Sampson cover-up on the menu: feds
Speaking in hushed tones at a Queens restaurant, state Sen. John Sampson told a trusted crony to cover up a shady loan he had given the embattled politico, jurors at Sampson’s Brooklyn federal court trial heard Tuesday.
Sampson, charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly trying to cover up his embezzlement of money from foreclosure deals he was appointed to oversee, met with developer Edul Ahmad at the Vetro Italian restaurant in Howard Beach in December 2012 to discuss swelling legal concerns.
Ahmad wrote the powerful Brooklyn Democrat a check in 2006 for $188,500 to cover the ensuing shortfalls and Sampson repaid him with political favors, prosecutors argue.
The developer was later arrested for mortgage fraud and agreed to cooperate against the man he once described as a “brother.”
Wearing a wire — and with undercover agents filming from a nearby table — Ahmad met with Sampson to talk strategy over pasta.
Feigning concern for Sampson’s potential legal troubles, the cooperator pulled out a copy of a check register from 2006 that showed clear evidence of the $188,500 loan and asked him what to do.
“I was supposed to see how he reacted,” Ahmad told jurors under questioning from prosecutor Alexander Solomon.
“That’s a problem, man,” Sampson said on the recording.
Ahmad indicated that Sampson, perhaps sensing the surveillance, raised his voice when saying things he wanted heard and lowered it when he wanted to stay stealthy.
“You know, because then this is just like, opens up a can of worms,” the state senator said, according to a transcript.
Ahmad asked Sampson what he should do if the feds asked for or discovered the sensitive document.
“I don’t think you show it to them,” Sampson said. “Don’t say you don’t have it. Just say you don’t know. I don’t want you to lie — just say you don’t know.”
At one point, Sampson, 47, took the document and put it in his pocket, Ahmad told jurors.
Sampson later advised him to get rid of his checkregister entries for a few days before and after the date of the loan and to tell the feds that he had no record of the transaction.
If investigators unearthed the money, Sampson, a lawyer, instructed Ahmad to tell them it was paid for legal services.
Judge Dora Irizarry tossed out the embezzlement charges against Sampson before trial, citing statuteoflimitations issues.
But he still faces up to two decades behind bars if found guilty of trying to cover up the alleged crime.