A Loss For Winn

"Developer to admit campaign fraud; Prosecutors say Winn will plead guilty to charges he made illegal contributions" October 29, 2011|By Casey Ross, Globe Staff

The developer behind the failed Columbus Center project in Boston has agreed to plead guilty to funneling illegal campaign contributions to Massachusetts politicians as part of a seven-year scheme to win favorable political treatment for the massive development, prosecutors say.

Noooo.

Arthur Winn, 72, of Brookline is expected to formally admit his guilt in US District Court within days, an ignominious capstone to his grand dream of building a sprawling complex over the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Prosecutors alleged that Winn orchestrated a scheme in which he and one of his corporate affiliates, Winn Columbus Center Limited Partnership, funneled more than $150,000 in illegal donations to federal, state, and city politicians between 2002 and 2009 in the hope of getting their backing for public funds for the $800 million project.

In court documents, prosecutors said that Winn and his company got relatives, friends, and business associates to make contributions to political candidates and then secretly reimbursed them. A former Winn executive, Martin Raffol, has pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws by using company funds to reimburse contractors and suppliers who had donated to the candidates at his and Winn’s request.

The money was spread among candidates from both parties at all levels, including Governor Deval Patrick, former governor and current Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Senator John Kerry, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, several congressmen, and candidates for an array of state and municipal offices.
 
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None was charged with wrongdoing....  

Really, Globe?

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"Developer donated to Calif. treasurer; Gifts were followed by Hub investment" by Casey Ross

 |  Globe Staff, November 04, 2011

 

Among the dozens of illegal campaign contributions developer Arthur Winn and his company allegedly made to get public support for his Columbus Center project, three in particular stand out.

 

Each was unusually large, at $10,900, and sent in January 2006 to the campaign account of California’s then-treasurer, Philip Angelides, a trustee of the state’s powerful public pension fund. The fund’s money manager was weighing a major investment in Columbus Center.

 

About two months later, as Angelides was running for governor of California, Winn announced that the pension fund and its money manager agreed to invest in the massive Boston project.

 

The donations to Angelides, newly disclosed in federal court documents in Boston, are perhaps the clearest example of what prosecutors allege was an illegal effort by Winn to give large sums to politicians in order to get public funds to support his $800 million project....  

 

 The political process sure looks like a loser for the American people these days.

 

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