Reply #13: GOP and murder? [View All]

Boulis Investigation Dredges Up Big Names

US authorities charge alleged gangsters with murder, probe lobbyist connections

by Timothy Appleby
CommonDreams

EXCERPT...

When three men were charged last month with killing him in 2001, the most familiar name on the indictments belonged to 67-year-old Anthony (Big Tony) Moscatiello, an associate of New York's Gambino crime family. John Gotti, once overheard on a wiretap threatening to do Mr. Moscatiello some serious harm if he did not show more respect, headed the Gambino clan.

SNIP...

That is would-be Washington mega-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who once raised $100,000 for U.S. President George W. Bush and is a close friend of Republican Congressman Tom DeLay, the House majority leader until last month when a Texas prosecutor accused Mr. DeLay of conspiracy and money laundering.

Mr. Abramoff, 45, has his own legal troubles. So much so, that on Friday, lawyer Timothy Flanigan withdrew his nomination for U.S. deputy attorney-general -- the nation's No. 2 law job -- because of congressional concerns over his dealings with Mr. Abramoff.

Casino Jack, as Mr. Abramoff is known, has for months been under investigation by a federal grand jury and the Senate's Indian affairs committee after receiving at least $66-million from six Indian tribes to lobby for their casino interests; the tribes later said the fees were excessive.

But more recently, his difficulties multiplied.

In August, he and his former business partner, disbarred New York lawyer and fellow Republican fundraiser Adam Kidan, 41, were charged with fraud and conspiracy over their September, 2000, purchase of Mr. Boulis's 11 SunCruz gambling boats for $147-million.

Those charges accuse Mr. Abramoff and Mr. Kidan of faking a wire transfer that made it appear that they had put up $23-million of their own money in the SunCruz sale. Based on that transfer, two banks agreed to lend the pair $60-million, the charges allege.

CONTINUED...

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1010-06.htm