By Ralph Ciprianofor BigTrial.net
Mark M. Lee, a lawyer for Congressman Chaka Fattah, asked Greg Naylor about his negotiations with the government. And what the feds told Naylor he could expect to gain from his guilty plea, cooperation with the government, and his testimony in court today against the congressman.
"I don't believe they [the feds] had any interest in what I had to gain," Naylor bluntly replied. His discussions with the government prior to his guilty plea, he said, were "not a negotiation." Not after he got caught lying to the FBI.
Naylor, a retired political operative who was once close to Fattah, testified in federal court today about how he handed out about $200,000 in cash on Election Day, known as "walking around money," when the congressman was running for mayor of Philadelphia back in 2007. And how he wrote more than $20,000 in checks to cover the college tuition bills of Chaka "Chip" Fattah Jr.
The payments, which originally derived from campaign cash, came from Naylor's political consulting firm, Sydney Lei & Associates Inc., and were usually made on a monthly basis to Drexel University and Sallie Mae, the student loan corporation, Naylor testified.
Why did he steal campaign money to write checks to cover Chip Fattah's college loans, and then try to cover it up afterwards with a phony paper trail?
"The congressman asked if I would help out," Naylor explained in direct testimony under the questioning of Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Gray. Naylor said he kept writing checks for four years until the congressman told him, "We're done, we're good."
"Anybody ever tell you Chip had a gambling problem," the prosecutor asked.
"No," Naylor replied. As part of the scam, Naylor testified, "I made false 1099 forms" and sent them to "Chip." Even though Naylor testified that Chip Fattah had done no work for Sydney Lei & Associates. Naylor added that he after he made the payments on the college loans, he told Chip Fattah, "He should pay the taxes on it."
After the prosecutor got throughout questioning Naylor, his story held up under cross-examination from four defense lawyers. That was more bad news for the congressman formerly known as Arthur Davenport.
On cross-examination, Mark M. Lee, on behalf of Congressman Fattah, tried to get Naylor to talk about the central fraud in the case. The plot to have Albert Lord, former Sallie Mae CEO, make a phony loan of $1 million to Thomas Lindenfeld, another political consultant close to Fattah. So that the Lord money could be used to pay the campaign expenses of Fattah's unsuccessful 2007 run for mayor. It's a plot that Lindenfeld has already testified was directed by Fattah.
Specifically, Lee asked if Naylor had once told the feds that it was Lindenfeld who originally told him about the $1 million loan.
There were "so many versions" of interviews with the feds about that loan, Naylor conceded. Asked about how many times he met with the feds, Naylor replied, "I'd say too many. But a lot."
"We've had this discussion many times," Naylor agreed with Lee.
But then Naylor definitively put the controversy to rest. About the phony $1 million loan, Naylor said his final testimony was: "I first learned of that through the congressman."
Over at the defense table, Chaka had taken another direct hit.
Naylor pleaded guilty in 2014 to three felony charges that included lying to the FBI, falsifying invoices to cover up the theft of $193,000 in federal funds [for use as campaign cash], and putting Chip Fattah on Naylor's payroll to cover up the use of more campaign cash to pay off the younger Fattah's student loans.
Chip Fattah, convicted in February of 22 counts of bank and tax fraud, was sentenced to five years in jail and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution.
The other defense lawyers didn't seem to be getting any further with Naylor on cross as the trial came to a close today.
Mira E. Baylson, a lawyer for Robert Brand, a Fattah confidante, got Naylor to agree that when he spoke to Lindenfeld about the loan, Lindenfeld had a "sense of urgency."
Probably about who was going to have to repay the loan. But that was it.
Ann Flannery, a lawyer for Karen Nicholas, a former Fattah aide, got Naylor to say that he never discussed that phony $1 million loan with her client.
Ronald H. Levine, a lawyer for Bonnie Bowser, Fattah's former chief of staff, asked Naylor if it was true that Bowser was "somewhat of a nag" about making sure that campaign finance records were accurate.
"I would say that is accurate," Naylor responded.
The Fattah trial resumes at 9:30 a.m. today in Courtroom 16A.
Since the government is adept at leveling fabricated charges again its citizens, I have devised some charges that we as Americans should be able to levy against federal prosecutors, FBI agents and IRS agents.
ReplyDelete1) Identity Fraud…. The Act of stealing a defendant’s life, their entire person, their identity. No longer is the defendant able to build on a lifetimes hard work, without the shame of a being sidelined by having the world know of a charge inflicted by their government for an invented crime ,no longer is a defendant in control of their identity once is has been mangled by the government. This charge carries a fine for the prosecutor, of being publicly disgraced and loss of pension.
2) Dignity Fraud… The Act of stealing a defendant’s dignity, robbing a person of their ability to move in society as a respected member of the community. Reducing a defendant to question their usefulness whereby the defendant is unable to be a productive citizen, whereby eating away at the fabric of society. One of the most serious charges a prosecutor can be indicted with, this charge warrants jail time of not less than six years and a stiff monetary penalty from the life savings of the prosecutors involved.
