US criminal case exposes dark side of New York politics

Malcolm Smith, a Democrat, was so desperate for higher office that he was not only willing to switch to the Republican side but would bribe senior party officials to be considered as a candidate for mayor of New York city.

This is what federal prosecutors claim in a criminal complaint, disclosed in court this week, which has exposed a shady underbelly of alleged corruption in New York politics.

Mr Smith, a Democratic state senator in New York, three Republican leaders in the state and two Democrats have been charged with wire fraud and bribery. The senator also been charged with extortion.

The criminal charges expose details about envelopes of cash being exchanged in hotels, restaurants and car parks in Manhattan and the payments of thousands of dollars to entice Republican party figures in the city to put Smith, who is from Queens, on the mayoral ballot for the GOP in the election in November.

Mr Smith, Republican city council member from Queens Daniel J Halloran III and two Republican leaders from Queens and the Bronx, Vincent Tabone and Joseph J Savino, were caught in a sting operation involving an FBI agent posing as a businessman who was secretly recording their talks.

Prosecutors claim that Mr Smith, through his relationship with a property developer, was involved in a plot to pay $80,000 (€62,000) in bribes to officials in return for $500,000 in state money to improve a road serving a development 35 miles north of Manhattan, service contracts and his name on the Republican ballot.

One tape submitted with the criminal case quotes Halloran saying at a meeting in a restaurant where, it is claimed, he was given $7,500 in cash: “Money is what greases the wheels – good, bad or indifferent.”

Prosecutors claim Mr Halloran, who denies the charges, told the undercover agent he wanted his “mortgage situation resolved” and to be named deputy police commissioner if Smith was elected mayor.

The arrests showed a “show-me-the-money culture seems to pervade every level of New York government”, said Preet Bharara, the Manhattan-based attorney prosecuting the case.He described the case as an “unappetising smorgasbord of graft and greed”.