At federal trial, questions about Bruno documents

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN Associated Press Writer

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The lawyer for an investment company that paid former state Senate leader Joseph Bruno to generate business testified Wednesday that company files did not contain disclosure statements the lawmaker was required to present to clients.

Testifying at Bruno's federal corruption trial, Helen George said Security and Exchange Commission rules required Bruno to tell unions he was getting paid by Wright Investors Service when he solicited pension fund investments from them. Now retired, George testified with immunity from prosecution.

Prosecutors claim Bruno got $1.37 million from Wright over 12 years, part of a fraudulent scheme to use his state position to enrich himself. He denied any wrongdoing again Wednesday during the trial's lunch break, though he declined to say anything about the disclosure documents.

"We broke no laws," Bruno said. "What you saw here was testimony to that."

George acknowledged the company was responsible for maintaining client files, but making those disclosures was Bruno's obligation in soliciting account referrals and introductions for the company. When he worked as an outside consultant or finder, Wright provided him with the required written disclosure forms. He was later made an employee of the company, still required to disclose his employment status to clients, though not with those forms.

"The problem we have had is certain trustees object to signing such a form because they believe it looks as though they were improperly influenced in the decision (though generally they are rewarded as the result of competitive presentations by several advisors)," George wrote in a 1998 letter to an attorney advising Bruno.

Another company document showed Bruno helped them gain union pension fund accounts with a market value of $178,439,000 generating $728,000 in management fees. Others showed various commissions and bonuses, with his annual salary at one point at $132,000. A salesmen in a letter noted his "very close relationship" with a trustee of a Teamsters local in Albany.

Former Wright vice president Robert Smith, also testifying with immunity, said the company was added late to the list of finalists bidding to manage that $20 million fund in 1994 and then got the account.

Prosecutors allege Bruno improperly peddled his state influence in return for $3.2 million in commissions and other compensation. They contend the money came by steering union business to Wright and the stock brokerage McGinn, Smith & Co., and from helping three other businessmen.

Bruno, and 80-year-old Rensselaer County Republican, argued he simply did outside work, like most New York lawmakers who are considered part-time, with his sideline as a consultant.

Bruno faces eight fraud counts, accused of depriving New Yorkers of his honest services.