Monday, May 08, 2006
Casinos on Cruise Ships related to Mafia and Abramoff Criminals
Connections between casinos on cruise ships, Abramoff criminals, organized crime and Congressman! Who could have guessed? Here are the last few paragraphs from today's Washington Post article, Former Ney Aide Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy." In a separate case, Ney also has been implicated in Abramoff's fraudulent purchase of a casino cruise ship company in 2000. His alleged involvement took place when Abramoff and two partners were in difficult negotiations to buy SunCruz Casinos from Fort Lauderdale businessman Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis. Ney placed comments in the Congressional Record that year that put pressure on Boulis to sell to the Abramoff group. He later entered another statement into the record praising the new owners and saying they "will easily transform SunCruz from a questionable enterprise to an upstanding establishment."
At the time of the second Congressional Record statement, Boulis was privately complaining that the Abramoff group was looting the company.
In February 2001, Boulis was killed in a gangland-style assassination on a busy causeway in Fort Lauderdale. Three men have been charged with the killing, one of whom -- allegedly connected to the Gambino crime family in New York -- was hired by Abramoff's partner, Adam Kidan, to provide catering and security services for SunCruz.
Abramoff and Kidan have denied any involvement in the murder or knowledge of it.
A month after the slaying, SunCruz executives, including Abramoff and Kidan, attended a fundraiser for Ney in Abramoff's box at MCI Center in Washington.
At the time of the second Congressional Record statement, Boulis was privately complaining that the Abramoff group was looting the company.
In February 2001, Boulis was killed in a gangland-style assassination on a busy causeway in Fort Lauderdale. Three men have been charged with the killing, one of whom -- allegedly connected to the Gambino crime family in New York -- was hired by Abramoff's partner, Adam Kidan, to provide catering and security services for SunCruz.
Abramoff and Kidan have denied any involvement in the murder or knowledge of it.
A month after the slaying, SunCruz executives, including Abramoff and Kidan, attended a fundraiser for Ney in Abramoff's box at MCI Center in Washington.
