A Democratic primary rival of indicted Brooklyn state Sen. John Sampson is calling for a state probe of the incumbent’s shady finances.
Dale Smitherman on Thursday urged state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to investigate claims that Sampson is violating campaign finance laws by running his campaign a deficit and failing to disclose sources of contributions.
The Post on Monday reported that Sampson’s campaign treasury has a deficit of $28,746.
Smitherman also noted that a dozen donations listed the same “false” address: the senator’s office.
“There is no bank in the country that will allow a political campaign to write checks off an account that is $28,000 in debt. The only possibility is that Senator Sampson is being dishonest about his campaign’s sources of revenue in an effort to cover up the truth,” Smitherman said in a letter to Schneiderman.
He urged the AG to freeze Sampson’s campaign account, audit prior spending and file charges.
Sampson campaign treasurer Bernard Alter said Smitherman is making hay of simple accounting snafus that he will correct in the next filing.
“I’m trying to resolve it,” Alter said.
Alter said the Sampson’s campaign account will be in the black in the next filing. He also said he mistakenly listed the donors under the senator’s office address, which was later corrected.
“Smitherman is raising a big, bogus campaign issue,” Alter said.
Sampson was indicted by the feds last year for allegedly stealing $440,000 from housing escrow accounts and using part of the proceeds to fund a failed prior bid to become Brooklyn district attorney.
Sampson, who has yet to stand trial, maintains his innocence.