(By: Menachem Rephun) Sheldon Silver is in the midst of facing charges of political corruption over an alleged illegal payoff, while keeping his name off of state grants that prosecutors claim were used as a quid pro-quo.
Gary Klein, managing attorney at Silver’s firm Weitz and Luxenberg, testified at Silver’s trial Tuesday that Silver had reacted angrily to the delay of his referral fees. Silver had acquired those fees (more than $3.3 million) through referrals sent to Weitz and Luxenberg by oncologist Dr. Robert N. Taub. Taub was, in fact, receiving half a million dollars in state grants, courtesy of Silver.
Last week, Taub testified that that he had referred the patients to Silver’s firm, in exchange for the grants. Weitz and Luxenberg credited Silver, thus ensuring his $3.3 million payoff. According to Klein, Silver “was upset or angry that it took a couple of weeks from when a check was issued to when it reached his mail”. Ultimately, Klein had a stamp custom-made so that he could deposit Silver’s money. Firm co-founder Perry Weitz has claimed that Silver earned the money by not getting his “fingers dirty.” Klein went on to reiterate that Silver did not perform any real legal work, earning his income through referrals sent to the firm.
On Monday, prosecutor Howard Master lashed out at Assembly staffer Victor Franco on what measures, if any, he had taken to “conceal or not reveal the amount of discretionary funding that Sheldon Silver had allocated to items of his own choosing?”
Franco replied that, “it was our protocol not to print reports or anything that was specifically related to the speaker…If it was an Excel spreadsheet, we would suppress the line that had his name on it. Stuff like that.”
The defense countered by stating that other high officials had signed off on the grants, though admittedly, they weren’t in on the rest of the scheme. Klein himself has conceded that he is unaware of any other lawyer at Weitz and Luxenberg (besides Silver), who received an annual salary without performing any actual legal work.
Source: Silver Accused of Being Paid for Referrals, Not Legal Work
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