‘I raised $$’ for Blas
Crook: I helped those who helped me
A crooked restaurateur on Monday repeated his claims that he raised funds and mobilized support for Mayor de Blasio, testifying, “My generosity was limited to people who were helpful in my business.”
Harendra Singh also told jurors that former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano — against whom he’s serving as the prosecution’s star witness — had introduced him to Gov. Cuomo and Sen. Chuck Schumer.
“I knew a lot of people who were powerful and people who could help me,” Singh testified in Central Islip federal court.
During his ninth day on the stand at Mangano’s corruption trial, Singh, during questioning by the defense, said, “I raised a lot of money for [former Oyster Bay Town Supervisor] John Venditto, Ed Mangano and Bill de Blasio.”
He also said, “I mobilized people to help John Venditto, Ed Mangano and Bill de Blasio.”
And he said that when he told a pal he didn’t have any dirt on politicians, “I was lying. I was trying to hide and protect people I was doing business with.”
Singh secretly pleaded guilty in 2016 to bribing de Blasio with campaign contributions in exchange for official favors involving his since-shuttered Water’s Edge restaurant in Queens.
He has also testified that de Blasio encouraged him to make illegal “straw” donations to political cronies, and that de Blasio knew Singh was funneling illegal cam- paign cash into his political war chest.
But Singh’s credibility took a hit last week when he was confronted on cross-examination with an FBI wiretap that caught him saying the feds wanted him to “tell them a story about some politicians . . . but it would be all lies.”
De Blasio, who wasn’t charged, accused him of fabricating the allegations.
In court Monday, Singh got testy while sparring over the reliability of his memory with defense lawyer John Carman, who suggested it was “obviously flawed to some degree,” a remark that the judge struck from the record.
Singh also openly lamented his performance on the stand, saying, “I’m not doing good today. I have very low blood sugar, so I’m having difficulty.”