Posted on 07/07/2005 5:53:05 AM PDT by Liz
SAN DIEGO — A Long Island developer convicted in a bid-rigging scheme involving New York City schools has now been linked to suspicious deals with Californian congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham.
Investigators are probing why the developer, Thomas Kontogiannis, bought Cunningham's boat for three-times what the congressman had paid for it five years earlier — and then later arranged financing for Cunningham's new $2.55 million mansion.
.......Cunningham — a San Diego-area Republican — allegedly offered to help Kontogiannis explore getting a presidential pardon for his New York conviction, authorities said.
Cunningham's attorney, K. Lee Blalack, yesterday denied any wrongdoing by his client. "Duke's business dealings with Mr. Kontogiannis have been entirely proper and any suggestion to the contrary is simply false," he said.
Kontogiannis, of Glen Head, L.I., pleaded guilty in October 2002 in a bid-rigging, bribe and kickback scheme concerning New York City school computer contracts worth millions of dollars......
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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