Bronx senator dodges taxes and city zoning rules - NYPOST.com

Bronx senator dodges taxes and city zoning rules - NYPOST.com:

'via Blog this'He’s as slippery as his pet iguana.

State Sen. Jeffrey Klein has for years tried to project the image of an independent, incorruptible watchdog — fiercely protecting his constituents from subprime lenders, foreclosing banks and shady Albany politics. He even led a rebellion against his own party, creating an independent conference of four dissatisfied Democrats.

But like his illegal reptilian pet, the Bronx lawmaker’s pattern of behavior is far more slick than his shining public persona.

Klein has gamed the system — and possibly broken the law — for years, thumbing his nose at city zoning regulations, getting tax breaks he isn’t entitled to, and failing to disclose his assets to state officials. His ethical breaches range from a dubious mortgage and scandal-scarred political donors to questionable court appointments and renting his Senate office from a firm with alleged mob ties.

AP

WHO’S A BAD BOY? Klein is known for his illegal iguana.

J.C. RICE

HOUSE OF MISREPRESENTATIVES: State Sen. Jeffrey Klein benefited from numerous financial irregularities in running his firm’s law office in a residential-zoned area of the Morris Park section of The Bronx, and failed to report the firm’s ownership of the building in Senate ethics disclosures.

VICTOR ALCORN

State Sen. Jeffrey Klein

Among the highlights:

* In 2005, Klein and law partners Dominick Calderoni and Fred Santucci Jr. took out a $450,000 mortgage to buy a two-family home on Williamsbridge Road in the Morris Park section of The Bronx. They applied for a residential mortgage knowing the property would be used for commercial purposes. The trio immediately turned the two-story building into a law office, ignoring the zoning code despite signing a mortgage mandating that they “comply with all laws.”

* The city slapped the firm with a violation and fine for “illegal use in residential district.” The firm ignored the city directive to “discontinue illegal use.”

* There is no certificate of occupancy for the home, which is required when work is done on older homes.

* The property had a STAR tax exemption for two years, a break given only to a primary residence. Klein got the same break on his actual Bronx home during one of those years.

* The law office was improperly taxed at a lower residential rate for seven years, saving the firm tens of thousands of dollars.

* Klein failed to reveal his ownership of the home, and two mortgages on it, on his yearly state financial disclosure forms — a possible breach of the state Public Officers Law.

* Klein accepted a $4,500 campaign contribution in 2006 from Edul Ahmad, a Queens real-estate agent indicted last year in a $50 million mortgage fraud scheme.

* The lawmaker moved his district office to the Hutchinson Metro Park, an office complex owned by Hutch Realty Partners, which has contributed more than $30,000 to Klein’s campaign coffers. Two of its owners, Michael Contillo and Joseph Deglomini, were indicted along with a mobster in a 1990s racketeering case.