From left: Bruce Ratner, Zehy Jereis and Carl Kruger

Though not charged with any crimes, Bruce Ratner has found himself a prominent role in recent corruption cases involving Yonkers and Brooklyn politicians, a New York Times columnist said, thanks largely to his maneuvering for approval for two massive developments.

Ratner has hired a mix of former politicians, political consultants and lobbyists to obtain approval and funding for his Atlantic Yards project and a less-publicized, 81-acre luxury residential and retail complex he’s trying to build in Yonkers called Ridge Hill. [more]

An explanation has finally emerged to explain why federal prosecutors suddenly dropped bribery charges against developer Aaron Malinsky 10 days ago, in connection with State Sen. Carl Kruger’s corruption case, the New York Times reported.

Prosecutors conducted a thorough investigation into charges that Malinsky paid $472,000 in bribes in exchange for Kruger’s approval of his projects, according to court papers, but “there were serious questions” surrounding his guilt, according to prosecutors. [more]

From left: developer Aaron Malinsky, Carnasie Plaza and Sen. Carl Kruger

Federal prosecutors agreed to drop a multi-count indictment against real estate developer Aaron Malinsky, who was charged earlier this year with paying about a half-million dollars in bribes to state Sen. Carl Kruger.

Malinsky, founder of Manhattan-based PA Associates, was charged in March with bribing Kruger in connection with several real estate projects linked to his firm, including Canarsie Plaza, a big-box retail project on Avenue D in Brooklyn.

Malinsky and lobbyist Richard Lipsky were later accused in an 11-count indictment of committing mail and wire fraud, allegedly funneling hundreds of thousands in bribes to Kruger through Michael Turano, a gynecologist who was a companion of Kruger’s. [more]

The Bloomberg administration has withdrawn its controversial plans to permit developer Bruce Ratner to transform land in the Mill Basin part of Brooklyn into a shopping mall, A Walk in the Park blog reported, announcing the withdrawal on the Office of Environmental Coordination’s website.

“The Four Sparrow Marsh Retail Center at Mill Basin project has been withdrawn as of September 2011,” the announcement said.

Ratner had planned to transform 15 acres of Four Sparrow Marsh to into a shopping site. There was reportedly speculation that the project was stalled by an investigation into alleged corruption on the part of Senator Carl Kruger, who designated funds for the development (note: correction appended). [more]

City Point rendering and Aaron Malinsky

A federal grand jury handed down a new 11-count indictment in the state Sen. Carl Kruger ongoing bribery scandal charging the defendants, including real estate developer Aaron Malinsky and lobbyist Richard Lipsky, with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Malinsky was previously indicted for allegedly making $500,000 in bribes to Kruger, a Democrat from Brooklyn, who later stepped in to help move forward several major real estate developments.

Lipsky, who represented various high-profile clients including Forest City Ratner, also allegedly paid off Kruger.

Malinsky, a principal at PA Associates, and Lipsky allegedly funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to Kruger through a series of bank accounts set up by Manhattan gynecologist Michael Turano, who was Kruger’s long-time companion. [more]

Government officials are quickly washing their hands clean of indicted developer Aaron Malinsky, who was accused of bribing Brooklyn State Sen. Carl Kruger earlier this month in exchange for his support on two key projects. According to the Brooklyn Paper, Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are each returning the $250 in campaign donations they received from him last August, and New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez said he plans to donate $10,500 of the $33,000 he received to charity. But Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz appears to be the odd man out, and he’s now coming under fire from government watchdogs for delaying his decision about some $21,550 in Malinsky-tied campaign contributions until after he sees the outcome of the bribery case. [more]

City Point rendering and Aaron Malinsky

Less than two weeks after being fired from the Brooklyn Navy Yard project, Aaron Malinsky was removed from the City Point project in Downtown Brooklyn that was to include the construction of the tallest building in Brooklyn, according to the New York Post.

Malinsky allegedly directed nearly $500,000 in bribes to Brooklyn State Senator Carl Kruger in exchange for his official help with real estate ventures throughout the borough. Yesterday, The Real Deal reported that Malinsky would “vigorously contest” the allegations. [more]

Admiral’s Row at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

The non-profit Brooklyn Navy Yard Development removed PA Associates as a designated developer on its high-profile Admiral’s Row project a day after one of the firm’s founders was charged in a $1 million federal bribery investigation.

The quasi-governmental entity today “terminated the designation of PA Admirals Row LLC as the developer of the Admiral’s Row site,” the corporation said in a statement to The Real Deal. PA Admirals Row LLC is an affiliate of Midtown-based PA Associates, which was approved as the developer to partner with grocery chain ShopRite on the $60 million project to build a grocery store.

Yesterday federal prosecutors charged Aaron Malinsky, a principal and founder of PA Associates, of funneling $472,500 in bribes to State Senator Carl Kruger. [more]

[Updated 8:41 p.m.] The founder of a successful Midtown-based real estate firm is accused of funneling nearly $500,000 in alleged bribes to Brooklyn State Senator Carl Kruger, who in turn took action to benefit that company’s development projects, a complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court says. Prosecutors allege Aaron Malinsky, a principal with PA Associates, made the payments to an entity called Olympian Strategic Development, and that money was used to improperly benefit Kruger (see complaint after the jump). Kruger allegedly received at least $1 million in bribes from Malinsky and others between 2006 and 2011, investigators said. In addition to Malinsky, authorities accused lobbyist Richard Lipsky, a principal with Richard Lipsky Associates, whose clients include Forest City Ratner, of involvement in the alleged bribery schemes. [more]

Brooklyn’s Community Board 18 has only two employees — state Sen. Carl Kruger’s girlfriend and sister — but that isn’t holding it back from receiving a brand-new $7 million, 4,000-square-foot office building, courtesy of city taxpayers, according to the Post. The new digs are thanks to a deal that the Dinkins administration cut in the early 1990s with then-CB 18 Chairman Kruger, who pledged his support for a Department of Environmental Protection sewage-overflow storage plant at Paerdegat Basin in return. The delayed, $357 million plant is just now under construction, and meanwhile, Kruger is the subject of a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for alleged influence peddling. Most community boards rent offices of less than 1,500 square feet and hold larger, public meetings elsewhere, city officials said. Kruger and his girlfriend, CB 18 District Manager Dorothy Turano, said the board, which consists of Turano and Kruger’s sister, secretary Marlene Berger, has been operating out of a small apartment in the low-income Glenwood Houses in Canarsie since 1977. [Post]

[more]