3) Media Fraud… The Act of using the media to sway a jury against a defendant for the sole purpose of incriminating the defendant before the defendant gets to trail, this crime is also used to elicit a false confession from a defendant. This egregious crime carries an irrevocable dismissal of the prosecutor with loss of pension, all media outlets will be fined, 50,000 per day until a retraction is printed.
4) Career Fraud… The Act of ruining the current career, and or the future career of a defendant for the sole purpose of personal and financial degradation. This charge also results in an absolute dismissal of the prosecutor with no future ability to ever be in a prosecutorial position again, unless the prosecutor reveals the entire scheme to the media to defame the defendant.
5) Retirement Fraud… The Act of stealing the hard earned retirement benefits, pension and early retirement of a defendant due to frivolous charges inflicted by prosecutors. The penalty to the prosecutor are actions such as loss of benefits, pension and ability to retire before the age of 80, similar to that of the defendant.
How can we implement a realistic version of this?
Delete6) Inquisition Fraud… The Act of threating society with a penalty for not adhering to the practices laid down by the government , the threat of torture used to exact a confession as such as threatened bankruptcy , disgrace, imprisonment, career loss, pension loss, marriage dissolution, family name dishonor. This Inquisition most heinous crime committed daily by prosecutors charges the penalty of reverse Inquisition Fraud against the extended family of all prosecutors involved in the scheme.
ReplyDelete7) Conspiracy Fraud… The Act of multiple government agencies banning together to bring charges against a defendant for the act of convincing the public of the inflated severity of the crime thus influencing a jury with fabricated charges. The charge of this crime is for the public display of the government agencies involved being banished to Syria for a 5 year position with the embassy accompanied by their extended families.
8) Respect of Authority Fraud… The Act of having a defendant lose their respect for authority due to the actions of prosecutors or anyone in or working with the prosecutor’s office, that has been found to have abused their office for the defamation of a defendant. This crime is punishable by having said prosecutors or authority figures wear for a period of 10 years , T shirts advertising their crime , for the purpose of receiving unsolicited responses from the public spewing outrage daily for their abuse of power.
ReplyDelete9) Democratic and Republican Party Fraud… This Act is carried out by prosecutors for the sole purpose of disenfranchising the Democratic and Republican parties, and frightening the citizenry into believing that all politicians are crooks, this is especially prevalent n Philadelphia , any trophy politicians snagged by prosecutors resulted in promotion , advancements , or positons with large prestigious law firms as a defense attorney commanding a hefty salary, whereby the former prosecutors are in demand , defending the same politicians they sought to prosecute as government lawyers. The penalty for this crime is for the prosecutors to seek political office, using their own money for the elections, and remaining in office for a period of 10 years thereby exposing themselves to new and inexperienced prosecutors for the purpose of prosecuting them to make a name for themselves.
10) Life Occasions Fraud…. This Act is sought to dissuade prosecutors from robbing a defendant of all the joyous occasions one experiences in life, graduations, family functions, holidays, birthdays, weddings, vacations, while a defendant is unjustly incarnated. Similar charges are levied against prosecutors that see a prisoner miss a funeral of a closer friend or neighbor, or being unable to comfort a sick friend or the inability an innocent person to experience all that life has to offer , due to the actions of lies told by prosecutors, FBI agents and IRS agents. This crime is punishable by none other than solitary confinement with no access to family for a period equal to the defendant’s prison term.
ReplyDelete11) Health Fraud … The Act is use to prevent prosecutors from incriminating innocent victim from being imprisoned thereby losing access to acceptable health care for any period of time. The punishment for this crime to deny all prosecutors in the United States access to any health care whatsoever, regardless of the severity of the condition for a period of 5 years after the conviction of an innocent person by any prosecutor in any jurisdiction in the United States. This extends also to the family member of all prosecutors, effective immediately
12) Taxpayer Fraud… This Act compels the government to disclosure the cost of all federal trials prior to the trial taking place and the possible financial outcome of the trial and benefits of waging a war with the public as spectators, and the merits of such a trial on the outcome. The taxpayer will decide if a federal trial is warranted for the intended outcome. All trials that have been carried out will be evaluated dating back to 1975, if said trial was deemed unnecessary and there had been another more amenable solution to a situation, instead of a costly federal trial, then said frivolous trial costs that had previous been borne by the taxpayer will be taken from the pension fund of all prosecutors, federal agents, judges, court reporters, media reporters or anyone else that benefited by the trial.
13) Loss of County… This Act is the most severe act a prosecutor can commit against a fellow citizen. No prosecutor, federal agent, media outlet, has the right to take a defendants love of country from them. Being betrayed by your government is the most heinous of acts the prosecution can perpetrate against a defendant. This crime is no less than treason, this act is punishable by the banishment of prosecutors to a third world county for a period of no less than 10 years.