Rudy's Close Friend And Adviser Is Slapped With Big, Ugly Lawsuit
Ben Smith has a great scoop: It seems yet another member of Rudy's inner circle is turning out to be a real live one:
A prominent Texas Republican has sued Rudy Giuliani’s law firm and a close friend and partner of Giuliani’s, Kenneth Caruso, alleging that Caruso, the firm and others “schemed and conspired to steal $10 million.”J. Virgil Waggoner, a Houston businessman and philanthropist, filed the previously unreported suit in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan in July. He alleges that Caruso, his former lawyer, conspired with Waggoner’s investment adviser to cover up the disappearance of $10 million Waggoner invested through a Caribbean bank, the British Trade & Commerce Bank.
Waggoner claims Caruso “may have also been romantically involved” with the investment adviser.
The Caribbean bank was shut down after its handling of Waggoner’s investment came to light, and its president was later jailed for money laundering.
Remember Bernie Kerik? How about Alan Placa, the childhood priest of Rudy accused of molesting boys?
In this case, Caruso isn't just a business partner -- he's a close friend of the Mayor who worked on his mayoral campaigns and even advised him when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. As this story reminds us yet again, Rudy really has a talent for attracting the most savory of characters to his side. Smith's whole tale is really worth a read.
Comments (7)
sc mom wrote on October 9, 2007 12:00 PM:how about Ravenel?
Ravenel: Giuliani’s S.C. chairman faces cocaine charge
OxyCon wrote on October 9, 2007 12:36 PM:http://www.nydailynews.com/2000-07-06/News_and_Views/City_Beat/a-72333.asp
Thursday, July 06, 2000
Rudy's Kin Tied to Mob
Father, uncle and cousin surface in new biography
By MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Daily News City Hall Bureau Chief
Lewis D'Avanzo, a son of the mayor's uncle and a guest at Giuliani's first wedding in 1968, was a "ruthless and widely feared mob associate" who headed a massive stolen car ring, according to FBI documents and interviews detailed in "Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani," by Village Voice senior editor Wayne Barrett.
Due in stores next week, the book sketches a largely unflattering portrait of the clan, depicting his father, Harold, as a hothead and the "muscle" behind a brother-in-law's loansharking operation, run out of a Brooklyn bar.
Along with cracking heads, it says the mayor's father served time in state prison for a stickup, rarely held an on-the-books job and once was a gunman in a mob shootout in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.
...
According to the book, Giuliani's cousin Lewis D'Avanzo was known as "Steve the Blond" and listed as armed and dangerous in FBI bulletins. His criminal record included a 10-year federal sentence for the armed hijacking of a truck loaded with $240,000 worth of mercury. The book alleges that he was suspected of taking part in several murders.
D'Avanzo was gunned down by the FBI in October 1977, when he tried to run down an agent after being stopped on a warrant that accused him and two associates of transporting 100 stolen luxury cars.
Quoting an unnamed friend of D'Avanzo, the book describes a 1962 shootout pitting a local mobster against the mayor's father and Leo D'Avanzo, Lewis D'Avanzo's father.
...
The book says Leo D'Avanzo, who was known in family circles as a black sheep, ran loansharking and gambling operations out of a Brooklyn bar where Giuliani's father worked as a bartender.
In his role as debt collector, his father "broke legs, smashed kneecaps, crunched noses," the book says.
And the Religious Right is definitely keeping up the pressure on Rudy, with a new speech by Dobson, and emails from Iowa Christian groups.
Alexia wrote on October 9, 2007 3:53 PM:I hate Rudy with every fiber of my being. But it's no secret that his family was tied to the mob, and it is also no secret that Rudy used those ties to bust the mafias when he was mayor.
I'd love to see evidence that Rudy is a wise guy, but it just doesn't seem to be the case.
downey wrote on January 7, 2008 11:17 PM:http://muldowney.photo-illusions.com > http://muldowney.photo-illusions.com
madows wrote on January 22, 2008 11:45 AM:gdghdS cool site!!! [url=http://madows1.com]cool site!!![/url] http://madows2.com hjhdhl
farush wrote on January 30, 2008 10:41 PM:twWfafa2 cool site!!! [url=http://farush1.com]cool site!!![/url] http://farush2.com faferh61
