Michael D. Blutrich/Saf T Lok/pedophilia/convicted on 22 counts
of racketeering, fraud, and money-laundering. RE:Banking On Andy Cuomo
Official Signatory of Seller: SAF-T-LOK INC.
By: /s/ John L. Gardner ------------------------------------ Name: John L. Gardner
Title: President
Official Signatory of Buyer:
FIRSTIMPEX, INC.
By: /s/ Michael D. Blutrich
--------------------------------
Name: Michael D. Blutrich
Title: As Attorney, POA
MERCACORP INC.
By: /s/ Michael D. Blutrich
----------------------------------
Name: Michael D. Blutrich
Title: As Attorney, POA
DAFICO INVESTMENT CORP.
By: /s/ Michael D. Blutrich
----------------------------------
Name: Michael D. Blutrich
Title: As Attorney, POA
Title:
source: 8-k for saf t lok ink filed on 11/14/97
========================================
Banking On Andy Cuomo
The American Spectator
Jan, 1999 SAM DEALEY & JAMES RING ADAMS
Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational purposes
of research and open discussion.
------------------------------
Part 2
THE WITNESS FORMERLY
KNOWN AS BLUTRICH
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
Another New York investor in Oceanmark was Michael Blutrich, a name partner in
Cuomo's firm. In 1996 Blutrich was exposed as a target in one of the
largest-ever FBI fraud probes, and in November 1998 was convicted on 22 counts
of racketeering, fraud, and money-laundering. In that scam, Blutrich and others
plotted with the then-chairman of the Orlando, Florida-based National Heritage
Life Insurance Company to loot some $237 million from the company through
inside loans and sham real-estate deals.
In 1990 the Blutrich group approached Heritage and offered to invest $4
million. There was just one problem: They only had a million. So the investors
illegally "borrowed" the rest from an escrow account at Blutrich's firm. Soon
after, a $3-million advance for "future commissions" was drawn from the
insurance company by the Blutrich group and deposited into the firm's escrow
account. The investors bought land near the Catskills in New York, then billed
Heritage for millions more than they had paid.
Another sham loan involved a Bronx land parcel owned by 4305 Associates, a
two-person corporation formed in 1988 and named for the parcel's street
address. Blutrich was vice-president and 50-percent shareholder; Lucille
Falcone, president and equal shareholder. Blutrich persuaded a cohort to pose
as a real-estate appraiser, who valued the property at $2,346,000. It was
actually worth only $700,000. Heritage made a $1.5 million loan, a large chunk
of which found its way into Blutrich's pockets.
Predictably, Heritage soon found itself in financial straits, and its directors
became uneasy for their shareholders, 26,000 (75 percent) of whom were elderly.
Two years later, the insurance company collapsed, a $440-million debacle. The
Blutrich group, meanwhile, had walked away with $93 million in laundered money,
and sunk over two and a half times that much in bad deals. By July 1996,
Heritage's chairman pled guilty to the scam and received eight years in prison
in exchange for his cooperation. Blutrich, along with several associates, was
indicted the following month and has since begun to cooperate with the FBI. One
of the loans that federal agents are investigating was a piddling $300,000 to
underwrite Scores, a New York strip club which the Feds charge became a racket
for the Gambino crime family.
In exchange for testifying and helping the FBI, Blutrich recently entered the
federal Witness Protection Program--and a substantially discounted lifestyle.
In court documents, one of Blutrich's former associates, Shalom Weiss, charges
that during the heyday of the scam Blutrich dropped $50,000 per week
"supporting a lavish lifestyle and expensive habits." The lavishness included a
Porsche, a yacht, and a $12,000 wristwatch, all of which he gave up as part of
his plea agreement.
Blutrich's expensive tastes included a passion for boys' basketball. According
to Weiss, "much of Blutrich's ill-gotten gains were spent supporting or
covering up" pedophilia. "He exploited the young boys he raped and molested. He
beguiled the parents of the boys whose basketball teams he coached so he could
meet his prurient need." In 1994, after a two-year sting, Blutrich was charged
with multiple counts of sexual assault on a minor (to which he secured a
sweetheart plea-bargain), and a story in the December 1998 Penthouse quotes an
anonymous partner in Blutrich's law firm saying, "Everyone knew what Michael
was doing with these young boys. On more than one occasion a mother of one of
these boys would come up to the office screaming and complaining about what
Blutrich was doing." According to the story, several sources "close to the
situation" said Cuomo left the firm in 1988 in part because of Blutrich's
behavior. A former partner of Cuomo's disputes this, however. "That's a total
lie. No one had knowledge that [Blutrich] was involved in any of this s--t,"
says the source, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Cuomo downplays his relationship with Blutrich. In a letter to TAS, the
secretary's Fort Lauderdale attorneys wrote, "Many years ago, Secretary Cuomo
practiced in a law firm with Mr. Blutrich and participated with many investors,
including Mr. Blutrich, in a tax-credit syndication." In fact, along with
Blutrich and Lucille Falcone, Cuomo was one of three general partners in L&M
Associates, a tax-sheltered oil and gas investment. And although the
partnership began many years ago (September 17, 1986), it was not until January
21, 1997--the day before his Senate confirmation hearing to become housing
secretary--that Cuomo quit doing business with Blutrich and sold his interest
in L&M at a loss. A monthly disbursement check to Cuomo from the venture, a
copy of which TAS has obtained, bears Blutrich's signature, and an accompanying
letter shows that it was mailed in 1995 to Cuomo's HUD address, with "best
personal regards."
