Financier who laundered money for Duke Cunningham sentenced to 8+ years [View All]

[babylonsister]

Financier who laundered money for Cunningham sentenced


By Greg Moran
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

6:01 p.m. May 16, 2008


SAN DIEGO – The contrition, tears and poor health of Thomas Kontogiannis were not enough to spare him a prison sentence of eight years and one month for his role laundering bribe money for former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns also fined the wealthy Long Island financier $1,050,000 – twice the value of the bribe that Kontogiannis laundered through fraudulent mortgages that allowed Cunningham to buy a $2.4 million mansion in Rancho Santa Fe.

Cunningham is serving an eight-year, four-month sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion. Brent Wilkes, a former defense contractor from Poway, was convicted of 13 charges of bribing Cunningham and was sentenced to 12 years, though he is appealing his convictions.

Kontogiannis, 59, pleaded guilty 15 months ago to a single charge of money laundering. The deal included a cap on his prison sentence of 10 years – a move that the prosecutor on the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Forge, admitted in court Friday was a mistake.

That is because after pleading guilty, Kontogiannis continued issuing millions of dollars in fraudulent mortgages and has continued to profit by them, Forge said.

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