Forget the whole I before E except after C thing...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/n...g3g0AAACx6HQF&bcsi_scan_filename=08kerik.html
U.S. Will Ask a Grand Jury to Indict Kerik
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM and RUSS BUETTNER
Published: November 8, 2007
Federal prosecutors will ask a grand jury today to indict Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York police commissioner, on charges that include tax fraud, corruption and conspiracy counts, according to people who have been briefed on the case.
Louis Lanzano/Associated Press
Bernard B. Kerik
City Room Blog
The latest news and reader discussions from around the five boroughs and the region.
Go to City Room » The grand jury, convening in Westchester County, has heard evidence about Mr. Kerik for about a year as part of a broad federal inquiry into a variety of issues, including his acceptance of $165,000 in renovations from a contractor who was seeking a city license.
Prosecutors are also seeking to charge Mr. Kerik, 52, with failing to report as income more than $200,000 in rent that they say was paid on his behalf to use a luxury Upper East Side apartment where he lived with his family around the time he left his city post, the people briefed on the case said.
Investigators have not suggested that Mr. Kerik’s benefactor, Steve Witkoff, a commercial real estate developer, was involved in any wrongdoing. If the grand jury approves an indictment, as expected, it will remain sealed until tomorrow, when Mr. Kerik would be arraigned in United States District Court in White Plains, N.Y.
Charges could complicate the presidential campaign of Mr. Kerik’s friend, patron and former business partner, Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Republican, whose mentorship was partly responsible for Mr. Kerik’s sharp ascent into prominence. Mr. Giuliani declined to comment through a spokeswoman yesterday, but has said he is not worried about the impact such charges might have on his campaign.
While Mr. Giuliani served as mayor, he appointed Mr. Kerik, who was a New York City detective, to a series of positions within his administration, finally naming him police commissioner in 2000. He later recommended him to President Bush, who nominated him in 2004 to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. But Mr. Kerik’s nomination quickly collapsed when he said he had not paid taxes on a nanny who cared for his children.
In the following days, Mr. Kerik was the subject of a stream of accusations about personal, ethical and financial improprieties.
Last year, he pleaded guilty in state court to misdemeanor charges, admitting he failed to report accepting renovations to his Bronx apartment that had been paid for by Interstate Industrial Corporation. The company, which was suspected of having ties to organized crime, was seeking a city license to operate a transfer station when it paid for the work.
Some of the tax and corruption charges expected to be considered today by the federal panel stem from the renovations and Mr. Kerik’s relationship with Interstate, including his efforts to lobby for the license on behalf of the company, which had hired his brother and a close friend, the people briefed on the case said.
The company never received the license, and city officials did not learn about the renovations until after Mr. Kerik’s nomination for the Homeland Security position collapsed in 2004.
But Mr. Giuliani has acknowledged that New York City’s investigations commissioner, Edward J. Kuriansky, told him that he had been briefed about some of Mr. Kerik’s involvement with Interstate before the police appointment. And Mr. Kuriansky’s diaries and later recollection support the commissioner’s account.
Mr. Giuliani has said that neither he nor any of his aides can recall being briefed about the Interstate matter, and that, as a bottom line, Mr. Kuriansky had cleared Mr. Kerik’s appointment.
Three times in the last two weeks, Mr. Kerik’s lawyer, Kenneth M. Breen of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker L.L.P., has met with prosecutors from the office of Michael Garcia, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York. But Mr. Breen said that the office had not notified him that charges were imminent. “If they decide to bring charges, we will fight them, and he will win,” he said.
The charges are expected to include a count that accuses Mr. Kerik of having lied on his application to serve as Homeland Security chief, a post for which Mr. Bush nominated him after his service in training Iraqi police, those briefed on the case said.
Mr. Kerik lived in his apartment in the Bronx during a period in which he served as the city’s correction commissioner, a position he left in August 2000 when Mr. Giuliani elevated him to the police post against the advice of many in his cabinet. Crime declined during Mr. Kerik’s tenure, and he was widely credited with helping to improve police relations with many black leaders.
Mr. Kerik lived in the luxury Manhattan building around the time he left the police post for the private sector at the end of 2001. The monthly rent for the apartment, at the Lucerne, at 350 East 79th Street, was more than $9,000 and was paid for by Mr. Witkoff, a friend, said a person with knowledge of the payments.
In recent months, a steady stream of witnesses have provided evidence to prosecutors and to the grand jury. Those witnesses included Mr. Witkoff, as well as Mr. Kerik’s accountant, former subordinates at the Correction and Police Departments and former city officials to whom Mr. Kerik is alleged to have spoken on Interstate’s behalf, those briefed on the case have said.
Prosecutors have interviewed Raymond V. Casey, Mr. Giuliani’s cousin, a former city official who directed the inquiry in the late 1990s into whether Interstate was deserving of a city license, given the accusations that it had mob ties. The company has consistently denied the accusations and is not expected to be named in the indictment.
Mr. Kerik has acknowledged that in July 1999 he had dinner with Mr. Casey at a Lower Manhattan restaurant and spoke about the company. In the following weeks, Mr. Kerik phoned Dyana Lee, another assistant city commissioner involved in the inquiry, and said that as far as he knew, the company was free from organized crime ties, according to people briefed on her account.
Ms. Lee’s and Mr. Casey’s accounts are expected to figure in prosecutors’ assertion that Mr. Kerik engaged in “theft of honest services,” a charge that essentially accuses a government employee of defrauding the public by depriving it of his honest service as an official.
