Anthony “Little Tony” Ferrari, Anthony “Big Tony” Moscatiello, and James “Pudgy” Fiorillo are three names that may cast the “White House Plumbers” who came from the same South Florida region and caused the downfall of another Republican criminal president thirty odd years ago into the shade.
With today’s arrest of three suspects in the gangland-style murder of Gus Boulis, prior owner of SunCruz Casinos, the chain of off-shore gambling, cruise-to-nowhere ships, the noose tightens on the Republican Crime Family that is the GOP, Republican Leader, and sitting President.
*****************
The timing of the arrests is amusing. Nothing, not a peep, not a suspect, nary a witness in Boulis’ assassination for four years. Then, let Jack “Bag Man” Abramoff get arrested and charged along with his partner in fraud, Adam “Mattress Giant” Kidan (who turned himself in — riding in his armored Mercedes to the police station?) and the floodgates containing all the evidence and witnesses seem to have mysteriously opened. Enough so that three Mafia associates are hauled in on murder charges the following month. One of whom has been a pal and golf partner of Kidan’s since the very early 90s. Coincidence?
Kidan’s lawyer claims his client hasn’t spoken to Ft. Lauderdale police since the indictments of August. That’s fine. What better time to “offer up”? Still, the cops are being tight-lipped.
Police would not comment on whether they got any big breaks from Abramoff or his former partner, Adam Kidan, both of whom were indicted Aug. 11 on federal fraud charges in connection with their September 2000 purchase of SunCruz Casinos for $145.7 million from Boulis.
Could this be the raveling thread heralding the downfall of all the president’s cronies — and Dubya himself? In that favorite phrase of BushCo, all one has to do is connect the dots.
Here’s probably how Abramoff, who is really a strong-arm enforcer for what has to be the GOP slush fund, came to target Boulis’ offshore casino boat gambling business.
Boulis faced myriad regulatory issues through the years, and he made good use of a slew of high-powered lobbyists, including Preston Gates, Abramoff’s employer at the time. Link
What better way to acquire millions of illicit dollars for Republican candidates and causes than by raking it off gambling profits? Practically untraceable. Certainly unaccountable. Ask the Vegas Mob.
And Abramoff is getting smarter. He bungled a bit in Watergate. He no longer wants to have to offer continuous messy bribes and payoffs to Guam government officials who get cranky and greedy. He’s getting tired of dealing with the prolixities of laundering Indian casino money on bogus junkets. And, besides, there’s only so many Tycos out there willing to be bilked. “Bilking” is beginning to sound suspicious as too many of Abramoff’s “victimized” and “unwitting” clients have claimed ‘we wuz fooled’.
He and Kidan decide to make the whole business a lot simpler and do it the old-fashioned way, a la Gambino, or Bonnano, of the Russian Mafia.
Kidan, like Abramoff, is a quick study and may have learned his lesson the hard way, according to that Forbes article:
His [Kidan’s] mother was murdered in the doorway of her Staten Island home in an apparent robbery attempt. Chris Paciello, a Miami night club owner and a reputed associate of the Bonanno crime family, later pleaded guilty to the murder.
Need further proof that Abramoff and Kidan learned from the “best”? Here’s the Gotti link as reported in Truthout. Kidan, who wrote three $10,000 checks to Mafia hit man, Anthony Moscatiello, claims it was for “catering.” Some catering!
In the midst of the infighting with Boulis, Kidan decided to hire an old New York friend, Anthony Moscatiello, who was running a catering hall. Kidan made him a food-and-beverage consultant. Moscatiello has been described by law enforcement as an unofficial bookkeeper for New York City’s Gambino crime family.
He and Kidan first met about 1990 when Kidan was running a bagel business in the Hamptons. Moscatiello had been indicted on federal heroin-trafficking charges in 1983 along with Gene Gotti, brother of John Gotti, the boss of the Gambinos. Moscatiello was accused of trying to dissuade witnesses from testifying in the case. After Gotti and several others were convicted and sentenced to prison, charges against Moscatiello were dropped.
In Florida, Moscatiello began visiting Kidan’s condominium and golfing with Kidan and [Abramoff and Kidan were already in business with a third partner, former Reagan White House aide Ben Waldman, who also had been a College Republican. The three men had gotten together in a fledgling venture that sought to sell advertising on water taxis that would travel the Potomac River.] Waldman, according to depositions of Kidan and Waldman. Kidan later testified he was unaware of Moscatiello’s legal troubles or the alleged Gambino affiliations.
Bet that “awareness” dawned only weeks before Boulis’ was hit.
If prosecutors really want the dirt that’ll send them all up the river, go after the two lending agencies in the SunCruz deal, Foothill Capital (primarily) and Citadel Equity Fund, and while they’re at it, they could lean on some “character references” provided by:
Abramoff provided Foothill Capital a financial statement stating his net worth as $13 million. He valued his lobbying practice at $7.5 million and family business interests at nearly $3 million, including a $1.4 million investment with his father in a company that owns parking lots in Atlantic City. The lobbyist also sent Foothill Capital a list of loan references that included Rudy [DeLay’ deputy chief of staff, Tony Rudy] and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.)