Case against DiMasi grows

According to a 38-page superseding indictment, DiMasi had a hidden stake in Genesis Management LLC, a property management company formed in January 2006 by DiMasi’s friend and former accountant Richard Vitale and two other partners. The indictment alleges that the partners agreed to pay DiMasi a share of the profits because he “could help Genesis get business.’’

The new indictment, handed down by a grand jury and filed in US District Court in Boston, adds further intrigue to a political corruption saga that has gripped Beacon Hill for months. DiMasi, for years one of the most powerful politicians in Massachusetts, was reelected speaker in January before resigning from the Legislature weeks later.

He was indicted in June and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

DiMasi was initially accused of pocketing $57,000 a Burlington software firm funneled to him through an intermediary, a longtime law associate. The software firm, Cognos, won $17.5 million in state contracts while DiMasi and three associates were being paid generously by the company or its sales agent, federal prosecutors say.

The indictment yesterday adds a new count of extortion to the previous charges against DiMasi, which include conspiracy and honest services fraud. Extortion carries a penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison.

DiMasi’s lawyer, Thomas Kiley, said the new allegations were not a surprise because the judge had been urging federal prosecutors to file additional charges soon, if they had them.

“It advances additional theories,’’ Kiley said. “We will plead not guilty to them and prove our innocence in the court.’’

Yesterday, Vitale’s lawyer, Martin Weinberg repeated his assertion that Vitale did nothing wrong. Weinberg has said there was nothing irregular when the state Division of Capital Asset Management awarded Genesis a management contract for the state Transportation Building in 2006.

“The government is wrong about its factual allegations and its legal theory, and Vitale vigorously asserts the evidence will demonstrate he’s innocent,’’ Weinberg said.

Weinberg said it was ironic that the government filed charges on the same day the US Supreme Court agreed to review a case against the former chief financial officer of Enron. Both cases rely on the same law, the federal honest services fraud statute, which allows prosecutors to charge officials with depriving the public of their right to honest government.

The Globe reported in March that federal investigators had broadened their probe into the business dealings of DiMasi and his associates to see if DiMasi played a role in securing contracts for Genesis.

At the time, state officials denied ever being contacted by DiMasi or his staff in connection with the state Transportation Building contract. When it was awarded the job, Genesis beat out a company that had managed the building since 1992.

Newly disclosed e-mails between Vitale and one of his partners describe how Genesis was formed. According to the indictment, the alleged scheme was cooked up by one of the partners, who urged Vitale to call him, “since I have an idea about an arrangement which will benefit you, me, [another partner] and Sal.’’

The two other partners were Thomas Neve and Paul Grant, according to the Genesis bid for the contract.

Another e-mail included in the indictment describes how the profits would be divided among the four partners, who put up $15,000 each. Vitale put in $30,000, $15,000 of which was meant to cover DiMasi’s share.

Genesis was awarded a three-year, $1.4 million contract to run the Transportation Building just a few months after the company was formed.

The firm had also bid on contracts to run other public buildings, including the federal courthouse where DiMasi was indicted earlier this year and where the new charge was filed yesterday.

Vitale had materials relating to Genesis delivered by courier to DiMasi at his State House office in February 2006, prosecutors say. DiMasi assigned a top, unnamed staff member “to help Genesis in its effort to acquire building management contracts for state, local, and federal government buildings,’’ according to the indictment.

The indictment does not say explicitly how DiMasi helped the company win contracts, if at all. It also does not say if DiMasi shared in any Genesis profits.

During the three-year management contract for the Transportation Building, which has since expired, Genesis received a management fee of $70,000 a year and nearly $400,000 to cover the salaries of Genesis’ on-site property management staff.

The company also had the authority to put out bids and award maintenance, operations, and repair work using an annual budget of more than $7 million.

The building, encompassing 900,000 square feet at the corner of Charles and Stuart streets, houses the Executive Office of Transportation, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Massachusetts Highway Department, a retail and restaurant complex known as CityPlace, and a parking garage.

The Globe reported in March that investigators were also reviewing a 2007 bid by Genesis to operate the Moakley federal courthouse in Boston, where one of the partners had previously worked. That bid was not successful.

DiMasi, Vitale, and two others - lobbyist Richard McDonough and Joseph Lally, an independent sales agent for Cognos - were originally charged with conspiracy in allegedly orchestrating a scheme that allowed DiMasi to pocket tens of thousands of dollars from Cognos while he was using his office to make sure the company won state contracts.

Cognos and Lally paid more than $1.8 million in undisclosed fees to Vitale and McDonough, as the company was seeking millions of dollars in contracts.