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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sandintoes who wrote (690246)	7/6/2005 12:25:28 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

N.Y. Developer Tied to Calif. Congressman Tue Jul 5,11:45 PM ET news.yahoo.com A New York developer convicted in a bid-rigging scheme reportedly bought Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's boat, then later arranged financing for the congressman's $2.55 million mansion. After the boat sale, the congressman allegedly offered to help developer Thomas Kontogiannis explore getting a presidential pardon. Kontogiannis' dealings with Cunningham were reported by Copley News Service and The Washington Post. Cunningham's attorney, K. Lee Blalack, said Tuesday that "Duke's business dealings with Mr. Kontogiannis have been entirely proper and any suggestion to the contrary is simply false." Kontogiannis bought the Kelly C, a 65-foot flat-bottom riverboat, from Cunningham for $600,000 in 2002. Cunningham, a San Diego-area Republican, had purchased the boat from a fellow congressman five years earlier for $200,000. In 2003, a mortgage company owned by Kontogiannis' nephew and daughter financed — with Kontogiannis' help — $1.1 million in mortgages toward the purchase of Cunningham's home in Rancho Santa Fe. Coastal Capital issued two mortgage loans to Cunningham in December 2003 — a $500,000 loan at around 10 percent and a $595,000 loan around 6 percent. A federal grand jury is investigating the sale of Cunningham's previous home in Del Mar in 2003 to a defense contractor at what may have been an inflated $1.675 million price. Mitchell J. Wade, founder of defense firm MZM Inc., sold the home nearly a year later for $975,000 — a loss of $700,000. Cunningham also lived on Wade's 42-foot yacht, the Duke Stir, docked in Washington, D.C. FBI agents Friday searched Cunningham's Rancho Santa Fe home, the Duke Stir and MZM's Washington offices. In Escondido on Tuesday, Cunningham told reporters "the only thing the investigations can do is help us so we can get this behind us." "We're going to fight this through to the end," he said before a speech to the Rotary Club that was closed to reporters. Asked if he planned to seek a ninth term, Cunningham replied: "Absolutely." Kontogiannis, of Glen Head, N.Y., pleaded guilty in October 2002 in a bid-rigging, bribe and kickback scheme concerning New York City school computer contracts worth millions of dollars, authorities said. He said he bought Cunningham's boat and the congressman allegedly offered to help him explore getting the presidential pardon. Cunningham put him in touch with a Washington law firm and recommended lawyers to speak to, Kontogiannis said. Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Copyright © 2005 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.