Jack Abramoff, Adam Kidan and the Mob - Getting Away with Murder

Jack Abramoff, Adam Kidan and the Mob - Getting Away with Murder
NationBuilder 9/6/08 10:00AM

One of the most egregious examples of media manipulation happened again this week with the reporting of Jack Abramoff's sentencing for corruption and tax offenses.

The NYTimes website published an article entitled "Abramoff Gets 4 Years in Prison for Offenses". The second line of the article (the first sentence of the second paragraph) ended with "unrelated fraud charges in Florida". Unfortunately I've been unable to find a copy of the original article online.

The next morning, the NYTimes had rewritten the article and placed the reference 8 paragraphs down the page, adding "involving cruise ships".

Mr. Abramoff has served about two years of a separate sentence in an unrelated fraud case in Florida involving cruise ships. In all, Mr. Abramoff will serve about six years in prison on both convictions.

However, on August 12, 2005 Philip Shenon of the NYTimes started his article entitled "U.S. Fraud Charge for Top Lobbyist" with:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 - Jack Abramoff, the once-powerful Republican lobbyist involved in ethics allegations facing Representative Tom DeLay, was indicted in Florida on Thursday on unrelated fraud charges involving his purchase of a fleet of gambling boats from a businessman who was slain amid bitter wrangling over the sale.

As of today, with all the massive Abramoff press, there is only one result on Google News for "Abramoff Gus Boulis" from August 9, 2008. The MetroWest Daily News described Abramoff's unrelated fraud charges as:

Now Abramoff's doing time in Maryland, at a minimum security federal prison, serving five years and 10 months for unrelated, fraudulent business practices involving a fake wire transfer he and a partner fabricated to secure a loan to buy SunCruz Casinos, a line of Florida cruise ships that ferried high and low rollers into international waters to gamble (its original owner, Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, was gunned down, Mafia-style, in February 2001).

Most articles won't mention the SunCruz casino by name and they rarely use its owner's name, Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis. When articles do mention it, they are typically buried deep inside with only a brief reference.

The reason that Abramoff cooperated with the government and cut a deal so quick involving his "unrelated fraud charges" is because he is guilty of murdering Gus Boulis. And the evidence is overwhelming.

On September 5, 2008 the AP published this article entitled "People convicted in the Abramoff investigation". The last name out of 13 total was:

_Former Abramoff business partner Adam Kidan, sentenced in Florida in March 2006 to nearly six years in prison for conspiracy and fraud in the 2000 purchase of the Fort Lauderdale-based SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet.

Jack Abramoff and Adam Kidan fraudulently purchased the SunCruz Casinos for $90 million. Under their control, Kidan issued $250,000 in checks from SunCruz to Anthony Moscatiello and his related companies.

Within 3-months of the sale of SunCruz, Gus discovered the transaction was fraudulent and he started getting mad. On Februrary 6, 2001 Gus Boulis was shot to death "gangland-style" while driving his car home.

On September 26, 2005 Anthony Moscatiello and two others were indicted for the murder of Gus Boulis.

Sun-Sentinel, 8/10/01 - "Payments revealed after Boulis slaying":

In the months surrounding the Feb. 6 murder of millionaire businessman Gus Boulis, SunCruz Casinos made $250,000 in payments to a mysterious Miami Beach company and an associate of former Gambino family crime boss John Gotti, sources close to the Boulis investigation said Thursday.

Under the ownership of Boulis' rival, Adam Kidan, SunCruz issued a total of $145,000 in checks to the daughter of Anthony Moscatiello and to one of his companies. Moscatiello, who is a friend of Kidan's, is also a friend of the Gotti family. Moscatiello was once indicted -- but not convicted -- in a racketeering case with John Gotti's brother, Gene.

SunCruz also paid $95,000 to Moon Over Miami Beach, a company whose business remains unclear. Another $10,000 was paid in casino chips to four men including Thomas Pepper, a principal of that company, according to the sources. One of the check stubs from a check written to Moon Over Miami Beach said the payment was for "surveillance."

Company records and court papers previously reviewed by the Sun-Sentinel had revealed a total of $60,000 in payments -- $30,000 to Jennifer Moscatiello and $30,000 to Moon Over Miami Beach. Boulis' attorneys have said the Moscatiello payments had "no legitimate purpose," and no one, including Kidan, has offered an explanation for the Moon Over Miami Beach checks.

Kidan has defended the $30,000 in checks to Jennifer Moscatiello as consulting fees. Anthony Moscatiello is a caterer who reportedly catered weddings for the Gottis. The money was intended for Moscatiello but was directed to his daughter as an officer of Moscatiello's new company, Gran-Sons Inc., Kidan has said.

Kidan could not be reached Thursday for comment on an additional $115,000 in checks written to Gran-Sons Inc. between Feb. 26 and June 8.

CBS News put together a nice timeline of the Abramoff-Boulis deal. The timeline says the US Justice Dept forced Gus Boulis to sell SunCruz Casinos because he was not a US Citizen. After reaching a deal with Justice, Boulis' attorneys approached Jack Abramoff to find a buyer.

