Former N.Y. Senate leader Bruno indicted in fraud probe
Charges say he accepted $3M for political favors
By Cara Matthews
Albany Bureau
ALBANY - A federal grand jury on Friday indicted former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno on eight counts of public corruption, saying he accepted more than $3 million from individuals or groups in exchange for his political influence.
Bruno, a Rensselaer County Republican, was charged with defrauding the state and its residents between 1993 and 2006 by entering, and trying to enter, into financial agreements with people or entities that had or were pursuing business with the Legislature or state agencies.
He received nearly $3.2 million from five groups, either directly or through "so-called consulting companies," said the 35-page indictment, the culmination of a three-year investigation.
He pleaded not guilty in federal court Friday.
Bruno, 79, was one of the top three public officials in the state - along with the governor and Assembly leader - before giving up his seat last summer. He began his first term in 1976, and he was majority leader from January 1995 until he left office, months before the term ended. He works for CMA Consulting Services outside Albany.
"Senator Bruno's alleged actions violated the public trust, perpetuated an atmosphere of back-room dealing and invested union-sponsored pension-plan assets to several investment advisory companies in return for almost $2 million in illegal payments," said Steven Perez, a special agent in charge with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General, New York Region.
The remainder of the money was in "consulting fees" from three individuals and related entities, according to the indictment.
Bruno vowed to fight the charges.
"For over three years, I've been the target of a 'Get Joe Bruno' campaign," whether by the former Gov. Eliot Spitzer or a "politicized" U.S. Attorney's office and "overzealous" FBI, Bruno said after he was indicted in federal court.
Bruno said he was confident a jury would find him innocent.
"I want to be in front of a jury who is open to the public who will look this case in the eye and then determine that this is a three-year fishing expedition that smells really, really bad," he said.
Aspects of the investigation are continuing, and other charges are possible, according to federal officials. Prison term possible
The charges carry a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 for each count, but it is likely they will be consolidated to one term of punishment. Officials declined to comment on whether the investigation has led to any other legislators.
While proclaiming his innocence and asking the public to give him the benefit of the doubt, Bruno more than once alluded to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and accused Spitzer of abusing his power.
The two had a rocky relationship and particularly clashed over what became known as "Troopergate," in which the Spitzer administration was found to have sought and released records to the media about Bruno's travel records, attempting to damage him politically.
Spitzer resigned in March 2008 after it came to light that he was involved with a prostitution ring.
"This is a man who admitted to felonies and no one is doing one single thing about that," Bruno said. "But they invent a crime to get me."
The indictment alleged that Bruno would contact people and entities that had business with the state, including union officials, "exploiting his official position for personal compensation and enrichment."
The indictment said Bruno used state employees to perform work on his outside interests, and he failed to disclose to the Legislative Ethics Committee, colleagues and the public the nature of his outside business relationships.
Court papers allege the money came from the following sources:
* $1.37 million between 1994 and 2006 from Wright Investors' Service of Milford, Conn., which provided investment advisory services to union pension funds.
The indictment said Bruno solicited union officials to hire Wright as an investment adviser. Wright paid him a fee for each successful referral, court papers said.
Bruno was accused of leading Wright employees to believe he had disclosed the relationship to the Senate Ethics Committee, but he never asked or received an opinion from the committee, court papers said.
* $632,116 between 1993 and 2005 from McGinn, Smith & Co., an investment banking and brokerage firm in Albany. One of its activities was trading union fund assets as directed by investment advisers.
The firm hired Bruno to help develop money management relationships with labor unions' pension plans, the indictment said. Bruno did not inform the Legislative Ethics Committee of this, it said.
* $483,000 between 1993 and 2004 from Leonard J. Fassler, owner of various companies. The indictment said Bruno didn't perform legitimate work through the Fassler companies, making the payments essentially gifts.
* $440,000 between 2004 and 2006 from Jared E. Abbruzzese of the Albany area who owned several companies. The indictment said that the payments essentially were gifts in this case too. In 2005, when a consulting agreement had been terminated, Abbruzzese agreed to pay Bruno's farm $80,000 ($40,000 in cash and $40,000 in forgiveness of debt) for a horse that was "virtually worthless," court papers said.
The three-year investigation began with a probe of flights on private aircrafts to Bruno, officials said.
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Former NYS Senator Indicted
