Convicted felons Bill Bobrick and Bill Weimer Mark Begich’s closest frends
Friday, August 15th, 2008Convicted felons Bill Bobrick & Bill Weimer are the kind of people Begich worked with for many years, and counted among his longest held and closest friends. Do you really want him for your
Lobbyist Bill Bobrick admitted in federal court on Wednesday that he conspired to bribe former state Rep. Tom Anderson.
In March of 2005, I placed the bribery of Ben Stevens and Veco under a spotlight that was impossible to ignore until the FBI raided their offices eighteen months later. In that time between my initial accusations and the FBI’s raids, I was accused of making frivolous accusations by numerous politicians and newspaper editors.
Today Mark Begich accuses me of making frivolous accusations again, as I spotlight the fact that he and Ted Stevens, both concealed large gifts from supporters while using their elected offices to deliver multi-million dollar favors at taxpayer expense… to those who gave them their gifts. The biggest single difference between what Ted has done and what Mark has done is that Ted Stevens has been indicted for his actions and Mark Begich has not.
When Jon Rubini gave Mark Begich an interest in two midtown office buildings, Mark Begich concealed that gift for four years. When Ted Stevens received a free remodel of his Girdwood home, he concealed that gift for six years and that is what he has been indicted for. When Ted Stevens was asked about his gifts from Veco, he lied about them. When Mark Begich was asked by Anchorage Daily News reporter Kyle Hopkins why Jon Rubini gave him an interest in two mid town office buildings, Begich also lied.
Begich lied when he told Kyle Hopkins that he had “negotiated down” to make the deal happen, taking a smaller than normal commission, saying he had only received $22,500, on a large sale. Attached is a copy of the page from the closing statement showing the commission. By viewing the attached you will see that Realty Executives, the company Begich worked for, received a $50,000 commission. You will also find the quotes of Begich telling the Daily News he compromised his commission to $22,500.
Begich later said Rubini gave him an interest in the two buildings to make up for the small real estate commission he had earned four months prior.
I am a commercial real estate broker. I have reviewed the closing documents of the transaction to which Begich attributed his gift. There is no mention of the interest in the office buildings or additional commissions due in the closing statements, which makes his explanation highly unlikely.
Begich’s $50,000 commission was for the sale of the north half of the city block, between 5th and 6th where, after the sale, the National Park Service Building was built by Jon Rubini. At that time both Mark Begich and Ted Stevens were business partners with Jon Rubini.
A different agent sold the south half of the block that is now used as a parking lot and that agent also got a $50,000 commission which was paid at closing. His commission is shown on a separate closing statement that deals with the south half of the block.
Bond Stevens and Johnston listed the property and received a listing commission for both the north and the south half equaling approximately the same as the two selling agents were paid. There is nothing about the commissions paid in this transaction that was compromised to, as Make Begich has said, “to make the deal happen.”
John Rubini has a track record of giving politicians sweet deals on real estate and then buying them back out of the same deals as he collects multi-million dollar favors at taxpayer expense. Rubini let Stevens buy into a real property development for $50,000 and then bought him out for a million and fifty thousand dollars a few years later. He gave Mark Begich an interest in two properties free of charge and then bought him out four years later for $52,000.
In the meantime Begich helped Rubini secure a four million dollar per year tax break on real property he owns and helped him double his money on a piece of property he picked up for $1,500,000 and sold to the federal government one year later for $3,500,000.
At first Mark hid the gift Rubini gave him. When he got caught hiding it he lied about its amount, and has yet to comply with his promised open book policy by producing the records necessary to answer the question of whether he reported it to the IRS as a gift, or a commission as he now claims it was. He has also failed to ask his former broker to produce the paper trail that has to exist, if it were in fact a commission.
Attached is proof that Begich has lied to the Daily News about some of the facts surrounding his gift from Rubini. I have been a commercial real estate broker for 34 years. Begich’s explanation of the remaining parts are so far removed from how things work in real estate, the entire explanation defies believability. (http://citizens4ethics.com/docs/Begich_Bobrick_Weimar_3-Peas.pdf)
Without subpoenas or reporters curious enough to inquire why Begich lied to the Daily News, all I can do is weigh a preponderance of the best evidence available. From it I conclude that Begich concocted a not so clever scheme to mask a bribe as a commission. Whether he is elected or not, I intend to pursue this matter with the same vigor I pursued Ben Stevens, Veco, and the bribery of our Legislature.
The only thing more embarrassing for
Most Sincerely,
Ray Metcalfe
This distribution was paid for by the Ray Metcalfe for Ethical Government Committee, PO Box 233809, Anchorage Alaska, 99523.
