Metro

B’klyn Sen. Kruger will surrender to face corruption charges

State Sen. Carl Kruger, a powerful Brooklyn Democrat, will surrender to federal authorities Thursday to face corruption charges along with an Upper West Side lobbyist, sources told the Post.

Kruger been under investigation since 2007 by Brooklyn federal prosecutors, who are probing allegations that he performed official acts in exchange for campaign donations.

But that still-ongoing probe is not related to the charges that Kruger, the ranking Democrat on the Senate’s Finance Committee, will face today in Manhattan federal court, sources told The Post.

Also expected to surrender to face charges with Kruger is Richard Lipsky.

Lipsky is lobbyist well-known for helping small businesses oppose plans that would benefit larger business including big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart — but who recently has been advising the developers of Brooklyn’s controversial Atlantic Yards redevelopment project.

The FBI declined to comment tonight.

Kruger’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman and Lipsky’s attorney Gerald Lefcourt also declined to comment.

A Democratic political operative told The Post, “Everyone knows that Carl has been using his post to take money for years, so this isn’t surprising. What’s more surprising is that it didn’t happen 10 years ago.”

Kruger has one of the Legislature’s largest campaign war chests: $2.6 million as of last July.

Lipsky was fired Wednesday by “The Committee to Save New York,” a coalition set up to lobby for Gov. Cuomo’s budget. Committee spokesman Bill Cunningham said Lipsky, who was retained just three week ago, was booted “to remove any distraction from our work.”

Last week, a lawyer ensnared in the pending Brooklyn federal corruption probe into Kruger pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI agents about a pay-to-play bribe.

Michael Levitis, an attorney and restaurant owner, admitted in Brooklyn federal court that he lied when questioned about his involvement in an effort to pay off Kruger through an intermediary — who he didn’t realize was acting as an informant for the FBI.

Levitis allegedly acted as a go-between in a pay-to-play scheme to help Kruger raise money in exchange for official favors.

In April 2009, Levitis was caught on a secretly recorded audiotape telling the informant that he needed to pay off Kruger’s long-time chief of staff and campaign treasurer Jason Koppel to get assistance on an upcoming official business inspection.

The informant was instructed by Levitis that he would “have to do a fund-raiser” for Kruger.

On the FBI’s instruction, the informant recorded another conversation with Levitis, and agreed to give him $3,000. About $2,000 of that money was allegedly for Koppel, and the rest allegedly for Levitis.

Following his 2010 arrest, Levitis was asked by federal prosecutors to help them investigate allegations that Kruger performed official acts in exchange for campaign donations, a source told The Post.

Levitis, however, did not become a cooperating witness.

Additional reporting by Brendan Scott, Rich Calder, and Bruce Golding