Public Campaign ? American Family Voices

[Ohio Citizen Action letterhead]

May 3, 2005

U.S. Rep. Bob Ney 2438 Rayburn House Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressman Ney:

There was an article in Sunday’s Washington Post titled “Untangling a Lobbyist’s Stake in a Casino Fleet: With Millions of Dollars Unaccounted for, Another Federal Investigation Targets Abramoff.” This article raised a number of questions about your involvement in the sale of a Florida cruise line, SunCruz Casinos.

As you know, Ohio Citizen Action has a strong commitment to good, accountable government and we would like to better understand your involvement with SunCruz Casinos. The first question that comes to mind is how did you connect the business deal with SunCruz to the interests of your constituents. We also have these additional questions:

1. When Michael Scanlon, the former DeLay spokesman and then-Abramoff business partner), asked you to make March, 2000 Congressional Record remarks targeting SunCruz founder Gus Boulis, did you or your staff ever ask him why you should do such a thing?

2. Why did you feel that SunCruz Casinos and Gus Boulis’s business practices in Florida were relevant to your duties representing your constituents in the 18th District of Ohio?

3. Why, in your Congressional record remarks, did you single Boulis out for attack and call for a federal investigation of his business practices? As the Post reported, the effect of these remarks was to exert pressure on Boulis to agree to the sale terms proposed by Abramoff and Adam Kidan.

4. Were your remarks drafted for you wholly or in part by Michael Scanlon and/or his staff?

5. Were you aware at the time of those first Congressional Record remarks that Scanlon was working closely with Abramoff, and were you aware then that that Abramoff had entered into a secret and improper partnership with Kidan to buy SunCruz?

6. You later stated that you felt you were duped by Abramoff and Kidan, called them “nefarious individuals,” and said you had rejected them. When did you first conclude that they had duped you, and form the opinion that they were “nefarious”?

7. What was the contact that led to $1,000 contributions to your campaign on or about June 30, 2000 from Kidan, Abramoff, Abramoff’s wife, and Scanlon? 2

8. On Oct. 26, 2000, you inserted remarks in the Congressional Record stating that Adam Kidan “will easily transform SunCruz from a questionable enterprise to an upstanding establishment.” What was the basis for your belief that he would do so?

9. Were you aware, at the time of your second Congressional Record remarks, of Adam Kidan’s checkered background of lawsuits, liens, court judgments, bankruptcy, possible links to organized crime, or his use of a phony $23 million wire transfer and two separate checks for $2.5 million each which bounced, as part of the purchase of SunCruz?

10. Were you aware then that Kidan had been disbarred in New York two weeks after your first Congressional Record remarks for mishandling $100,000 he held in an escrow account for his stepfather?

11. Gus Boulis was killed in a gangland-style slaying on Feb. 6, 2001, after his deal to sell SunCruz to Abramoff and Kidan went sour. Adam Kidan reportedly arranged for $145,000 in payments starting less than two months before the slaying to mob-linked Anthony Moscatiello and his daughter, for which no work was apparently performed, according to The Washington Post. When did you first become aware that Kidan was a longtime acquaintance of Moscatiello, who had previously been indicted in New York in a case involving organized crime and members of the Gambino family?

12. Was Anthony Moscatiello present at the fundraiser that the casino boat executives held for you on March 15, 2001 in lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s skybox at the MCI Center, where Abramoff and Adam Kidan each contributed $1,000 to you? Did you know, at the time of this event, that Boulis had been murdered five weeks before your fundraiser?

13. Your spokesperson at the time, Neil Volz, indicated that you would return Kidan’s contribution. When reporters pointed out that FEC records indicate that never happened, you said your campaign had tried to refund the money but the checks were “returned to sender” because Kidan couldn’t be located. Could you provide copies of those returned checks, and have you made any subsequent efforts to return this money?

Thank you very much for your time and attention to these important questions. We look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Catherine Turcer Legislative Director