DiMasi accountant indicted on lobbying, campaign finance violations
By Andrea Estes and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
The accountant and campaign treasurer for House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi has been indicted on charges of violating lobbying and campaign finance laws stemming from work on behalf of a ticket brokers’ organization.
 Richard Vitale |
Richard Vitale is accused of secretly pushing legislation on behalf of the ticket brokers, which included directly lobbying DiMasi and House Speaker pro tempore Thomas Petrolati on several occasions. In one instance, Vitale forwarded e-mails from the ticket brokers to a personal e-mail address of DiMasi, according to a press release issued by the office of Attorney General Martha Coakley. Investigators also allege that Vitale used a courier service to deliver printed copies of e-mails from the ticket brokers to Petrolati’s office.
"Investigators found that on at least one occasion, Vitale delivered an e-mail which requested specific changes to the bill, which the House of Representatives made before passing the bill," the press release says.
Vitale's lawyer, Martin Weinberg, described the charges as regulatory offenses and maintained that his client had done nothing wrong.
"This demonstrates that despite a pretty intensive state grand jury there is no evidence of felonies," Weinberg said.
Vitale, who was not registered as a lobbyist, also allegedly tried to conceal his role by arranging meetings in his accounting firm office and other private locations. On at least one occasion, Vitale specifically instructed a member of the ticket brokers' association not to disclose the role of his company, WN Advisors, according to the press release.
Vitale, 63, and his company were indicted on 10 counts. The charges include two counts of failing to file timely registration statements; making an illegal agreement for compensation contingent on the passage of legislation; and four counts of making campaign contributions in excess of the $200 maximum per year. WN Advisors is charged with two counts of failing to file timely registration statements and making an illegal agreement for compensation contingent on the passage of legislation.
Vitale is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 5 in Suffolk Superior Court. Coakley said the investigation was "on-going."
DiMasi and Petrolati have not been charged with any crimes.
"All of my decisions are based solely on what is in the best interests of my constituents and the Commonwealth and, in this case, the House of Representatives passed ticket legislation that protects consumers," DiMasi said in a brief statement this afternoon. He said that he intended to stay focused on working with his colleagues to address the state budget crisis, solve transportation problems, and "make Massachusetts a better place to live, work and raise a family."
The Globe first reported in October that Coakley had launched an investigation of financial ties between DiMasi, Vitale, and an association of ticket brokers that hired Vitale to help push a bill through the Legislature. The Massachusetts Association of Ticket Brokers paid Vitale $60,000 as it pursued legislation that would deregulate their industry. Vitale had given DiMasi a rare, below-market-rate third mortgage in 2006 that DiMasi repaid after the Globe wrote about the arrangement.
Vitale has not acknowledged that he lobbied for the group. As a lobbyist, he would be prohibited by the state's conflict of interest law from giving DiMasi the mortgage.
The Globe reported on Wednesday that US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan had convened a separate federal grand jury to investigate the state's awarding of a pair of multimillion dollar contracts to a Burlington software company that made large payments to Vitale and other close associates of DiMasi. The company, Cognos ULC, was awarded a $13 million "performance management software" contract in August 2007.
WN Advisors was paid $600,000 by Joseph Lally, the sales agent and former Cognos executive, who persuaded the state to spend millions on Cognos's software. Vitale did not publicly disclose the payments, has never publicly explained what he did for the money, the bulk of which he received on the same day the state wired payment to Cognos. The state has since rescinded the $13 million contract, and Cognos's new owner, IBM, has returned the money.
Lally's lawyer, Robert Goldstein, would not comment in Wednesday's story on the investigation. A spokesman for Cognos did not return calls.
Another associate of DiMasi who received payments is Steven Topazio, a lawyer who shares downtown office space with the speaker. Topazio was placed on a $5,000-a-month retainer by Cognos for two years. The payments stopped the month the Legislature passed and the governor signed a bond bill that financed the $13 million Cognos contract.
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nothing will happen ,he'll a slap on the wrist and move on with his millions and we;ll still be stuck with crooked as adogs led dimasi.
Priceless that DeMasi is STILL getting away with this. Maybe 2009 brings him to justice. he is more corrupt than any other politician in Boston since 1900!
House of cards...........
Sing Mr. Vitale. Sing like a bird.
Vitale is a crook - always has been!
What do we have here, a contest between Massachusetts and Illinois as to who has the most corupt politicians and associates? I guess we are one up.
