately returned. Neither was a call to McGreevey's office.
Last month, Kushner was fined $508,900 by the Federal Election Law Enforcement Commission for improperly contributing money to political candidates in the names of his companies.
Since his first gubernatorial campaign in 1997, McGreevey has received at least $369,050 from Kushner, family members and employees of Kushner's firm. The money accounts for nearly 5 percent of the $7.9 million in donations McGreevey has raised in the last decade.
In February 2003, Kushner withdrew as McGreevey's nominee to head the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. At the time, Kushner was the target of lawsuits contending he improperly used business funds for personal and political purposes.
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