A Queens businessman who once gave Congressman Gregory Meeks $40,000 is negotiating a plea deal with federal authorities in Brooklyn, according to court records obtained by The Post.
The “extensive plea negotiations” are scheduled to stretch into the end of February, leaving some to wonder if Meeks pal and Guyanese-born developer Edul Ahmad is helping the feds with other targets.
“That’s a lot of time to negotiate a plea,” said a New York criminal lawyer not connected with the case. “The feds must think there are bigger fish they can catch.”
Ahmad was arrested last July on charges of operating a $50 million mortgage-fraud scheme in Queens. He faces a maximum of 30 years in jail. He is out on $2.5 million bail.
Three alleged co-conspirators — Ahmad’s cricket pals and employees — were also indicted in an associated case last month, court records show.
Queens-based brokers Qayaam Farrouq, Mohamed Gurmohamed and Steve Massiah were charged with defrauding banks and mortgage companies by falsifying mortgage- loan applications to make borrowers appear more creditworthy to financial institutions, court records show.
Ahmad’s relationship with Meeks came under intense scrutiny last year after the Democratic congressman revealed that he had received the $40,000 payment from Ahmad in 2007. Meeks only revealed the payment after Ahmad was questioned by the FBI last year. He claims he repaid the money following the quizzing.
The House ethics committee is probing whether the payment was a gift and not a loan, as the congressman has maintained.
Federal authorities also began investigating Meeks last year because of his ties to a Queens charity — which stiffed Hurricane Katrina victims — that he helped start.