May 29, 1999
By Michael Valkys
Poughkeepsie Journal
The public first learned something was amiss when FBI agents joined the October 1997 search for the missing Town of Poughkeepsie Assessor Basil ‘‘Bill’’ Raucci.
Federal agents don’t usually take part in such searches, but Raucci wasn’t your average missing person.
Raucci was a potential star witness in a state and federal probe into corruption that led this week to the arrest of Dutchess County Republican Chairman William Paroli Sr. on corruption charges.
To date, four men who worked for the Town of Poughkeepsie and Paroli, who also served as the town’s Republican chairman, have been implicated in the corruption scandal.
The complaint filed in connection with Paroli’s arrest has shed more light on the length of the investigation and the scheme of extortion that is alleged.
Raucci’s body was recovered from the Hudson River four days after authorities began searching for him, but no arrests in the case would come until six months after Raucci’s death, which was ruled a suicide.
The court documents filed Wednesday in federal court in White Plains in connection with Paroli’s arrest make clear that the FBI had been looking into municipal corruption in the town since, at least, the spring of 1997, aided by a developer apparently fed up with paying off town officials.
State and federal investigators had incriminating evidence against Raucci when they lured him to an Oct. 3, 1997, meeting at the Fishkill Holiday Inn and confronted him — likely armed with tapes of Raucci accepting bribes from an FBI informant.
Developer assists FBI
Agents told Raucci to cooperate or face the consequences. Raucci said he’d think about it and left.
Federal authorities would not comment Friday on when their investigation began or who it is targeting. They say only that it is ongoing.
One of those who cooperated with the FBI — developer Louis Shassian of Florida-based CED Construction — could not be reached Friday. But he acknowledged in March that ‘‘we probably were responsible for initiating this,’’ meaning the investigation.
The probe led to Paroli’s arrest Wednesday on conspiracy and extortion charges. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison. Federal authorities allege that Paroli ran a vast shakedown scheme over the past six years with illegal bribes going to Paroli and the local Republican organizations that Paroli led.
Paroli resigned Thursday from his chairmanship posts, but planned to remain in his paid job as Dutchess County elections commissioner.
‘‘I plan to be around. I’ve got three-and-a-half years to go,’’ said Paroli, 71. ‘‘This is my livelihood, and I’ve done nothing that’s relevant to the board of elections that really would cause me to be removed.’’
He also said that cutting a deal with prosecutors was ‘‘not even a consideration right now.’’
Certain dates stand out
Three former town employees have been convicted in the burgeoning scandal.
Here are some key dates in the probe, according to court papers:
May 15, 1997: Investigators have a confidential witness — developer Louis Shassian — meet Raucci in a car at Grand Pointe Park off Salt Point Turnpike, one of four developments linked to illegal payoffs. While sitting with Raucci and with video and audio tape rolling, Shassian gives Raucci $11,000 in cash supplied by the FBI in exchange for Raucci reducing the assessment on the property. Raucci tells Shassian Paroli has ordered the money be collected.
July 16, 1997: Raucci, Paroli and Town Attorney Frank Redl meet with Grand Pointe developer Shassian for dinner at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. Authorities say Paroli offers Shassian assistance in getting a needed zoning change for another Shassian project off Route 9 behind Poughkeepsie Chevrolet.
The dinner ends with no money changing hands, but authorities say Paroli tells Shassian only to deal with Raucci in future attempts to get the project approved.
Paroli has said he rebuffed an offer from Shassian.
Frank Redl has said he remembers only Shassian asking ‘‘how much is all this going to cost me?’’
Even though the dinner meeting was wired, a technical glitch prevented it from being recorded.
July 31, 1997: In a recorded conversation, Raucci asks Shassian about ‘‘his offer to help during dinner.’’ After Shassian asks if Raucci wants more ‘‘old American green,’’ Raucci responds he wants something for the ‘‘round fellow,’’ meaning Paroli. The two agree Shassian will buy building materials for an addition to a house on Paroli’s property.
Two months later, the FBI confronted Raucci about his role during the hotel meeting. Raucci reportedly told authorities he would think about what he needed to do. The meeting was on a Friday. Family and friends said they last saw him the next day.
The search for Raucci began the following Monday, after a vehicle he was driving was found near the Hudson River in Highland.
The complaint filed in court on Wednesday also makes clear that investigators focused on Presidential Homes, a Hyde Park business owned in part by Raucci. Authorities claim in the court documents that the business was used as a conduit for illegal payoffs from contractors. Authorities say a Presidential employee has confirmed Raucci falsified business records to hide expenditures made on Paroli’s behalf.
The suspicions and rumors that began to circulate with Raucci’s disappearance exploded into fact on March 11, 1998, when former Deputy Building Inspector Robert Kortright was arrested at town hall and charged with bribery and extortion.
He was the first town official charged, and his arrest set off a chain of events that have culminated — at least for now — with Paroli’s arrest and a guilty plea from former town Water Superintendent Fred Andros.
Andros pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy, admitting to being a bag man for Paroli and delivering payoffs from contractors. He is to be sentenced in August.
He resigned his town post Wednesday, hours after Paroli’s arrest.
Developer Redl also implicated
Also, former Buildings Director Jim Pickles pleaded guilty last fall to one count of bribery for splitting a $2,000 bribe with Kortright.
Pickles was sentenced in March to four months home confinement and probation. Kortright, convicted last October at trial, was set to begin a year and a day jail sentence Wednesday.
Authorities will also not explain how the February arrest on a bribery charge of businessman Herb Redl — the town attorney’s uncle — is connected to the probe. Herb Redl allegedly gave town Assessor David Stokes a $1,000 bribe last August in return for Stokes leaving some of Redl’s properties off the tax rolls.
Stokes, who is cooperating with authorities, has not been charged.
Herb Redl, 68, of Pleasant Valley, is due back in court next Wednesday.