He feasted like a king — but hated the company.
A federal agent testified Wednesday that Uncle Sam picked up hefty tabs at fancy restaurants in 2012 and 2013 – including Sparks Steakhouse in Manhattan — while he was undercover wining and dining former Councilman Dan Halloran and others allegedly involved in a failed $200,000 bribery scheme to get Democratic state Sen. Malcolm Smith the Republican line in last year’s mayoral election.
“Is it fair to say that you enjoyed your role?” Hallaron’s lawyer, Vinoo Varghese, asked the agent, known as “Raj,” during cross-examination of Halloran’s White Plains federal corruption trial.
Raj fired back that he “had good wine … and a nice steak, but I was not enjoying myself” during his undercover encounters with Halloran, Smith, Queens Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone and others while pretending to be a free-spending, politically connected developer.
“I was not out with friends,” the agent said. “It was not a night out on the town. I was out with people who were committing crimes, and it was not enjoyable.”
The agent said he couldn’t recall how much the food bills at Sparks, the Ritz-Carlton in Westchester and City Hall Restaurant in Lower Manhattan totaled.
Both Smith and Tabone had also been on trial with Halloran, but they were granted mistrials June 17 over issues with recently disclosed taped calls by the government’s star witness. They face new trials on Jan. 5.
Halloran’s trial had since been delayed so his lawyers could digest more than 92 hours of the newly released audio tapes – including 28 hours spoken in Yiddish. The tapes were secretly recorded by Moses Stern, a crooked Rockland County developer who turned federal witness to try to dodge jail time.
Smith, the feds say, turned to Stern and the undercover agent for money and help pulling off the scheme. The senator, in turn, promised them $500,000 in transportation funds for a project in Spring Valley, NY.
Halloran is accused of pocketing $20,500 in cash bribes for acting as an intermediary who set up the cross-party negotiations to get Smith the Republican line in the 2013 mayor’s race.
The feds say Smith also plotted with Stern for another $40,000 in cash bribes to be paid to Tabone and former Bronx GOP Chairman Joseph Savino.
Tabone allegedly received $25,000, and Savino copped a plea in November to accepting a $15,000 bribe while alleging that Halloran masterminded the scheme. Savino is expected to testify against Halloran on Friday.
Halloran is also facing charges of allegedly pocketing $18,300 in cash bribes and $6,500 in straw-donor campaign donations for agreeing to steer $80,000 of council discretionary funding for his district to a company he believed was controlled by those who paid him the bribes.
Both Smith and Halloran face up to 45 years behind bars if convicted, while Tabone faces 25 years in prison.