They toasted their greed inside a Manhattan hotel, raising glasses in one hand while reaching for payoffs with the other.
Valentine’s Day meant envelopes stuffed with cash. And Election Day meant trying to bribe their way onto the citywide ballot — or even into City Hall as Mayor Bloomberg’s successor.
The corruption complaint that left state Sen. Malcolm Smith and City Councilman Dan Halloran in handcuffs Tuesday was stunning in both its brazen details and the business-as-usual tone of its participants.
Halloran, captured on a surreptitious government tape, explained the approach simply last September after allegedly pocketing a $7,500 payoff:
“You can’t do anything without the f—— money,” the Queens Republican declared. “… Money is what greases the wheels — good, bad or indifferent.”
A 28-page federal criminal complaint accused Smith (D-Queens) of masterminding a plot to bribe Republican leaders to support his since-aborted mayoral campaign.
Halloran served as Smith’s go-between, the corrupt quarterback running his crooked coach’s political game plan, said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
The half-dozen defendants cooked up “an unappetizing smorgasbord of graft and greed,” Bharara told a news conference. “A show-me-the-money culture seems to pervade every level of New York government.”
The charges mark a tremendous fall from grace for Smith, who for a time was Majority Leader of the state Senate when Democrats briefly held the chamber’s leadership in Albany in 2009.
Smith was arrested early Tuesday by FBI agents at his Queens home.
But it was Halloran who emerged as the greed-driven Gordon Gekko of the scheme, exposing his affinity for graft and his misplaced ambition while angling for Smith to become the Republican nominee for mayor.
Halloran, during a Jan. 31 meeting, declared that he needed money to get his “mortgage situation resolved,” according to the complaint. He is legally separated from his wife.
And once Smith was elected mayor, Halloran — whose claims of serving with the NYPD were repudiated by the department — said he expected a job as deputy police commissioner or deputy mayor.
Halloran, during a Sept. 27, 2012 meeting with an undercover FBI agent and a federal informant, actually clinked glasses with the pair after collecting $6,500 in illegal campaign checks and promising a $20,000 payback in City Council funds.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” declared the informant — Morris Stern, a Rockland County resident whose reach extended into the five boroughs.
Halloran boasted the $20,000 request was actually a low-ball figure: “That’s easy, not even an issue … I might be able to get you even more.”
The politician, who also had his eye on a Congressional seat, was accused of accepting $38,000 in cash and another $6,500 in illegal campaign contributions.
Gov. Cuomo, speaking in Buffalo, said the allegation were “very serious” and called for a thorough investigation.
“We have zero tolerance for any violation of the public intergrity and the public trust,” he said. “It is troubling.”
Co-defendants Joseph Savino, head of the Bronx County GOP, and Vincent Tabone, vice chairman of the Queens GOP, were charged with taking the Feb. 14 cash payouts in return for backing Smith.
“The way to their hearts wasn’t a box of chocolates or a dozen roses,” said New York FBI head George Venizelos. “It was cold, hard cash in an envelope.”
For Savino, it was $15,000 and for Tabone $25,000 in bills, officials charged.
Non-Republican candidates need the backing of three of the five borough party leaders to land on the GOP ballot. Smith, whose name was circulated as a potential candidate, never actually entered the race.
Smith was also implicated along with the mayor and deputy mayor of suburban Spring Valley on a land development deal — with Smith agreeing to steer state money for road work to benefit the bogus project.
The probe started with the G-man posing as a wealthy real estate developer and teaming with Stern as they targeted corrupt suburban politicians in the spring of 2012.
The probe expanded in September to Holloran, and then a month later to Smith — who met with the pair in a White Plains hotel.
Smith later spoke with the undercover agent and the informant inside his Albany office, explaining at how he wouldn’t pay the GOP bosses a penny over their set price.
“I’d say, ‘Absolutely not,’” Smith said bluntly. “I’d say, ‘I’m not giving you a freaking dime.’ I’d say, ‘If I even give you a nickel more, you’d have to stand on the Empire State Building, and drop every person you endorsed, and hold Malcolm up and say he’s the best thing since sliced bread.’
“Matter of fact, he’s better than sliced bread.”
The six defendants, all arrested by the FBI earlier Tuesday, appeared in Federal Court in White Plains.
Each was released on $250,000 bond and ordered to surrender their passports.
State Sen. Daniel Squadron called on fellow Democrat Smith to resign immediately. Halloran was stripped of his City Council committee assignment by Speaker Christine Quinn, who referred the charges to council’s Standards and Ethics Committee.
As Savino left the courthouse for a waiting car, his attorney Kevin Faga snarled at reporters: “Get your f—— hands off me.”
Federal Judge Lisa Margaret Smith restricted the defendants’ travel to New York City and its Empire State suburbs — with the exception of Smith, who can travel statewide.
A grim-faced Smith, 56, bolted the courtroom without speaking to reporters. But his attorney asserted Smith’s innocence after the court appearance — and said his client would plead innocent to the charges.
“The allegations in this complaint do not tell the full story,” said defense lawyer Gerald Shargel before Smith fought through a media horde to escape in a waiting black SUV.
“I think there is much more to this story,” Shargel said. “I ask anyone reading this or reading about this to withhold judgement.”
Halloran, 42, attended the afternoon hearing in a long-sleeved grey T-shirt and jeans, speaking animatedly with his attorney in court.
Although the NYPD specifically released a statement saying Halloran was never a member of the department, his lawyer claimed during the hearing that the councilman was an ex-city cop.
Federal agents seized a shotgun from Halloran’s home this morning, and he was ordered to surrender a second shotgun within 24 hours.
The half-dozen defendants, including Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin, 49, and Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret, 44, were ordered back in court for an April 23 hearing.
While Halloran made it appear getting city council discretionary funds was a piece of cake, council staff told the Daily News that it never happened in this case — and couldn’t under strict reforms instituted after past abuses.
On tape, Halloran claimed he could call in favors from other council members and requested a tax ID number, corporate name and address.
“It raises no flags, and everybody’s got it the way it’s gotta be,” he said. “You do it the right way, not a problem. Then you will definitely have my member item.”
In one conversation with Stern, Halloran openly discussed getting the witness’ friend a job in an autism program funded with council money.
Smith, in a conversation with the informant, was just as forthcoming when expressed his philosophy on the illegal payoffs.
“Business is business,” he said. “They understand. You don’t take somebody’s money and just go, you know?
“Life is too short, I’m telling you, and it comes back around fast.”