Andrew Cuomo appalled by warped excuse of Hevesi crony Hank Morris

Monday, June 14, 2010
KENNETH LOVETT, DAILY NEWS ALBANY,

ALBANY - It may be common in Albany, but fraud and corruption are never legal. That's the biting legal response to political consultant Hank Morris' amazing contention that cashing in on connections may be unethical - but it's legal and commonplace in Albany.

"'Business as usual' is not a defense to fraud, and 'Everybody does it' is not a defense to public corruption," Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office wrote late last week in response to Morris' bizarre argument.

Morris was charged last year in a 123-count indictment with spearheading the pay-to-play scheme while working for disgraced Controller Alan Hevesi, who ran the state's massive pension fund.

Cuomo contends Morris used his ties to Hevesi to bank kickbacks from investment companies - as much as $19 million - in exchange for pension business.

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Posted by Tracey on 06/14/10 at 01:44 PM • (0) Comments

Tags: corruption, alan hevesi, hank morris, david loglisci, pay to play, state pension, morris,