SunCruz deal greased Abramoff's downfall

[matcom]

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He made a name for himself in power-hungry Washington as a big-time lobbyist, collecting multimillion dollar fees from Indian tribes and courting mostly Republican lawmakers with an enviable fundraising network.

But Jack Abramoff's lobbying empire began crumbling this summer in South Florida where he and a business partner were indicted on charges of defrauding lenders in their purchase of Broward-based SunCruz Casinos, a fleet of gambling ships.

Those initial criminal charges allowed federal prosecutors to put pressure on Abramoff -- and those close to him -- to disclose more details about his alleged influence-peddling activities on Capitol Hill. Abramoff, 46, pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal corruption charges in Washington, and will do the same today in the SunCruz fraud case to avoid a Miami federal court trial on Monday. He faces a total of up to 11 years in prison.

The double-barreled plea deals are expected to trigger fallout for numerous GOP lawmakers, including an Ohio congressman suspected of unduly influencing the 2000 sale of SunCruz to Abramoff and New York businessman Adam Kidan.

Kidan, 41, pleaded guilty last month to conspiring with Abramoff to defraud lenders in their $147.5 million purchase of the floating-gambling operation in September 2000. South Florida prosecutors charged them with lying to lenders about putting down $23 million to qualify for a $60 million loan. They never made the down payment. The deal allowed the partners to pay themselves $500,000 salaries and to divert $310,000 in SunCruz money for Washington-area sports sky boxes for GOP fundraisers.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13546928.htm