Feds subpoena records involving Alfonse D’Amato, other political figures in charity probe.
Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed records involving former Republican Sen. Alfonse D’Amato and other top Long Island political figures as part of a wide-ranging grand jury investigation into the finances of three prominent local foundations that have given out millions of dollars.
They include the Armand and Antoinette D’Amato Family Foundation, of which D’Amato is president; the Elena Melius Foundation, run by power broker and Oheka Castle owner Gary Melius; and the Kermit Gitenstein Foundation, which Steven Schlesinger, the former counsel to the Nassau County Democratic Party, ran as court-appointed manager until May, when he was removed by a Nassau County judge who issued a scathing critique of his stewardship.
Among the others named in the subpoenas are Nassau Democratic leader Jay Jacobs, Nassau Democratic lawyer Thomas Garry and Dana Sanneman, spokeswoman for D’Amato’s powerhouse lobbying firm, Park Strategies.
The probe by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New York’s Eastern District was launched after a Newsday investigation raised questions about Schlesinger’s management of the $11 million Gitenstein Foundation, which distributed money to the other two charities.
D’Amato, Schlesinger, Garry and Sanneman all declined to comment. Melius declined to say whether he had received a subpoena, but said, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
At: http://www.newsday.com/long-island/feds-subpoena-records-involving-alfonse-d-amato-other-political-figures-in-charity-probe-1.12186186