Cuomo did not have to sell his stake in L&M to become secretary; he need only
have recused himself from decisions involving the partnership (which he had
done two weeks earlier). That he ultimately did sell seems to suggest he was
troubled by doing business with an accused criminal. Yet Blutrich's fraud case
had been widely reported months earlier, and Cuomo's former business associates
had known about it almost immediately. "After...the firm was raided by the
FBI...a former employee called me," says Cuomo's former partner. "I think that
call, I'm sure, went out all over the city. And that's when I became aware that
the FBI was investigating Michael in connection with Scores and the Mob."
Presumably, it was only the prospect of public scrutiny that prompted Cuomo to
finally withdraw his investment.
BETTER LEFT UNSAID
Less than a month after the ink dried on the second Oceanmark settlement in
November 1996, Andrew Cuomo was nominated for HUD secretary. A month later,
accompanied by his wife Kerry Kennedy (whom he had married in 1990), one of
their two daughters, his mother Matilda, sister Maria, and mother-in-law Ethel
Kennedy, Cuomo sailed through an adulatory confirmation hearing notable only
for what was not brought up: Oceanmark Federal Savings and Loan.
The chairman of the Senate committee charged with confirming Andrew was Alfonse
D'Amato, whose hearty dislike for the Cuomos was well known--and generously
reciprocated--after many years' rivalry in New York politics. D'Amato might
have been expected to turn the hearing into a blood bath, given the ample press
coverage Oceanmark had received in the preceding decade. What's more, Florida's
Connie Mack also sat on the committee. AHUD lawyer confirms that a Florida GOP
official sent committee members a package alerting them to the Oceanmark
imbroglio. Amazingly, however, the thrift never came up.
Senate Banking sources say the oversight had more to do with D'Amato protecting
his own chairmanship than Andrew Cuomo's well-being. There was speculation at
the time that Cuomo might challenge the New York senator in his 1998 campaign,
and that he posed a significant threat. (A Mason-Dixon poll conducted at the
time showed Cuomo edging out D'Amato 41-38 percent.) According to these
sources, it was understood that if D'Amato could protect his seat by
sequestering Cuomo on HUD's top floor, so much the better. "Generally a lot of
people felt there were understandings that obviously they were going to try to
stay out of each other's way," says a senior committee aide.
Another reason that Cuomo's involvement with Oceanmark wasn't mentioned at the
hearing may be that D'Amato had his own not-so-kosher connections to the New
York Group. During the 1980's D'Amato was embroiled in a nasty HUD scandal of
alleged favoritism, back-scratching, and campaign donor quid pro quos.
Goldstein, a heavy D'Amato donor, and seven members of the New York Group
realized a $17-million windfall from a juicy HUD packagepatched together by a
senior HUDofficial, Joseph Monticciolo, and pushed through by D'Amato. Upon
leaving HUD, Monticciolo became the titular head of a Goldstein investment
group that included these New York Group members. Congressional and Justice
probes were launched. Ultimately Monticciolo rolled and said D'Amato asked him
to cover for the senator, but the case could not be made. These eight investors
at one time owned nearly half of the New York Group's shares in Oceanmark,
according to documents from Cuomo's files.
If D'Amato wasn't going to bring up Oceanmark, neither was Cuomo--even if it
meant a material omission on his nomination form. Cuomo will not explain why he
did not list the Oceanmark suit among the court cases in which he had been a
defendant. His HUD lawyers wrote TAS that "The FBI, Department of Justice, and
U.S. Senate (Republican controlled) have all stated that all nomination forms
and procedures were correctly complied with by Mr. Cuomo." But there is no
public record of any such statements. What's more, according to the Office of
Government Ethics, only the Senate Banking committee would have evaluated
Cuomo's questionnaire. Asked why Cuomo did not divulge that he was investigated
by federal banking regulators, HUD lawyers reply with word games. "Mr. Cuomo
was merely a witness in connection with an FHLBB examination of Oceanmark,"
they claim, and consequently not directly the subject of the inquiry.
Young Cuomo is considered one of the Democratic Party's fastest-rising stars.
He has indicated he'd like to play a major role in Al Gore's New York campaign
machine in 2000, and Washington rumor holds that he's a strong contender for
the second spot on a Gore ticket. More recent speculation predicts a possible
run for retiring Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's seat in 2000. The GOP
opponent in that race could turn out to be none other than Alfonse D'Amato. If
that's the case, you can bet the bank on one mud ball that neither candidate
will be throwing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------ |
