More charges added against Senator Skelos and son

Adam Skelos could lose $300,000 and his home

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U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara added more charges to the indictment against Senator Dean Skelos and his son, Adam, late in the day on Tuesday, July 21.

Skelos, 67, and his son Adam, 32, were already charged with six counts stemming from what Bharara said was a scheme in which Skelos was trading favors with businesses in exchange for payments made to his son.

The two new charges -- another charge of Extortion Under Color of Official Light and another charge of Solicitation of Bribes and Gratuities -- are related to a malpractice insurance administrator that Adam Skelos worked for.

According to the indictment, in 2012, an unnamed malpractice insurance administrator was lobbying Dean Skelos in relation to pending laws that could affect its business. The indictment says that, during that time, Skelos met with the CEO of the company and repeatedly asked them to use a court-recording service where Adam Skelos’s wife (who was his girlfriend at the time) was working.

Later, the indictment reads, in August, 2012, the CEO of the company gave Adam Skelos a full-time job in the sales and marketing department even though Adam Skelos didn’t have a license to sell insurance. Adam Skelos was to be paid $78,000 per year for his job. However, the indictment says that, in his first week of work, Adam showed up for only one hour over four days. His supervisor, listed in the indictment as Supervisor-1, called him to set up a meeting to discuss it with him.

“Shortly after that phone call, Adam Skelos called back Supervisor-1 and threatened to ‘smash in’ Supervisor-1’s head, and told Supervisor-1 that Supervisor-1 would ‘never amount to anything,’ and that ‘guys like’ Supervisor-1 ‘couldn’t shine [Adam Skelos’s] shoes,’” the indictment reads. “On this phone call, and on other occasions, Adam Skelos told Supervisor-1, in sum and substance, that [he] did not have to come to work regularly because his father...was Majority Leader of the senate.”

The indictment goes on to allege that Skelos pressured the company to keep his son as an employee. The CEO of the company did, because he feared that he could lose access to Skelos and that Skelos might take legislative action that would hurt the company.

According to the indictment, From Jan. 2 through April 26, 2013, Adam Skelos worked for three or more hours on only five days, yet was paid his full salary.

In addition to the new charges, the state outlined what it is aiming to seek from Skelos and his son: if the two are found guilty, the government would seize approximately $300,000 from accounts in Adam Skelos’s name, as well as his home, which was purchased when he was being paid by the malpractice insurance company.