NEW YORK — Real estate giant Glenwood Management was fined $200,000 by a state ethics commission for its role in the federal corruption convictions of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, once two of New York's most powerful politicians.
The Joint Commission on Public Ethics announced earlier this week that Glenwood, one of New York's largest political donors, agreed to pay the fine to settle allegations of lobbying violations that came to light during the trials of the disgraced former political leaders.
In Silver's case, Glenwood was at the center of one of the Lower Manhattan politician's kickback schemes. At the urging of Silver, Glenwood retained a real estate tax law firm — Silver then took a portion of the Glenwood fees paid to the tax firm, without actually doing any legal work. Glenwood knew Silver was making money off the company's work with the tax firm, JCOP said in a statement.
According to prosecutors, Silver made $700,000 in referral fees from Glenwood's relationship with the tax firm.
Glenwood also admitted to arranging a job for Skelos's son, Adam as well as consultant fees. The younger Skelos was also charged in the corruption case.
Glenwood owns more than 20 luxury properties in the city, including three in Lower Manhattan. The company's owner, 102-year-old Leonard Litwin, is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion.
The company does not face any criminal charges for its ethics violations.
Both Silver and Skelos are fighting to appeal their 2015 corruption convictions. Both have been allowed to stay out of prison while they continue their legal battles. Silver was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Skelos was sentenced to five years.
