ot Just In: Jack Abramoff, Top DeLay Fundraiser and Lobbyist, faces Six Felony Charges, 30 years in prison, and over $60 Million In Fines/Restitution

MIAMI, Aug. 11 -- Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff was indicted by a
federal grand jury Thursday as part of a wide-ranging fraud case
stemming from the purchase of a Florida casino cruise line from a
businessman later murdered in Fort Lauderdale, the U.S. attorney
announced.

Abramoff, a key figure in ethics investigations into House Majority
Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), was arrested in Los Angeles in late
afternoon Eastern time and was expected to be taken to a U.S.
magistrate there.

He was indicted along with Adam Kidan, the former owner of the
Dial-A-Mattress franchise in Washington. Kidan, 41, of New York City,
will surrender to the FBI here by Friday morning, his attorney, Martin
I. Jaffe, said in a written statement.

Abramoff and Kidan were indicted on five[sic] counts of wire fraud and
conspiracy. The maximum penalty for each of the six counts is five
years in prison and $250,000 fine.

[edit]

Abramoff, 46, remains the subject of a separate federal corruption
investigation in Washington stemming from his work for casino-rich
Indian tribes.

A federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale has been investigating
allegations of bank fraud, the details of which are outlined in papers
filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

[edit]

The heart of the alleged SunCruz fraud was a record of a $23 million
payment to a Boulis holding company intended to persuade lenders to
provide $60 million in financing to Abramoff's group toward the $147.5
million purchase of the fleet of floating gambling parlors. The record
of the investment was a wire transfer, faxed by Kidan and Waldman to
the partners' key lender -- Foothill Capital, a specialty lender now a
division of Wells Fargo Bank, according to records reviewed by The Post
in federal bankruptcy court in Fort Lauderdale.

The money was never really sent. The account on the wire transfer had
long been closed. Other papers in bankruptcy court suggest that Boulis
knew the $23 million wasn't sent because he instead accepted $20
million in notes.

Almost immediately after the purchase, management of the gambling
company fell into chaos amid allegations of fraud, accusations of mob
influence, lawsuits, a fistfight and warring between the Abramoff group
and Boulis, who had remained a minority partner.

In an e-mail to a SunCruz attorney sent in late 2001, Abramoff sided
with his old friend, Kidan, saying, "It is my belief that Gus [Boulis]
and Adam [Kidan] need to resolve the issue of what Gus is owed and Gus
needs to move on out of the company."

In February 2001, Boulis was shot to death while driving home from work
and no one has been arrested in the murder. In June 2001, SunCruz filed
for bankruptcy protection.

During this period, Abramoff had mixed his lobbying practice with his
gambling company. Even as he closed a deal to purchase SunCruz, he flew
his specialty lender to Washington to meet then House Majority Whip Tom
DeLay in his FedEx Field sky box during a Redskins-Cowboys game.

Just days before Boulis' murder, Abramoff had flown congressional
staffers from Washington to Tampa on a jet leased by SunCruz for a
night of gambling on SunCruz boats and a trip to the Super Bowl. Along
on the trip was Tim Berry, now DeLay's chief-of-staff. Berry did not
report the gift on his House disclosure forms at the time and people
close to him said he thought it was paid for out of political
donations.

The Florida investigation has been under way for at least three years.
In Washington, a task force of the FBI, IRS and other agencies is
exploring how Abramoff and another business associate, Michael Scanlon,
collected $80 million in fees for lobbying and public affairs work from
Indian tribes around the country.

[Source:Washington Post, Thursday, August 11, 2005; 5:51 PM EDT]