There Are 3 Men Who Truly Run New York — One Is In FBI Custody
LINETTE LOPEZ
BusinessInsider.com
JAN. 22, 2015
For the past 20 years, Sheldon Silver has been one of the three most powerful men in New York. Now he’s in FBI custody.
According to a federal complaint filed by Robert Ryan, an investigator with the office of US Attorney Preet Bharara on Wednesday, Silver is being charged with five counts of corruption, mail fraud, wire fraud, and extortion charges. The complaint identified the charges as relating to nearly $6 million in outside income from two law firms Silver received since late 2002. Ryan said these payments came as a result of a “scheme” Silver masterminded where a real estate developer and doctor paid a law firm that employed him in exchange for favorable legislation, state grants, and other unspecified “official actions.”
“To wit, Silver used the power an influence of his official position to obtain for himself millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks masked as legitimate income earned by Silver as a private lawyer,” Ryan said.
The extortion charges stem from allegations Silver used his position to stymie and ultimately shut down a corruption commission that was investigating his outside income.
To understand how massive this is, you have to understand how Albany, the capital of New York, works. It’s pretty simple. The governor, the speaker of the Assembly, and the head of the state Senate run the show.
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