"Far more was paid to friends of DiMasi; State review says $1.8m unreported Finds secret funds were lobbying fees" by Andrea Estes and Stephen Kurkjian, Globe Correspondent | October 10, 2008
Three of House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi's closest friends and business associates received more than $1.8 million in previously undisclosed payments from a computer software company and its sales agent, according to the state inspector general, in a secretive lobbying effort that coincided with the award of multimillion-dollar contracts from the state.
Yeah, paying $13 million for a computer software system that could have cost less than $3 million is all right because the winner was a close friend of the House speaker, even as my poorer-than-dirt district "has been struggling to close a $2 million budget gap."
I'm sure the "multimillion-dollar reconstruction" of golf courses is REALLY HELPING out, too!
This is the same corrupt asshole who is telling the state's residents to sit and spin on the income tax repeal?
"leaders like House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi have suggested they would ignore the result even if voters approved the question"
ROPE!!!!!!
While the involvement of DiMasi's associates in the controversial deals was previously known, the amount of the money was not. None of the three had filed public disclosure forms indicating payments anywhere near this size; two had not reported any payments at all.
The payments from the Burlington-based software company,
Fuck you, you lying scum shit!! VOTE HIM OUT like ALL INCUMBENTS!!!!!!
Sullivan's letter, citing internal Cognos documents and other unspecified records, describes a system in which DiMasi associates were given regular lobbying payments, and then awarded six-figure lump-sum checks when two contracts were finalized by the state.
The letter asserts that:
Lawyer Steven J. Topazio, who shares a downtown law office with DiMasi and is a longtime legal associate, received $125,000. Sullivan's finding that the money was for lobbying directly contradicts previous statements made by Topazio, who told the Globe in July that he worked on a legal matter and had nothing to do with Cognos's efforts to win lucrative state business.
Richard D. Vitale, DiMasi's accountant and former campaign treasurer, received $600,000 over two years, according to Sullivan's office. A close friend and supporter of the speaker, Vitale loaned DiMasi $250,000 in an unusual, below-market-rate third mortgage on his North End condo in 2006. If it is proved that Vitale was lobbying, such a loan to the speaker could be a violation of state ethics laws.
Hey, Mass. taxpayers and residents! Can YOU get that kind of DEAL?!!
Richard W. McDonough, a registered Cognos lobbyist and DiMasi confidant, received more than $1.45 million in payments, $1.1 million of which neither Cognos, Lally, nor McDonough reported to state regulators.
It is known as CRIMINAL CONDUCT, folks!! Why are LIBERALS the WORST when it comes to CORRUPTION, readers?
Out of all those payments, the biggest single payday for Vitale and McDonough was Aug. 31, 2007, the same day the state wired $13 million to Cognos for a statewide technology contract, the largest in the company's history. On that date, Lally's sales consulting firm paid $500,000 to Vitale and $200,000 to McDonough, according to Sullivan's letter.
I am GAGGING off the STENCH of this ABOMINABLE CORRUPTION, folks!!!!!
Cognos, a Canadian company with its US headquarters in Burlington, had been aggressively pursuing Massachusetts business for a decade. Between 2005 and 2007 it landed two major contracts worth a combined $17.5 million: one with the state's Executive Office for Administration and Finance, the other with the state Education Department.
WTF?!! They can't even hire IN-STATE?
Oh, am I EVER OUTRAGED RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lally was a former Cognos vice president who left the company in 2006 to start his own firm, Montvale Solutions. In his new role, he received large commissions from Cognos on the two state contracts for Cognos - $2.8 million on the $13 million performance management contract awarded in August 2007 and $891,000 on the $4.5 million education contract signed in July 2006.
Nothing like taking care of your friends with TAXPAYER DOLLARS, huh?
But we can't get rid of the income tax, oh no!!!!!
The Cognos payments to DiMasi's close associates occurred at the same time the company and Lally were seeking to win the state contracts.
In a separate deal, Vitale last year also received $60,000 from an association of ticket brokers who were pushing legislation in the House that would deregulate their industry. After the lobbying and fees were reported by the Globe, Vitale refused to report the payments after a request by Secretary of State William F. Galvin, insisting he was a "strategist," not a lobbyist.
It's all semantics, 'eh?
Galvin has referred the matter to Attorney General Martha Coakley for possible prosecution. Earlier this week, a spokeswoman for Coakley declined to say whether the office has taken any action. Vitale gave DiMasi the $250,000 third mortgage through another of his companies, Washington North Realty Trust. DiMasi repaid the loan in May after the Globe detailed the transaction.
Of the more than $1.4 million McDonough received from Cognos and Lally, he reported only $335,200 to Galvin's office. --more--"
Don't you just love the LOOTING LOBBYISTS of BEACON HILL?
