"Cahill to pay $100,000 to settle case" by Peter Schworm and Frank Phillips | Globe Staff, March 01, 2013
Saying that he hopes to never “see the inside of Suffolk Superior Court again,” former state treasurer Timothy P. Cahill agreed to pay a $100,000 fine Friday for violating state ethics law during his 2010 campaign for governor.
The decision settles the public corruption charges against him and brings a close to a long-running political saga. It also ends a controversial prosecution that charged Cahill with conspiring to use a $1.5 million, publicly funded lottery ad blitz to boost his struggling, and ultimately unsuccessful, campaign for governor.
Friday’s agreement, which the state called the “biggest settlement of this kind in recent years,” avoids a retrial after a jury failed to reach a verdict, result ing in a mistrial in December.
That's supposed to make us all feel good?
The case was closely watched in political circles. It was the first major test of the state’s 2009 public corruption law, enacted in response to a corruption scandal involving former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, and it drew attention to the ethics around incumbents using their office to burnish their public image. Some observers also viewed it as a pivotal case for Attorney General Martha Coakley, who prosecuted Cahill after facing criticism that she had failed to aggressively pursue corruption cases.
That's supposed to make us all feel good?
The case was closely watched in political circles. It was the first major test of the state’s 2009 public corruption law, enacted in response to a corruption scandal involving former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, and it drew attention to the ethics around incumbents using their office to burnish their public image. Some observers also viewed it as a pivotal case for Attorney General Martha Coakley, who prosecuted Cahill after facing criticism that she had failed to aggressively pursue corruption cases.
For Cahill, who rose from the Quincy City Council to statewide prominence, the criminal charges marked a low point in a once-promising political career. The settlement effectively resolves the criminal case against the former treasurer. Under the agreement, Cahill was placed on 18 months probation and must pay at least $25,000 a year toward the fine. During his probation, he cannot run for public office or accept public employment.
It may not be chump change for him in his new job at an investment firm, but....
By avoiding another trial, Cahill can keep his state pension and professional licenses.
Well, you see who is picking up the fine, taxpayers.
And what's this, you are paying his legal bills, too?!
I hope that's covered by the $100 grand.
It may not be chump change for him in his new job at an investment firm, but....
By avoiding another trial, Cahill can keep his state pension and professional licenses.
Well, you see who is picking up the fine, taxpayers.
And what's this, you are paying his legal bills, too?!
I hope that's covered by the $100 grand.
As part of the settlement, Cahill, 54, acknowledged civil wrongdoing in the case for the first time, agreeing that he “knew, or should have known” that he was attempting to use his official position” to help his campaign. But he did not admit to criminal behavior.
Christine Roach, a Suffolk Superior Court judge, accepted the settlement at a hearing Friday, saying it was “in the interests of justice.” Cahill’s lawyer, Brad Bailey, said the agreement was the “appropriate resolution in this case.”
Is that what you think we got? I would like to know when financial thieves and their servants in government are going to start going to jail around here.
Is that what you think we got? I would like to know when financial thieves and their servants in government are going to start going to jail around here.
In brief comments outside the courtroom, Cahill said he was glad “that this is behind me.”
“I’m very happy to have this over with,” he told reporters. “I’m very satisfied with the outcome, and hopefully this will be the last time I’ll ever see the inside of Suffolk Superior Court again.”
Cahill cannot use money from campaign funds to pay the fine.
Well, he's got a pension.
Well, he's got a pension.
Coakley, who has come under criticism for the decision to prosecute Cahill, praised the settlement. “With the treasurer’s admission of these violations and the payment of this fine, we believe this is a just resolution to the case,” she said.
She also defended the decision to pursue charges and said the sanction sent a clear message. “We believe this case had to be brought,” she said at a press conference following the hearing. “We believe the evidence was there.”
It $ure did. You can buy your way out of corruption charges in Massachusetts.
It $ure did. You can buy your way out of corruption charges in Massachusetts.
Coakley credited Cahill for taking responsibility for wrongdoing and said that his admission “would not have occurred if we had not brought the case.”
