Lawmaker lied to FBI about son's law firm job, feds say; did lobby group fund son's $50K raise?
A powerful longtime New York state lawmaker was federally indicted Tuesday on a single count of making false statements to the FBI concerning a job prosecutors say he helped his son get with a well-known Westchester County attorney’s law firm.
Sen. Thomas Libous, 61, who serves as deputy Republican leader, is accused of lying when he told the feds during a 2010 interview that he didn’t recall how his son came to be employed there and never promised to refer business to the firm, the Journal News reports.
He was also accused in 2012 testimony by a now-disbarred lawyer from the firm of arranging for a lobbying group to fund a $50,000 raise for his son, the newspaper reports. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York contended that Libous “took advantage of his position as a senator” and got lobbyists to “funnel money through a law firm to his son,” the newspaper reports.
The son, Matthew Libous, 32, also was federally indicted Tuesday. He is charged with filing false tax returns and impeding the IRS.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty Tuesday afternoon in federal court in White Plains. Thomas Libous told the newspaper that he is innocent and described the case as “very disappointing.”
