A witness at the corruption retrial of former state Senate majority leader Dean Skelos said he once gave the senator’s son a $20,000 check to help get “Dean off [the] back” of an important client.
Tom Dwyer, a former Long Island councilman, told jurors in the Manhattan federal trial of the father and son that he cut Adam Skelos a $20,000 check in 2013, disguised as a referral fee for title insurance work, because real-estate executive Charles Dorego asked him to.
“Did Adam Skelos perform any work for you in exchange for the $20,000 payment?” prosecutor Douglas Zolkind asked Dwyer.
“No,” he replied.
“Did he refer the deal to you?”
“No,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer participated in the shady deal, which he later lied to the feds about, because Dorego’s company, Glenwood Management, was a big client — and Dorego didn’t want to the deal being linked to Glenwood, Dwyer said.
“I hope this gets Dean off my back,’” Dorego said after Dwyer told him the money had been exchanged, Dwyer testified.
The Skeloses are accused of strong-arming companies over which Dean had legislative power, including Glenwood, into giving Adam do-nothing jobs and consulting work.
On Tuesday, prosecutors had a witness testify to Adam’s banking records in an effort to he needed the money to buy a $670,000 home in Rockville Centre.
Financial records tied to the 2013 home purchase show Adam listed the $20,000 check from Dwyer as money he earned from actual work.
“This is a commission check from a title deal,” Adam told the mortgage banker, records showed.
Adam also listed a $4,000 a month job at environmental company AbTech, which Dorego also helped him land amid pressure from Dean to help his son financially, Dorego testified.
Dwyer said he lied to the feds about the check when they came knocking in 2015, telling them it was a signing bonus for Adam to work for his company, American Land Services.
“I was extremely nervous and I made a huge mistake,” Dwyer said.