Show Me The…$$$$$ and in return?

 

 

Mayor di Blasio, Mr. Banks, how many backs did you scratch?…

LostMessiah, April 11, 2016

While Mayor de Blasio has told Chuck Todd of Meet the Press that he did not know an investigation was occurring around him [monumental incompetence if true]; and while he has today announced that he barely knew Jona Rechnitz and Jeremy Reichberg [nothing further from the truth], the Daily News is reporting that there were “big bucks” changing hands. We are guessing those bucks do not include diamonds and other “perks” of the job. We are further guessing that those big bucks went from the bottom of the food chain to the top and we are just waiting to see how exactly Governor Cuomo fits in. 

 

 

The New York Daily News, April 11, 2016

Ex-NYPD Chief of Department Philip Banks was paid big bucks by businessman being investigated by feds 

Former NYPD Chief of Department Philip Banks was paid between $250,000 and $500,000 by a businessman at the center of the federal investigation now ensnaring police headquarters and City Hall, records show.

In his financial disclosure forms filed with the city, Banks says he earned the money from unspecified investments in JRS Capital, Inc.

The firm is owned by Jona Rechnitz, one of two businessmen with ties to the hasidic Jewish community who are believed to have given gifts to him and other police officials.

In addition to the JRS Capital Income, Banks earned another $250,000 to $499,999 from BBYZ Promotions, which is income from tutoring cops on the promotions exam. The firm was called Fast Track.”

For the full article click, here.

 

*** BREAKING ***

 

The New York Business Journal, April 11, 2016

Report: Ex-NYPD chief got $500,000 from developer

More information has surfaced regarding a corruption probe into the New York Police Department, centering on Philip Banks and the owner of a Manhattan real estate firm.

Banks, the former NYPD Chief of Department, received up to $500,000 from Jona Rechnitz, who heads up JSR Capital, according to a report today in DNAinfo. The firm apparently made an “investments” payout to Banks in 2014 — just before the would-be First Deputy Commissioner chose to leave the department under odd circumstances.

At the time, Banks was serving as the highest-ranking uniformed officer in charge of the NYPD’s daily operations. But a series of money transfers, according to DNAinfo, propelled an investigation forward on the grounds that it was a ” pay-for-favors scandal.”

Banks reported the money he received on his “exit” financial disclosure form filed with the city’s Conflict of Interest Board (COIB) on Nov. 30, 2014. On the form is his $200,000-a-year NYPD salary and a disclosed “income” from JSR Capital. He also reported making an additional “$250,000 to $500,000” another year while working for a tutorial company that coached police officers taking advancement exams.

Banks’ attorney Ben Brafman has said Banks did not retire because because of a criminal investigation, maintaining that all of the money he received was lawful income.

Here’s a list of who’s involved in the investigation:

• Rechnitz, who owns several high-value Manhattan properties.
• Jeremy Reichberg, a business associate of Rechnitz; both are large donors to Mayor Bill de Blasio and are on the mayor’s “Inauguration Committee.”
• Norman Seabrook, head of the correction officers union and an early de Blasio supporter, who went on numerous trips (Dominican Republic and Israel) with Banks, Rechnitz and Reichberg in 2014.

DNAinfo reports the the FBI got “a vague corruption tip” involving Banks in 2014 because of a “strange pattern” of money transfers that may have been structured to avoid triggering $10,000 thresholds that would require disclosure.

The FBI later determined that the transfers stemmed from rental properties Banks owned and that it was not a federal crime

To read full article click, here.