New York State Assembly Speaker Arrested on Corruption Charges
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Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was taken into federal custody on Thursday on corruption charges.
The FBI said that the charges stem from Silver’s use of his official position “to receive nearly $4 million in bribes and kickbacks from people and businesses in exchange for his official acts.” Further, Silver allegedly “masked these payments from public view by disguising the payments as income from what he claimed was a law practice primarily focused on personal injury matters.”
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said in a statement Thursday that Silver “has amassed titanic political power” but “also amassed a tremendous personal fortune — through the abuse of that political power.”
Silver was arrested at the FBI’s New York office shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday.
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