People briefed on the case said it would not mention discussions by the former Westchester County district attorney, Jeanine F. Pirro, about having Mr. Kerik eavesdrop on her husband, Albert, whom she suspected of having an affair, in 2005. The plan was never carried out, and Ms. Pirro has said the discussions did not constitute a crime.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/n...g3g0AAACx6HQF&bcsi_scan_filename=08kerik.html
U.S. Will Ask a Grand Jury to Indict Kerik
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM and RUSS BUETTNER
Published: November 8, 2007
Federal prosecutors will ask a grand jury today to indict Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York police commissioner, on charges that include tax fraud, corruption and conspiracy counts, according to people who have been briefed on the case.
Louis Lanzano/Associated Press
Bernard B. Kerik
City Room Blog
The latest news and reader discussions from around the five boroughs and the region.
Go to City Room » The grand jury, convening in Westchester County, has heard evidence about Mr. Kerik for about a year as part of a broad federal inquiry into a variety of issues, including his acceptance of $165,000 in renovations from a contractor who was seeking a city license.
Prosecutors are also seeking to charge Mr. Kerik, 52, with failing to report as income more than $200,000 in rent that they say was paid on his behalf to use a luxury Upper East Side apartment where he lived with his family around the time he left his city post, the people briefed on the case said.
Investigators have not suggested that Mr. Kerik’s benefactor, Steve Witkoff, a commercial real estate developer, was involved in any wrongdoing. If the grand jury approves an indictment, as expected, it will remain sealed until tomorrow, when Mr. Kerik would be arraigned in United States District Court in White Plains, N.Y.
Charges could complicate the presidential campaign of Mr. Kerik’s friend, patron and former business partner, Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Republican, whose mentorship was partly responsible for Mr. Kerik’s sharp ascent into prominence. Mr. Giuliani declined to comment through a spokeswoman yesterday, but has said he is not worried about the impact such charges might have on his campaign.
While Mr. Giuliani served as mayor, he appointed Mr. Kerik, who was a New York City detective, to a series of positions within his administration, finally naming him police commissioner in 2000. He later recommended him to President Bush, who nominated him in 2004 to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. But Mr. Kerik’s nomination quickly collapsed when he said he had not paid taxes on a nanny who cared for his children.
In the following days, Mr. Kerik was the subject of a stream of accusations about personal, ethical and financial improprieties.
Last year, he pleaded guilty in state court to misdemeanor charges, admitting he failed to report accepting renovations to his Bronx apartment that had been paid for by Interstate Industrial Corporation. The company, which was suspected of having ties to organized crime, was seeking a city license to operate a transfer station when it paid for the work.
Some of the tax and corruption charges expected to be considered today by the federal panel stem from the renovations and Mr. Kerik’s relationship with Interstate, including his efforts to lobby for the license on behalf of the company, which had hired his brother and a close friend, the people briefed on the case said.
The company never received the license, and city officials did not learn about the renovations until after Mr. Kerik’s nomination for the Homeland Security position collapsed in 2004.
But Mr. Giuliani has acknowledged that New York City’s investigations commissioner, Edward J. Kuriansky, told him that he had been briefed about some of Mr. Kerik’s involvement with Interstate before the police appointment. And Mr. Kuriansky’s diaries and later recollection support the commissioner’s account.
Mr. Giuliani has said that neither he nor any of his aides can recall being briefed about the Interstate matter, and that, as a bottom line, Mr. Kuriansky had cleared Mr. Kerik’s appointment.
Three times in the last two weeks, Mr. Kerik’s lawyer, Kenneth M. Breen of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker L.L.P., has met with prosecutors from the office of Michael Garcia, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York. But Mr. Breen said that the office had not notified him that charges were imminent. “If they decide to bring charges, we will fight them, and he will win,” he said.
The charges are expected to include a count that accuses Mr. Kerik of having lied on his application to serve as Homeland Security chief, a post for which Mr. Bush nominated him after his service in training Iraqi police, those briefed on the case said.
Mr. Kerik lived in his apartment in the Bronx during a period in which he served as the city’s correction commissioner, a position he left in August 2000 when Mr. Giuliani elevated him to the police post against the advice of many in his cabinet. Crime declined during Mr. Kerik’s tenure, and he was widely credited with helping to improve police relations with many black leaders.
Mr. Kerik lived in the luxury Manhattan building around the time he left the police post for the private sector at the end of 2001. The monthly rent for the apartment, at the Lucerne, at 350 East 79th Street, was more than $9,000 and was paid for by Mr. Witkoff, a friend, said a person with knowledge of the payments.
In recent months, a steady stream of witnesses have provided evidence to prosecutors and to the grand jury. Those witnesses included Mr. Witkoff, as well as Mr. Kerik’s accountant, former subordinates at the Correction and Police Departments and former city officials to whom Mr. Kerik is alleged to have spoken on Interstate’s behalf, those briefed on the case have said.
Prosecutors have interviewed Raymond V. Casey, Mr. Giuliani’s cousin, a former city official who directed the inquiry in the late 1990s into whether Interstate was deserving of a city license, given the accusations that it had mob ties. The company has consistently denied the accusations and is not expected to be named in the indictment.
Mr. Kerik has acknowledged that in July 1999 he had dinner with Mr. Casey at a Lower Manhattan restaurant and spoke about the company. In the following weeks, Mr. Kerik phoned Dyana Lee, another assistant city commissioner involved in the inquiry, and said that as far as he knew, the company was free from organized crime ties, according to people briefed on her account.
Ms. Lee’s and Mr. Casey’s accounts are expected to figure in prosecutors’ assertion that Mr. Kerik engaged in “theft of honest services,” a charge that essentially accuses a government employee of defrauding the public by depriving it of his honest service as an official.
People briefed on the case said it would not mention discussions by the former Westchester County district attorney, Jeanine F. Pirro, about having Mr. Kerik eavesdrop on her husband, Albert, whom she suspected of having an affair, in 2005. The plan was never carried out, and Ms. Pirro has said the discussions did not constitute a crime.