An employee of former New York Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr.’s healthcare firm will testify that he conspired to circumvent campaign finance laws by using “straw donors” to make political contributions, prosecutors said.
Brooklyn federal prosecutors told a judge yesterday that Maria Cruz will take the stand at Espada’s upcoming corruption trial and explain how the former senator asked campaign workers to contribute money – even though the Bronx pol would be slipping them the cash under the table
“If they don’t have the money – take my money and I’ll give it right back to them,” Espada allegedly said to Cruz, Assistant US Attorney Todd Kaminsky told a federal judge yesterday.
The arrangement appears to skirt election laws that cap individual political donations and was part of an effort to fraudulently obtain four-to-one campaign matching funds from New York City’s Campaign Finance Board, officials said.
Cruz, who worked at Espada’s Soundview Healthcare Network, pleaded guilty in state court to diverting health care funds to help underwrite Espada’s failed 2001 bid for the Bronx borough presidency.
Defense attorney Susan Necheles said the donation allegations are old and bear no relevance to the case leveled against the pol.
Espada is scheduled to stand trial next month on charges that he embezzled government funds by allegedly using his health-care business to pay for a wide range of personal expenses.