[Vision2020] Major GOP Fund-Raiser Indicted

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (August 12, 2005) Spokesman Review -

"A trail of intrigue that has followed an ill-fated gambling boat deal,
including a Mafia-style hit and lawsuits over alleged financial
irregularities, has now ensnared a man House Majority Leader Tom DeLay once
called one of his 'dearest friends.'"

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Major GOP fund-raiser indicted 

Abramoff, business partner accused of conspiracy, fraud in casino boat deal

Curt Anderson
Associated Press

August 12, 2005

MIAMI - A trail of intrigue that has followed an ill-fated gambling boat
deal, including a Mafia-style hit and lawsuits over alleged financial
irregularities, has now ensnared a man House Majority Leader Tom DeLay once
called one of his "dearest friends."

Jack Abramoff, once a powerful Washington lobbyist and major Republican
fund-raiser, was accused Thursday in a federal grand jury indictment with
conspiring with a partner to defraud two lenders out of $60 million in the
casino boat deal.

A few months after the September 2000 transaction, the man who was selling
the SunCruz Casinos fleet, Greek-born Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, 51, was
shot to death in his luxury car near his Fort Lauderdale office. Police
described it as a gangland-style slaying that remains unsolved.

The six-count conspiracy and wire fraud indictment stems from the $147
million purchase of SunCruz by Abramoff and a partner, New York businessman
Adam Kidan.

Prosecutors say they concocted a fake $23 million wire transfer to Boulis to
make it appear they were putting a cash stake into the transaction.

"That document was counterfeit. The defendants never transferred these funds
and never made a cash equity contribution toward the purchase of SunCruz,"
said U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of Miami.

Abramoff is also under investigation by a federal grand jury in Washington,
D.C., and the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee for deals in which he and
an associate received at least $66 million from six Indian tribes to lobby
for their casinos and other interests. The tribes question whether the
charges were excessive.

Congressional Democrats have also raised questions about Abramoff's ties to
DeLay, who is not named in either an earlier SunCruz civil lawsuit filed by
the lenders nor the indictment released Thursday.

DeLay has asked the House Ethics Committee to review allegations that
Abramoff or his clients paid some of DeLay's overseas travel expenses. DeLay
has denied knowing that the expenses were paid by Abramoff.

Abramoff collected more than $100,000 for President Bush's 2004 re-election
campaign and raised thousands for DeLay and other Republican members of
Congress. He also was friends with former Christian Coalition leader Ralph
Reed, now a GOP candidate for lieutenant governor in Georgia.

Abramoff denies any wrongdoing in the SunCruz deal and insists that his
signature on the wire transfer was obtained under false pretenses, said his
Miami defense lawyer, Neal Sonnett.

Kidan's attorney in Florida, Martin Jaffe of Hollywood, said his client
would surrender voluntarily to federal authorities today in Fort Lauderdale.
Abramoff was taken into FBI custody late Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles
and will spend the night in a federal detention center, said bureau
spokeswoman Cathy Viray. He was set to appear today in federal court.

Abramoff and Kidan each face up to 30 years in prison and thousands of
dollars in fines if convicted on all six counts of conspiracy and wire
fraud. Prosecutors also plan to seek forfeiture of the $60 million lost by
the lenders.

The two lenders who were allegedly defrauded in the SunCruz deal were
Foothill Capital Inc., a subsidiary of Wells Fargo, and Citadel Equity Fund
Ltd., based in the Cayman Islands, according to court documents.

They had required a $23 million equity contribution from Abramoff and Kidan
as a condition of financing the SunCruz deal. The allegedly fake wire
transfer on Sept. 21, 2000, indicated that the pair had contributed that
amount to Boulis, who is named as an unindicted co-conspirator in court
documents.

In addition to the allegedly fake wire transfer, prosecutors say Abramoff
and Kidan made a series of false statements on their loan applications to
beef up their assets and limit liabilities.

SunCruz continues to operate gambling cruises under new ownership after
emerging from bankruptcy.

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Take care, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that they
are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say
about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."

-- Robert F. Kennedy