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February 29, 2012
We didn't know we hired a crook: Ratner firm
NY Post
by Rich Calder
Could it be that Forest City Ratner has a big crook blind spot?
Officials of developer Bruce Ratner’s firm are claiming the company had no clue it recruited a convicted drug dealer and election fraudster to salvage a stalled $842 million mixed-use development in Yonkers.
Forest City Ratner officials told The Post that they never conducted a background check in 2006 on then-Yonkers Republican Party Chairman Zehy Jereis before awarding him what amounted to a $5,000-a-month no-show job. This was after they learned of the political crony’s criminal record from a reporter.
Jereis – who has no real estate experience - got the “consulting” gig three months after convincing then-Councilwoman Sandy Annabi in July 2006 to change her vote and push through FCR’s “Ridge Hill” project.
Shortly after testifying in Manhattan federal court Monday, Scott Cantone, FCR’s senior VP for government affairs, told the Post the company was unaware of Jereis’ shady past and never did a background check on him.
FCR spokesman Joe DePlasco said the firm had “no way of knowing” Jereis had a criminal record because “he was the leader of the Yonkers Republican Party.”
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, NY Post: Forest City didn't conduct background check into Jereis, spokesman claims they had "no way of knowing" his criminal past
Norman Oder turned to The Google — an advanced technology apparently not available at Forest City Ratner's hideout — to discover what the developer had "no way of knowing."
Um, being the Chairman of the Yonkers Republic Party doesn't exempt someone from a criminal past.
In some cases, it might be connected to it. Let's do a very quick literature search.
Follow the link to learn what he found.
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, Ratner VPs Claim They Didn't Know Fixer They Hired to Pass Yonkers Project Was Convicted Criminal
Posted by eric at February 29, 2012 9:30 AM