Abramoff contacted Adam Kidan who suggested they partner 50-50 on the acquisition. On September 21, 2000 they reach an agreement to buy SunCruz for $147.5 million. Abramoff and Kidan are to put up $23 million of their own money with $60 million in financing from Foothills Capital Corp. and Citadel Equity Fund. Boulis kept 10% of SunCruz.

CBS says:

LATE 2000 - Kidan, Boulis and Abramoff quarrel over the operation of SunCruz. Kidan claims in Dec. 5 police report that Boulis physically attacked him at a meeting in Dania Beach.

January 19, 2001 - Boulis sues in state court seeking to prevent Kidan from operating the company.

3-weeks later, Gus is murdered and Abramoff and Kidan claim they have no knowledge of his death.

Timeline from the Sun-Sentinel:

Sept. 27, 2000: Boulis sells SunCruz to Washington, D.C., players Adam Kidan, Jack Abramoff and Ben Waldman for $147.5 million, following a protracted nine-day closing in Manhattan. Boulis keeps a silent 10 percent interest, accepting a $20 million promissory note in lieu of the $23 million cash down payment. This transaction later becomes the focus of the grand jury's inquiry.

Dec. 5, 2000: Relationship sours between Boulis and the buyers. Kidan and Boulis accuse each other of lying, cheating and trying to steal from each other. Kidan alleges Boulis stabbed him with a pen and tells reporters Boulis is trying to kill him.

Feb. 6, 2001: Boulis is ambushed and shot to death gangland-style while driving home from his office in Fort Lauderdale. No suspects arrested.

June 2001: Boulis estate links Kidan to organized crime figures in lawsuit filed in Broward Circuit Court.

June 22, 2001: Kidan places SunCruz in bankruptcy; Boulis estate buys out Kidan, assumes control of the company.

May 2002: Lenders Foothill Capital and Citadel first raise fraud allegations in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

November 2002: Federal grand jury investigation begins into SunCruz sale and financing.

April 7, 2003: The Boulis estate is removed from SunCruz after a federal appeals court rules its dual role as the company's manager and creditor poses a conflict of interest.

Sept. 5, 2003: Attorney Jeffrey Beck appointed bankruptcy trustee.

Feb. 20, 2004: Bankruptcy judge approves $36.1 million sale to a group led by Boulis' nephew, Spiros Naos.

Aug. 11, 2005: Federal grand jury indicts Kidan and Abramoff for wire and mail fraud.

Sept. 27, 2005: Fort Lauderdale police announce arrests of three men in gangland-style killing of Boulis. Anthony Ferrari was taken into custody at his North Miami Beach home on Monday night. Detectives arrested Anthony Moscatiello, 67, at his Howard Beach home in New York, also on Monday. A third man, 28-year-old James Fiorillo, was arrested Tuesday in Palm Coast, just north of Daytona Beach.

Another person convicted via Abramoff was Congressman Bob Ney. The AP described Ney's conviction as:

_Former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison, acknowledged taking bribes from Abramoff. Ney was in the traveling party on an Abramoff-sponsored golfing trip to Scotland at the heart of the case against former White House official David Safavian. Ney was released in August — a year early — after completing treatment for alcohol problems.

Bob Ney, while still in Congress and being paid by Jack Abramoff stated:

"... One such example is the case of Suncruz casinos based out of Florida. Florida authorities, particularly Attorney General Butterworth, have repeatedly reprimanded Suncruz casinos and its owner Gus Boulis for taking illegal bets, not paying out their customers properly and has had to take steps to prevent Suncruz from conducting operations all together. In fact, a few years ago the Broward County Sheriffs Office, under the supervision of Mr. Butterworth, raided Suncruz ships, seizing their equipment...

[NOTE: The Broward County Sheriff's Office is the largest and most corrupt in the nation. Their former sheriff is now in federal prison.]

Congressman Bob Ney endorses the sale of SunCruz:

Since my previous statement, I have come to learn that SunCruz Casino now finds itself under new ownership and, more importantly, that its new owner has a renowned reputation for honesty and integrity. The new owner, Mr. Adam Kidan, is most well known for his successful enterprise, Dial-a-Mattress [actually it went bankrupt], but he is also well known as a solid individual and a respected member of his community.

While Mr. Kidan certainly has his hands full in his efforts to clean up SunCruz's reputation, his track record as a businessman and as a citizen leads me to believe that he will easily transform SunCruz from a questionable enterprise to an upstanding establishment that the gaming community can be proud of.

Lastly, I have to credit The Weekly Standard who published a very detailed article entitled "Money, Mobsters, Murder - The sordid tale of a GOP lobbist's casino deal gone bad":

Yet little attention has been paid to Abramoff's relationship with Adam Kidan, or to Kidan's relationship with the mob.

At first blush this is understandable. Between Boulis's murder in early 2001 and the recent arrests of Moscatiello, Ferrari, and Fiorillo, little was known about the circumstances of the shooting. But it is now clear that Gus Boulis links all these men. He sold SunCruz to Kidan and Abramoff six months before he was murdered. The sale was highly irregular, and afterwards Boulis feuded constantly with Kidan and Abramoff about how the company should be run. Kidan, moreover, had known Anthony Moscatiello, the man allegedly at the center of the conspiracy to murder Boulis, since the early 1990s.