But was it worth it?
But was it worth it?
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I think she just lost it.
Also see:
Opening arguments are made in Tim Cahill trial
As Cahill’s trial nears climax, Coakley faces questions
A trial jury — drawn from a cross-section of the general public — will render a verdict on whether Cahill committed a crime, or simply engaged in politics as usual.
A trial jury — drawn from a cross-section of the general public — will render a verdict on whether Cahill committed a crime, or simply engaged in politics as usual.
Jurors deadlock on corruption charges against Cahill
Score one for politics as usual.
"Cahill ready to live outside the public eye" by Michael Levenson and Noah Bierman | Globe Staff, December 14, 2012
Score one for politics as usual.
"Cahill ready to live outside the public eye" by Michael Levenson and Noah Bierman | Globe Staff, December 14, 2012
QUINCY — Even before his trial on corruption charges, his Democratic friends had shunned him. During his disastrous run for governor, his own running mate deserted him and endorsed his Republican rival. It was little surprise when he garnered just 8 percent of the vote.
Now that his trial has ended in a deadlocked jury, former state treasurer Timothy P. Cahill is hoping to resume a quiet life in Quincy, working at a small investment firm in neighboring Braintree. Already a marginal figure in state politics, he is out of power and unlikely to run for office again.
He and his wife, Tina, insist that is just fine. On Thursday, Cahill, a normally effusive interview subject, stayed inside his Quincy home while Tina Cahill came to the door to speak with a reporter.
“Tim’s going to focus on his life in the private sector and get out and work and kind of regroup and refocus, what he wanted to do in the first place once the election was over,” she said. “That’s really what we want to do, put politics behind us.”
Immediately after the judge declared a mistrial Wednesday afternoon, the Cahills went to the North End. Tina Cahill, who was more open about the stress on the family during the five-week criminal trial, had a martini. The former treasurer sipped a cappuccino. They stopped at a church to say a prayer, returned home to receive friends, and turned in for an early night.
“It’s always been hanging over our head, and so now that it’s over, it’s a huge relief,” Tina Cahill said. “At the end, it became totally consuming, because it was every day, all day and all night.”
Their ordeal is not over, however. Because jurors failed to agree on a verdict, Cahill is still facing two counts of conspiracy, which is punishable by up to five years in prison. Attorney General Martha Coakley has not yet decided whether to retry the case. If she does not, she and Cahill could resolve the charges with a plea deal or a civil settlement involving a fine.
Brad Bailey, Cahill’s lawyer, said Thursday that his client would like the case to be referred to the State Ethics Commission, which can levy fines. But Cahill would sooner face a retrial than agree to any resolution that requires him to admit criminal wrongdoing, Bailey said.
Cahill, 54, was always seen as a surprising statewide office holder. A scrappy high school wrestler, he opened a Quincy sandwich shop called Handshakes, served on the City Council in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and then made the jump to Norfolk County treasurer. He was elected state treasurer in 2002, distinguishing himself in a crowded field with an ad that featured his daughter urging voters to support “Tim for Treasurer.”
But his departure from the Democratic Party ostracized him from the political establishment, and his 2010 run for governor doomed his political career a year later.
After Wednesday’s mistrial, Cahill said his first priority, now that he has some time, was “probably raking leaves.”
He downplayed the toll on the family.
“We’re fine; we’re fine,” he said. “It’s been tough, but that’s all in the past. Now we’re looking to go forward.”
The mistrial allows Cahill to continue earning a living, at least for now, and to begin addressing his extensive legal bills....
Even if Cahill regains his financial stability, a return to elected office seems unlikely. Whatever name recognition he garnered in his eight years as treasurer and in his run for governor appears to have vanished. During jury selection, lawyers found few jurors who had even heard of Cahill. His campaign operatives were depicted by his own defense team as hapless.
Either that or Massachusetts citizens really are stoopid.
Either that or Massachusetts citizens really are stoopid.
