G.O.P. Consultant Accused of Stealing Campaign Money

[madinmaryland]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/15/nyregion/15haggerty.html?hpw

A top Republican political consultant was accused on Monday of stealing $1.1 million from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg during the campaign last year and using part of the money to buy a house.

The consultant, John F. Haggerty Jr., 41, lied to Mr. Bloomberg and other aides by saying that he would spend the mayor’s money, which was funneled through the state Independence Party, on Election Day ballot security and poll watching last November, said Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney.

But Mr. Haggerty, who set up a company, Special Election Operations L.L.C., to execute the Election Day plan, spent $32,000, Mr. Vance charged, and kept about $750,000 for himself. The balance of the money, $450,000, went to the Independence Party.

About $600,000, Mr. Vance said, went toward Mr. Haggerty’s purchase of his childhood home in Forest Hills Gardens, Queens. Mr. Haggerty even wrote out bogus checks from Special Election Operations, Mr. Vance charged, in an effort to cover up the crime.

“The defendant’s fraud was an audacious scheme to steal funds in order to buy a house, cynically misusing our political party process to hide what is common thievery,” Mr. Vance said at a news conference

..snip

So typical of them.

[Ganja Ninja]

1. cynically misusing our political chicanery to hide what is common thievery

[HooptieWagon]

2. Sounds similar to what the former head of the Florida GOP did.

In his case he and his top aide set up a dummy company that then signed a fund-raising deal with the FRP. They skimmed off a sizable % of FRP donations to fund a luxury life-style.