Pol’s cronies ‘afraid of him’

Disgraced former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told officials at a powerful realestate firm that there was no problem with him taking fees from a law firm to which they steered propertytax cases — even though they feared “adverse consequences” from pulling out of the deal, according to new court papers filed Monday.

Silver — who is accused of collecting $700,000 in secret kickbacks from the Goldberg & Iryami law firm in exchange for steering it cases from Glenwood Management — called Glenwood lobbyist Brian Meara in 2011 and tried to claim he wasn’t doing anything unethical.

“During that call, the defendant claimed, in substance and in part, that there was no issue with him [Silver] getting the fees because he ‘only represented the LLCs’ controlled by Glenwood,” a filing in Manhattan federal court said.

“Mr. Meara was surprised and concerned by what the defendant told him,” the court papers state.

Glenwood’s higherups were afraid they’d suffer unspecified “adverse consequences” if they didn’t go along with Silver’s pocketing some of their fees.

“They discussed the issues with the owner of Glenwood, Leonard Litwin, who directed them to determine if an accommodation could be reached with [Silver],” the papers state.

Prosecutors from Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara’s office argue that the “concern, surprise and fear” of Glenwood’s management should be admissible at trial.