Political figures in Quincy, his onetime political base, seemed hesitant Thursday to speak about him while he remains under indictment. Several local officials dodged reporters’ phone calls or said they did not want to comment....
Cahill said Wednesday that he will not run for office again, and his wife reiterated that Thursday. “We’re done, as a family,” she said. “It’s too bad that he ran for governor, and I think we were just naïve and didn’t understand how brutal the opposition could be.”
What does that have to do with using the office of treasurer for politic campaign purposes?
What does that have to do with using the office of treasurer for politic campaign purposes?
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Related: Sunday Globe Special: Cahill Still Has Bad Karma
Also see: Tim Cahill’s real mistake
I'm calling it a crime:
"Goldman Sachs fined $16m; Executive tied to Cahill had improper bond deal" by Frank Phillips | Globe Staff, September 27, 2012
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Cahill Still Has Bad Karma
Also see: Tim Cahill’s real mistake
I'm calling it a crime:
"Goldman Sachs fined $16m; Executive tied to Cahill had improper bond deal" by Frank Phillips | Globe Staff, September 27, 2012
State and federal regulators fined Goldman Sachs $16 million Thursday for a pay-to-play scheme involving a former vice president, a close political associate of former state treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, who landed the firm a $445.9 million bond deal with an agency Cahill oversaw.
In a negotiated settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the investment banking giant agreed to pay nearly $12 million for the actions of Neil Morrison, who previously had served as Cahill’s deputy treasurer. Morrison was deeply involved in Cahill’s gubernatorial campaign at the same time he was soliciting bond deals with state agencies.
Related: Treasuring My State Government
Meet the new boss, sameas the old bo.... sigh???????
This violated federal regulations barring bond underwriters from engaging in any kind of political activity — whether making or soliciting cash donations, writing speeches, or providing other services — on behalf of a public official who controls the fate of lucrative bond contracts. The $12 million fine is the largest ever imposed by the SEC for a pay-to-play violation and the first involving a so-called “in kind” donation of something other than cash.
I'm wondering how much Goldman made on the deal.
And once again, no one is going to jail.
Attorney General Martha Coakley also disclosed Thursday that she had negotiated a settlement with the firm in which it will pay just over a $4 million fine on the same charges. Coakley brought indictments against Cahill last spring for his use of $1.5 million in state lottery funds allegedly to boost his 2010 gubernatorial candidacy. A trial has been scheduled for Oct. 29.
In a statement, Goldman said the firm had brought Morrison’s activities in Cahill’s campaign to the attention of federal regulators and took responsibility for the violations.
“We detected Morrison’s activities, promptly alerted regulators, terminated his employment, and fully cooperated with the investigations,” the statement read. “We accept responsibility for the consequences of his unauthorized actions under the terms of the settlements announced today.”
The settlement ends the federal and state investigations into Goldman’s legal liability. Coakley spokesman Christopher Loh would not comment on whether her office was conducting a criminal investigation. The SEC said it was still investigating Morrison.
Morrison, 38, a former Taunton city councilor, did not respond to calls seeking comment this week. He has worked this year for a public relations firm, Northwind Strategies, that is owned by Democratic political strategist Doug Rubin.
Rubin said Morrison is not currently an employee and would not comment further, beyond saying that Morrison never worked for his political consulting firm, DR Associates, whose clients include Governor Deval Patrick, Democratic senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, and congressional candidate Joseph P. Kennedy III.
In her findings, Coakley says that Morrison sought campaign donations from “those who might benefit from the favor of the treasurer,” and “noting the treasurer’s control of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission’’ and Massachusetts State Lottery. She cited an e-mail in which he said he was working 10 hours a week on the Cahill gubernatorial campaign at the same time he was working for Goldman.
The Boston Globe reported the details of Morrison’s $455.9 million bond deal with the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust and his close political ties to Cahill in June 2010. Around that period, Morrison was also seeking bond work with the State School Building Authority, which Cahill, as treasurer, also controlled.
Also see: Globe's Governor's Race: State Treasurer Didn't Pay His Taxes
What?
