Bruno and Silver both refuse to give any information about their “private business interests”, Gee, maybe we now will all know why.

Feds follow cash trail

ALBANY — A federal grand jury investigation of Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno is focusing on hundreds of thousands of dollars funneled by a wealthy businessman into the senator’s private consulting company to allegedly influence the powerful Republican lawmaker, the Times Union has learned.

FBI agents have used federal grand jury subpoenas to sift through the business records of Bruno and his associate, Jared E. Abbruzzese, a Loudonville resident and the senator’s close friend.

E. Stewart Jones, an attorney for Abbruzzese and his wife, Sherrie, confirmed Thursday that Abbruzzese paid money to Bruno’s consulting company. Bruno has refused to reveal his consulting clients or his consulting income.

In a statement issued Thursday through a spokesman, the senator said he has been transparent in his legislative duties but that his clients in the private sector are entitled to privacy.

“As a part-time legislator, he and others, are allowed to have outside business interests and his clients have an expectation of privacy andconfidentiality that the law requires,” said John McArdle, a Bruno spokesman. “While any client is free to disclose the nature of their business relationships, Senator Bruno is not going to violate that confidentiality and will respect those privacy agreements.” Jones, meanwhile, did not dispute that Abbruzzese paid Bruno’s firm several hundred thousand dollars, but he declined to reveal precisely how much was paid or what Bruno’s consulting work entailed.

“It’s not excessive,” he said. “Plus, it was over a relatively limited period of time and consistent with the services provided and the standards in the business.”

“There was no quid pro quo here,” Jones said. “Everything that was done here is fully defensible and legitimate and explainable.”

In response to federal grand jury subpoenas, Jones said, the financial and business records of Abbruzzese and his wife, as well as their various companies and corporations, have been turned over to the FBI.

“There’s no substance to the investigation,” Jones said. “I think the investigation will show nothing has happened here that isn’t perfectly innocent and commonplace. Mr. Abbruzzese has a right to work with Mr. Bruno … and Sen. Bruno is not limited to his legislative responsibilities.”

Federal authorities are examining whether mail fraud or money laundering statutes were violated in connection with the business relationship, according to a source familiar with the case.

A provision under federal fraud statutes makes it a crime for a public official or others to “defraud another of the intangible right of honest services.” The statute was invoked to prosecute Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty last January to corruptly providing things of value to public officials, including trips, campaign contributions, and meals and entertainment in order to gain their political influence for clients.

The disclosure of the Albany FBI probe has been hurtful to Abbruzzese and Bruno, Jones said. Bruno is seeking to keep his powerful Republican leadership post in the Senate, while Abbruzzese is faced with the stigma of being involved in a sprawling federal grand jury investigation.