Metro

Liu-nacy! Embattled comp advises pols on money

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Beleaguered city Comptroller John Liu’s campaign treasurer is facing fraud charges and his entire political fund-raising operation is ensnared in a federal probe — but, without a hint of irony, the Queens pol advised City Hall yesterday on how to manage its finances.

For 45 minutes, Liu testified and answered City Council questions about Mayor Bloomberg’s 2013 budget proposal, agreeing with the proposed sale of 2,000 taxi medallions to raise $1 billion.

Like Bloomberg, he also opposed holding off on pension contributions to temporarily fill budget gaps, calling it “kicking the can down the road.”

A visitor would never have known that Liu’s campaign treasurer, Jia “Jenny” Hou, is facing up to 60 years in prison for allegedly conspiring to skirt campaign-finance laws or that a key donor, Xing Wu “Oliver” Pan, had been indicted by the feds on similar charges.

But in one awkward moment, Councilman Michael Nelson (D-Brooklyn) pressed Liu on getting Wall Street to help reduce the borrowing costs “as long as it’s not Gordon Gekko” — referring to the corrupt “greed is good” character in the film “Wall Street.”

“We have no dealings with anyone like Gordon Gekko,” said Liu.

At another point, Liu discussed providing more data on city contracts.

“We all believe transparency leads to better government,” he said.

Liu was also asked for his response to the calls for his resignation by newspaper editorial boards and fellow mayoral candidate Tom Allon.

“What resignation calls?” he responded. “That’s my response.”

Separately, a lengthy profile shed new light on Liu’s private thinking.

“I always knew my campaign finances would be scrutinized. Fund-raising efforts in the Asian community have often been closely scrutinized and questioned,” Liu told New York magazine.

“We knew we had to be very careful, to look over every credit-card slip, every check. I am confident we did that to the best of our ability. So I am not worried. Not at all.”

His comments were made in January before Hou, 25, was arrested.

Liu also tearfully discussed his father’s bank-fraud conviction 13 years ago.

“I’ve always felt guilty about what happened to my father,” he told New York. “Because sometimes I think if I hadn’t run for office, if I wasn’t in the public eye, perhaps my father would never even have been targeted.’’