GOP Operative Indicted For Stealing Bloomberg's Money

Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance announced that Republican operative John Haggerty was indicted for allegedly stealing $1.1 million of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's money. The Post explains, "The indictment came after The Post ran a series of stories detailing how the mayor wired $1.2 million to the state Independence Party in two transactions right before the [2009] election so it could transfer $750,000 to Haggerty, a once-trusted member of Bloomberg's campaign team, for the poll-watching effort."

The Daily News adds where the money probably went, "Haggerty worked in Bloomberg's Sixth Ave. campaign office but was not on the payroll, and told staffers there he was a volunteer. He has never explained how he spent the bulk of the $750,000, but the Daily News reported in February that he bought out his brother's share of their $1.6 million family home six days later."

The Manhattan DA's office charged Haggarty and his "Special Election Operations" with grand larceny, money laundering and falsifying business records:

SPECIAL ELECTION OPERATIONS, LLC, was purported to be a vendor for the Election Day operation, to be paid for extensive work by the Independence Party. At the time the work needed to be done, the company had not even been created, and Mayor Bloomberg and his campaign staff did not know about its purported existence or its alleged involvement in the Election Day operation... HAGGERTY created the company on December 3, 2009 - a month after Election Day - and within days opened a bank account in the company's name. On December 11, 2009, the Party wired $750,000 from its housekeeping account to the SPECIAL ELECTION OPERATIONS account. HAGGERTY then used approximately $600,000 of the stolen funds to purchase a home.

After Election Day, HAGGERTY tried to conceal his theft and laundering of the money by falsely telling Mayor Bloomberg's campaign workers that he had actually made significant expenditures on ballot security and poll watching. To corroborate those false claims, HAGGERTY presented a campaign representative with three bogus paychecks for poll watchers.

Vance said, "This case is about theft and greed, but it is also about transparency and the integrity of the electoral process. Haggerty grossly abused his position within the campaign that trusted him with important matters. At a time when the public is particularly distrusting about our state government processes, his use of a shell company to conceal his involvement from the public simply further breeds cynicism."

The Post also reports, "The mayor had been so pleased with his efforts that he sent him a separate $120,000 contribution three weeks after the election so Haggerty could launch his own political action committee." The mayor declined to comment on the matter, saying only, "The district attorney, as you know, has asked us not to comment on the case and we'll respect the district attorney's wishes... There's nothing else I can say about this."

Haggerty is now "volunteering" for gubernatorial hopeful Carl Paladino's campaign; Paladino's spokesman told the Daily Politics, "Unlike a typical career politician, Carl Paladino doesn't throw his friends under the bus. John Haggerty joined our campaign just 45 days ago and he quickly became a part of our family. He's a loyal and straightforward man of character. And, like all Americans, he enters this investigation with the presumption of innocence. We are satisfied with John's version of events and he will remain on our team in his present capacity."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on June 14, 2010 1:04 PM

Comments [rss]

potsmoker

i hope they give tihs guy a medal,

or at least i predict the charges will be dropped since he probably knows too much about bloombergs and everyone elses shady money moves.

I.M. Thidobeau

By I.M. Thidobeau

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, folks. Sly Cy's First Big Power Trip might turn even dirtier...

Between Napoleon Bonaparte Bloomberg, Sly Cy and the good for nothing "Independence Party," there is more intrigue to come. Let's see if Haggerty gets squeezed and reveals the real truth. Will Vance himself be implicated in this scandal when the truth comes out? Maura Keaney? Mark Guma? The story may go something like this. Mark Guma is paid over a million dollars by Vance's campaign for DA for communications work in the past eight months, minus the 270 thousand dollars that is still outstanding and reported as "loans" or liabilities of the campaign. Guma's wife just happened to be Bloomberg's "Field Director" who worked with John Haggerty during His Honor's campaign when the fires started. Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Mark Guma showed his true benevolence by writing off more than $96K in loans he made to Vince's campaign. Sly Cy reported this to the State Board of Elections by doing a fancy (um, illegal) end-around campaign finance laws. A pay off? Stay tuned. This may get really interesting.

http://www.elections.state.ny.us/

JacqueMehoff

1.1 million for poll watchers? why did bloombag need to hire and pay this guy to do something his own campaign could have done. and, this guy used that money to buy a house, a mil can buy a nice house.

Theodore Wirth

"Throw him under the bus"?

Before you do that, I advise that you choose your line carefully because many services have been cut. Consequently, you may be waiting a while for a bus to throw him under.

Dear fellow Gothamist readers, paint this picture in your mind: A suit holding a writhing Haggerty by the collar while simultaneously cussing out the lousy MTA service...

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

This guy is taking the fall for Bloomberg since he knows there is a cushy job waiting for us as there was for Steven Rattner.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

there is a cushy job waiting for me since he isn't cooperating with the DA. Bloomberg is involved which is why he doesn't support this prosecution even thought supposedly he was robbed.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

i meant for HIM.

Guest

If you could keep your multiple personalities straight, you might be able to avoid typos and such.

John L

And let's remember this investigation and arrest isn't Bloomberg's doing, he's actually against it. This investigation was retaliation from the DA's office for Bloomberg's harsh criticism of the DA's insistence to split monies it recovered from its investigations between the city and the state. Bloomberg opposed it, claiming that all of the money should come directly to the city. Then there were insinuations from City Hall that the DA's office was doing something improper because the money was divided into more than 60 bank accounts. The DA's office said nothing was improper and welcomed an independent investigation. So as a parting gift, former Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau started an investigation into Bloomberg's election finances and this arrest is the result of that.

So don't get it confused Bloomberg is scared that this could open a whole can of worms for him but in reality this guy will take the fall for it and get probation maybe pay some fines and that'll be it. This new DA Vance doesn't have the balls to take on

NY's favorite billionaire, it would be political suicide for him. Morgenthau did it because he was on his way out, so he had nothing to lose. Morgenthau knew he wouldn't see it through but he just wanted to check Bloomberg for his disrespect towards him.

Robert Morgenthau once said about Bloomberg, "he doesn't want anybody around who doesn't kiss his ring, or other parts of his body."

John L

You think it's easy or cheap to BUY NYC? A lot of people got paid millions of dollars, either to help him win or to look the other way as he changed the law to allow him to win.

Let's be clear that this was just one example but in order to pull of this 3rd term Bloomberg had to pay off the teacher's union, DC37, etc., everyone who could be a potential liability and hurt his cause got pay raises as hush money. These pay offs didn't come from his pockets, because then they would be considered bribes, instead they came from OUR POCKETS, the tax payers. WE paid for everyone to look the other way while Bloomberg "bought" his third term.

The media was paid off by HIS money, let's be realistic how can a paper, or any media outlet, go against the man who's about to spend millions upon millions in ad campaigns? and they're still in his pocket. Bloomberg has such high approval ratings because no one opposes him, plain and simple. His legacy is secured, he will go down as one of our greatest mayors, but due to what? What are his accomplishments? He's mediocre at best and that depends how you look at it.

All the political consultants, strategists, got paid as well. The political parties got paid. Everyone got paid. It was a free for all. That's why they want his silly girlfriend to run now so they can get more of Bloomberg's Billions.

I gotta give it to Bloomberg, he's a good businessman. The greatest businessman this city has seen since Peter Minuit bought Manhattan for $24 in trinkets and beads.