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More Trouble For Cunningham Buddy
Looks like Thomas Kontogiannis -- who's now in jail for helping launder bribes for his friend, former GOP Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham -- has more legal woes. He's been accused in a newly filed lawsuit of participating in a scheme to steal more than $50 million, reports Newsday.
The lawsuit, filed by Manhattan-based DLJ Mortgage Capital, alleges that Kontogiannis and others drew up false loan applications on residential properties in Brooklyn and Queens, which they either owned or planned to develop.
Newsday goes on:
The applications were approved by one of Kontogiannis' mortgage funding firms, which then obtained the money from DLJ and the other institutions, according to court papers.DLJ and the other lenders eventually discovered that the mortgages were never recorded, the complaint stated, adding that the scheme was only uncovered when monthly mortgage payments ended. A further investigation revealed that many of the properties were then sold by Kontogiannis and the other defendants, DLJ said in its complaint.
Kontogiannis' wife Georgia, and other relatives, are also named as defendants.
Cunningham pleaded guilty in 2005 to conspiracy to commit bribery and is serving an eight year sentence in federal prison.
During Cunningham's recent sentencing, a prosecutor told the judge that there was an ongoing criminal investigation into Kontogiannis' alleged mortgage fraud.
Josh
Zachary
Kontogiannis must have really pissed some powerful people off. Getting eight (8) years in prison for what every Senator and Representative is doing when they accept "Campaign Contributions".
November 20, 2008 9:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Every Senator and Representative isn't doing what Duke did. They are usually a little more circumspect. Dumb ol' Duke left written evidence of the quid pro quo. Maybe he just couldn't commit it to memory.
The person Kontogiannis pissed off was his nephew, John T. Michael, K's protege and accomplice during a decade's long crime spree. Reportedly, JTM thought his stuff didn't stink and he insulted the AUSAs during the grand jury proceeding. Perhaps that is why the AUSAs wanted JTM to accept a plea agreement and spend a year in prison, while Uncle Tommy was going to get off with probation again. TommyK and his lawyer volunteered their time and effort to get the nephew to agree to the plea, but JTM balked.
Fearful of having to spend time for his misdeeds, JTM did what TommyK always did. He squealed on somebody else. He blew the lid off of Uncle Tommy's mortgage fraud. Now Uncle Tommy has to serve 8 yrs in the slammer and JTM got probation.
November 20, 2008 10:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Anyone with more knowledge than I know why this new lawsuit is a suit and not a criminal indictment?
Have we finally come to the point where fraud is no longer considered a criminal act even at these lower levels of important people?
November 20, 2008 10:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
After the feds raided Kontogiannis' businesses they knew he was laundering money. They shut down the mortgage company his nephew was running. Kontogiannis then became involved in some other investigation. It has never been clear exactly what that investigation was about or what happened as a result. That other investigation was the reason given for K's special treatment in the Cunningham bribery case. There was an enormous secrecy that surrounded his role. Documents were sealed and those that were released were heavily redacted.
One hypothesis is that Kontogiannis was scamming the feds.
The feds have never charged Kontogiannis for his mortgage fraud or related criminal activity. Why? I don't think financial fraudstering is high on the Bush DOJ list. When JTM's lawyer went public with the details of the mortgage fraud, the local San Diego AUSAs said they didn't know K was still fraudstering and that it was some other jurisdiction's responsibility to prosecute anyway.
There are several civil cases that have been filed by some of the people and companies that Kontogiannis duped. K's financial empire is unravelling and there are likely to be more cases.
November 20, 2008 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, maybe I missed something,
but it's the Dukie doing eight years hard, isn't it? Tommy G. didn't get time, at least not according to this article.
November 20, 2008 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
TommyK got 8 yrs in the Duke bribery case. TommyK's mortgage fraud was not a charge in that case. It was discovered (and ignored) by the feds, but no charges were brought against him for the mortgage fraud in the Duke bribery case. TommyK is now serving his time although he has filed a plea to have his sentence overturned.
November 20, 2008 11:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Kontogiannis' pleaded guilty and in his plea agreement the AUSAs recommended probation. His nephew refused to plead guilty, he fought it and in the process, released documents with evidence of K's mortgage frauds, identity theft and a few other things. In addition, K was caught vacationing in Greece after he had turned his passport over to the court. And then K did not show up for his sentencing hearing but decided to have elective heart surgery that he had been putting off for years. So the judge was pissed and sentenced him to 8 yrs. He could have given him 10 yrs. In a plea agreement, the AUSAs make a recommendation, but the judge can give as much time as is allowed under the guidelines.
The nephew struck a new plea agreement. He did get probation. I suspect he is co-operating on some other cases, but that is just a hunch on my part.
November 20, 2008 11:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
the newsday article says:
Oct 2 was the sentencing of John T Michael, the nephew. This seems to reinforce my hunch that JTM is co-operating in an investigation of his uncle's mortgage fraud and that the feds are pursuing a criminal case.
November 20, 2008 12:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Looks like the PARDONS are gonna wrap up the DUKE CUNNINGHAM problem:
HINT: an Acting GOP appointed US ATTY named CAROL LAM was fired in the middle of a very complex can of worms tying DUKE to LYONS tied to SAN DIEGO 9/11 hijackers getting their student visas rubberstamped at a diploma mill set up by former Air Force General WILLIAM LYONS.
FALSE FLAG...with San Diego FBI working with off the books informant who "aided and abetted" the San Diego cell...and...this informant tied to the guy who also RENTED THE HOUSE THAT THE UFO CULT "Heavons Gate" used during SAN DIEGO FBI'S OPERATION HEAVONS GATE aka FBI'S OPER SLAMMER aka CIA MKULTRA aka NSA MIND CONTROL.
November 20, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Secret intelligence mission, my rearend.
Anyone else notice Tommy K has not been linked to any NYS politicians? We know for a fact Kontogiannis bribed politicians and government officials at the local and federal level. He was also a fundraiser for Rick Lazio back in the days.
I doubt a very wealthy, crooked mortgage broker and real estate developer who operated out of Queens for years escaped the notice of Pataki, Gargano and D'Amato.
Some readers might recall, too, that Mrs Tommy K, Georgia, made a series of contributions to various Republican congressional candidates in 2000 and 2004. In his own name, Mr. Tommy K contributed at least $6k to the NRCC in the same time period.
One unanswered question I have is whether George J. Kontogiannis, architect, real estate developer and GOP contributor in Columbus OH, is related to Tommy K. I know George K. has done deals with HUD which everyone knows is a hotbed of corruption, no matter who is in office.
Then again, maybe Tommy K's secret mission has something to do with the bank in Texas owned by his daughter.
November 20, 2008 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink