Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed the state Senate for records relating to $105,000 in grants Senate President Malcolm Smith secured since 2001 for a controversial Queens charity he founded, sources said yesterday.
“The subpoena issued to the Senate was for ‘member items’ appropriated by Senator Smith” to New Direction Local Development Corp., one source said, using the formal name for Albany porkbarrel funds.
New Direction is being probed by the feds for alleged misuse of funds.
The federal probe follows a series of recent Post stories revealing that the charity — founded by Smith and US Rep Greg Meeks (D-Queens) — provided only $1,392 of at least $31,000 raised to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Smith denied any wrongdoing, insisting he is not involved in how New Direction spends its money.
The people who actually run New Direction, however, have ties to Smith, his mentor — powerhouse minister Floyd Flake — and Meeks.
They include: Chairman Mortimer Lawrence, a former special counsel to Smith; and treasurer Edwin Reid, former head of the development arm of Flake’s church.