A Yonkers assemblywoman testified at the federal corruption trial of state Sen. John Sampson Wednesday that the Brooklyn Democrat once asked he🐻r to help out a businessman who had given him a dubious loan.
Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer was chief counsel for t♐he state Senate in 2009, she told jurors in Brooklyn federal court, when Sampson told her that he had a friend named Edul Ahmad who was having problems drumming up real-estate business.
Sensi♓ng impropriety, Mayer said she felt “uncomfortable” with the request because it was a “constituent issue,” and later discovered that Ahmad had business ties to Sampson.
Prosecꦺutors contend that Sampson skimmed money off of foreclosure deals he oversaw while serving as a court-appoin⛄ted referee and later took a $188,500 loan from Ahmad to hide the shortfalls.
Rather than pay back the cash, Sampson instead tried to help Ahmad cultivate business, accordinﷺg to court papers.
The request to Mayer, they say, was an e🐷xample of the political favoritism he extended to Ahmad.
Judge Dora Irizarry tossed embezzlement raps against Sampson before trial, saying the statute of limitations for those alleged crimes had lapsed. But the politician still faces up♓ to 20 years in prison if he’s found guilty of trying to cover up Ahmad’s l🍸oan.
The Guyanese businessman — who cooperated with federal authorities against Sampson after being arrested for mortgage fraud — testified earlier in the trial that his former pal instructed him t🔯o withhold evidence of the loan during a conversation at a Queens restaurant in February 2012.
Wednesday’s proceeding was cut short by roughly 20 minutes when🐻 Sampson complained of dizziness after not having eaten for the entire day.
The trial continues on Thursday.