Let me re think that, nope Illinois has a governor. Time for Patric to step up and do one better
The Massachusetts Association of Ticket Brokers paid Vitale $60,000 as it pursued legislation that would deregulate their industry. Vitale had given DiMasi a rare, below-market-rate third mortgage in 2006 that DiMasi repaid after the Globe wrote about the arrangement.
Did they really think this was going to fool anyone with half a brain. I don't see how these people got to where they are today with this type of planning.
more chips will fall.
So let's see:
1. MATB paid Vitale $60k to be a proponent for their bill
2. Vitale is Dimasi's accountant
3. Vitale is Dimasi's campaign treasurer
4. Vitale "loaned" DiMasi $120k for a "mortgage"
5. Vitale is a lobbyist (but did not actually lobby for MATB???)
6. And DiMasi had MATB business (the ticket reselling bill) before him?
And that adds up to what?
If there is criminal behavior here (note, I said 'if), it is on the part of Mr. Vitale, NOT Speaker DiMasi. Vitale happens to be DiMasi's accountant, and the Globe would have you believe there is guilt by association...but there is absolutely no evidence Speaker Dimasi has broken the law.
I'M SHOCKED!
"DiMasi friend corrupt? That's unpossible!"
another crooked politician wow is this not strange.but as always he did not do it right and im a merry go round in a circus.do they not know by now 99% of politicians are crooked they just do not get caught i hope this does not surprise anybody
Okay, so we have a state grand jury indicting Vitale on the ticket broker scam. And we have a federal grand jury looking into the Cognos deal. Ya gotta believe the state prosecutors are going to sweat Vitale to roll on DiMasi. And if the feds indict on the Cognos scam, they'll be sweating those indicted to roll on DiMasi as well. Merry Christmas, Sal!
How much more do we have to be stolen from before we have another revolution?
The quote "....no evidence of felonies" by his lawyer - Is that the criteria in determining if someone is a sleazebag? My God, have we really sunk that low? There was a time when shame and embarrassment for one's family would force politicians to resign.....now, there is no sense of shame....and as a society we are paying a dear price for that. How do these wrongdoers raise their children - what codes do they tell them to live by??? Is it OK to steal and cheat and lie....but the big sin is apparently in letting oneself "get caught". I genuinely fear for our future.....if these scumbags are our representatives. God have mercy.
Ellen, are you looking for a job? Maybe at Massport?
Ellen,
It's great to have an open mind but not so open your brains fall out. DiMasi isn't serving much of the public, he's serving himself. It's pretty clear lobbyists don't give money to people because they happen to like them - it's because they expect financial favors in return. DiMasi and his dude are corrupt.
Oh yeah, if DiMasi ever thought for a moment that his accountant was a no-good, lousy, stinking, crook, he would have dropped him like a "hot potato!"
And if you believe that, would you like to buy a piece of land in Florida..........
Hmmm..... Is there a pattern here?
In an interview with the Globe in April, DiMasi said he had never spoken with Cashman about legislative issues affecting Cashman's financial interests. That assertion was contained in a May 1 Globe report about DiMasi's backing of the wind farm legislation and a separate action he took that kept alive a proposed liquefied natural gas facility in Fall River, where Cashman subsequently sold land for the LNG project and made a $14.2 million profit.
Another day, another Democrat. When will we ever learn.
Another day, another Democrat in trouble. When will we ever learn.
When this guy takes a step, is an oil slick left behind?
I'm shocked.
SHOCKED.
DiMasi, it is time for you to resign. Just do it! You'll get a modest fine and a new job as a radio commentator, an autobiography book signing deal and a lecture circuit contract. If your personable enough, you may get a made for TV mini-series as well.
The headline should have been "DiMasi campaign treasurer indicted on lobbying, campaign finance violations."
This is a direct result of the sheeple in Mass. that continue to vote for anyone with a "D" next to their name on the ballot. When you have a party that has almost 90% of the legislative seats in the state, this is what you get. They NEVER have to worry about re-election, except perhaps the occasional primary challenge from an equally corrupt Dem, who will just fit right into the system. They are all on the same side, that is, with each other, and against us - the public. They scratch each other's backs, take care of themselves, with little fear of being punished by the voters, who ignorantly keep sending them back to keep on doing business as usual. So go ahead sheeple of Mass., keep electing Democrats to 80+% of the seats on Beacon Hill, and you'll keep getting more of the same.
