NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
accused of $6 million bribery and kickback
scheme, taken into custody
accused of $6 million bribery and kickback
scheme, taken into custody
Silver, who has been one of the most powerful lawmakers in Albany for more than two decades, surrendered to authorities Thursday morning. A five-count federal complaint accuses him of accepting millions from firms seeking him to wield influence in Albany on their behalf.
ALBANY — Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the longtime Albany power broker, surrendered Thursday to face multimillion dollar federal corruption charges, the Daily News has learned.
A stunning five-count criminal complaint accused the Manhattan Democrat, a state political fixture for decades, with pocketing more than $6 million in bribes and kickbacks in return for wielding his massive influence.
Silver stands accused of pressuring real estate companies doing business with the state to hire two law firms that were regularly paying him bribes, the 35-page complaint charged.
The beneficiary of the increased business was Jay Arthur Goldberg, 75, who once worked as Silver’s lawyer in the Assembly, sources indicated.
Goldberg, of the Manhattan law firm Goldberg & Iryami, was also once employed by the city Tax Commission during the Koch administrations.
Goldberg, of the Manhattan law firm Goldberg & Iryami, was also once employed by the city Tax Commission during the Koch administrations.
More than half of the $6 million came after Silver steered $500,000 in state funds to a doctor who in turn referred asbestos cases to Weitz & Luxenberg, a personal injury firm affiliated with Silver for decades.
The state money was provided to Dr. Robert Taub for research by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation — with some of the additional funds going for unspecified “additional benefits” to the doctor’s family, the court papers charges.
Taub, who is affiliated with Columbia University, is cooperating with the FBI, court papers revealed. Silver sponsored a May 2011 “official resolution” by the assembly honoring Taub.
Silver collected more than $3.2 million in referral fees from the law firm after directing more than 100 clients to Weitz & Luxenberg for asbestos litigation, according to the complaint.
But not a single one of the firm's clients ever contacted Silver or spoke with the politician about their cases, even as the law firm kept paying the fees.
Silver had long insisted publicly that he sent “plain, ordinary, simple people” with legitimate personal injury cases to the law firm, the court documents note.
No one else was charged with Silver — although one alleged co-conspirator was mentioned.
Authorities also charged that the corrupt Silver attempted to cover his tracks once a state investigation was launched in 2013, moving to quash a subpoena from the Moreland Commission to Weitz & Luxenberg.
Silver dismissed the investigation as a “fishing expedition.” The assembly speaker and his staff were involved in negotiations that led Gov. Cuomo to end the commission last year, the complaint said.
Silver, whose annual state salary is $121,000, was driven in a white Subaru from the FBI’s Lower Manhattan headquarters to the nearby federal courthouse on Pearl St. shortly after 10 a.m.
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