The SEC, in its disclosure Thursday, said that between November 2008 and October 2010, Morrison and Goldman landed 30 bond deals with local and state agencies in Massachusetts in violation of federal security regulations. The agency said Morrison’s political activities on Cahill’s behalf disqualified the firm from engaging in public underwriting business in Massachusetts for two years after his political work occurred.
Morrison's involvement in working for Cahill’s gubernatorial campaign emerged months after the bond deal with the water pollution trust. E-mails were revealed in a civil suit brought by Cahill against his campaign consultants that describe Morrison as the treasurer’s point person in the contract negotiations with those consultants.
Sort of SHOT HIMSELF in the FOOT THERE, didn't he?
“On behalf of the treasurer I want to let you know that we are in receipt of this proposal and we are very appreciative of the obvious good faith effort that you have put forward,’’ Morrison wrote in the Aug. 11, 2010 e-mail to the consultants. “I will speak to treasurer Cahill and get back you with his thoughts.’’
Morrison, who quit his job as Cahill’s top deputy to manage his 2006 re-election campaign, joined Goldman in July 2008. He was fired by the firm in December 2010 due to a “loss of confidence involving outside activities without prior approval.”
Federal rules define active involvement in political campaigns and the use of a security firm’s office during working hours as an in-kind campaign contribution to candidates.
“The pay-to-play rules are clear: municipal finance professionals that use their firm’s resources to campaign on behalf of political candidates compromise themselves and the firms that employ them,” said Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC’s division of enforcement in a statement.
The SEC’s press release cited e-mails that Morrison sent from his Goldman account to a deputy treasurer in Cahill’s office to back up its case.
In one, sent in September 2009, Morrison emphasized to an unnamed deputy treasurer how important it is to land the underwriting contract for a bond deal for his company.
“From my standpoint as an advisor/consultant/friend I am saying, PLEASE don’t give these [underwriter] slots away willy-nilly. You are in the fight of your lives and need to reward loyalty and encourage friendship. If people aren’t willing to be creative with their support then they shouldn’t expect business. This has to be a political decision,” Morrison wrote.
Federal regulators also say that Morrison made a contribution to Cahill by giving cash to a friend who then wrote a check to the treasurer’s campaign committee. Such an arrangement is illegal under state campaign finance laws.
Goldman suspended its bond solicitation work in Massachusetts in 2010 after it reported Morrison’s political activities to federal regulators. The financial firm has worked on $20.75 billion in state general obligation bonds since 2000.
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Related: Ex-Goldman director sentenced to 2 years in trading case
"Goldman ex-official will stay free on bail" by Larry Neumeister | Associated Press, December 05, 2012
NEW YORK — A former Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble board member convicted of insider trading charges can remain free on bail pending the appeal of his insider trading conviction, a federal appellate panel said Tuesday.
They never even see the inside of a cell.
Rajat Gupta, surrounded by family members including his four daughters, watched the arguments before leaving the Manhattan courthouse visibly pleased, breaking into a smile as a cameraman positioned himself before him. He was sentenced to two years in prison and fined $5 million in October.
The two-judge panel of the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals did not immediately explain its reasoning for allowing Gupta to be freed on $10 million bail. A lower court judge previously had said he must begin serving his sentence before the appeal is heard....
We no longer need an explanation. We all know why.
The 64-year-old Westport, Conn., resident is the biggest catch in the government’s five-year crackdown on insider trading that utilized wiretaps and numerous cooperators. The prosecution against Raj Rajaratnam and coconspirators alone resulted in more than two dozen convictions. Rajaratnam is serving an 11-year prison term after he was convicted at trial last year. Prosecutors said he made as much as $75 million illegally.
See: Memory Hole: The IBM Insider
At Gupta’s trial, the government said Gupta notified Rajaratnam as soon as he learned that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway planned to invest $5 billion in Goldman in September 2008 at the height of the country’s financial crisis. Prosecutors said Gupta told Rajaratnam a month later that Goldman was facing an unexpected quarterly loss before it was announced publicly.
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