Ellen, So are we to understand that you really believe Dimasi did not know that his long time confidant, accountant, treasurer of his campaign, acknowledged good friend, that loaned him $120k at "below market rates" was taking money from companies with business before the House of Representatives? So, how many other people do you think believe that?
Is Richard Vitale actually Richard D Vitale the chairman and founder of Vitale, Caturano & Co accounting/consulting firm? Or this a different person?
Why even bother reporting this? We all know the drill. There will be a couple of days of public outcry. Nothing will come about this. Crooks like DiMasi and stooges like Vitale will carrying on with business as usual. Corrupt politicians and their lackeys are all part of the entrenched good ole boy political system.
INSANITY: Repeating the same behavior and expecting different results.
SHEEPLE: Re-electing the same Democrats in office and expecting different results.
LEMMING: A person who voted for Barney Frank.
How much you want to bet that the AG pressured Jim Holtzman from Ace Ticket to sing like the rat he is or else the state would REALLY start to enforce the "law" against ticket scalping? Why has everyone overlooked his part in all of this? He and the rest of his sleazy compatriots in ticket scalping thought by paying 60k to a friend of Sal's, they could get free reign to continue to rip people off and when it blew back in their faces, they sang like the pigeons they are.
Is this what Martha Coakley is giving us to say that she is actually doing her job?
You've just got to be kidding me, this is just a slap on the wrist and DiMasi is laughing at all of us just like his predessors did.
Coakley, leave it to the Feds, they at least know what the job is and how to do it, you're a joke.
ok, first off - i've had it. they're all a bunch of crooks. i try to have an open mind and cut em some slack. but i'm done. from governors, presidents business leaders, you name it, they're crooks. they'll grab whatever they can get. it's built into the system, a system built on favors, you do for me, i do for you and so on. doesn't matter how you start, by the time you achieve a position of power you're corrupt. it's insidious and incremental, you don't see it happening. everywhere, not just mass. it's the way how it works.
that said, i know most of you know better. for example, barney frank is a congressman - he represents a congressional district. i can't vote for or against him - he's from a different district. my congressman is markey - no on runs against him. same for wilkerson. same for all of them. these are not statewide offices. if the people in their district (and their cronies) feel well served they get re-elected. move to their district and vote against them. they know enough to take care of their people. most of them run unopposed. get your name on a ballot and run against them. you don't want a revolution, revolutions result in vast destruction and numbers of dead and economic chaos - and you end up with same crap or worse. we have the best system (sadly). i have never been so disillusioned, discouraged and disappointed in my country. the age of Aquarius - HA. what happened to all that 60's idealism? same old crap.
Even down here in South Carolina I can smell the stink....whew.
Sal said he didn't even know that his personal accountant, Richard Vitale, had anything to do with the ticket broker legislation and that Vitale never spoke to him about the legislation. Sal, the paper trail of emails to you and Petro? Game. Set. Match!!! I hope you didn't testify to the grand jury what you said in the Globe. They got Tommy Finneran on perjury and it looks like you left one heck of a paper trail.
Say? Does the University of Massachusetts need a new President?
I remember growing up when it was the Republicans were the ones who were in it for the money and the Dems had the sex scandals! What's the world coming to!
I'd like to read what the 'suggested changes in the legislation' were to see if they actually benefited the consumer as Dimasi suggested.
Ellen misspelled her name. It's D-E-B-B-I-E. As in Debbie DiMasi. Don't knock Coakley. Her investigation was valid and an indictment was the result. The feds will have a bigger fish to fry only because the Cognos deal was is more lucrative, however, don't be surprised to see Vitale, facing more federal time, expose that truth behind "loan" on the north end condo. Let's hope he sings on Petrolati and DeLeo as well......
Its really very sad and depressing when the private sector Free Market Greed for mighty bucks has infected the public service of government of the people,by the people and for the people ! If the greed is overwhelming to go for mighty bucks,then leave Government,go into the private sector,where sorry to say the de-regulators like George W Bush encouraged and shadowed the wicked Ponzi Steals of Bernard Madoff,he made off with $50 billions of other people's monies! Speaker Salvadore Di-Masi and his Accountant Richard Vitalle took only little by comparision but who is counting ? Non-Corruption matters!!!! GGGHeng mmattersGovernance
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