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Former Queens Assemblymember Jimmy Meng pleaded guilty Wednesday afternoon to federal wire fraud charges, according to the FBI.
Meng, the father to newly elected Congressmember and current Assemblymember Grace Meng, reportedly entered the plea on November 14 at around 2 p.m. He was arrested on July 24 for attempting to scam $80,000 in cash from a state court defendant, federal officials said.
“I am deeply saddened by the events surrounding my father the last several months,” the congressmember-elect said in a statement. “Today, he has taken full responsibility for his actions and I support his decision. This has been a difficult time for our family and we continue to pray for guidance in the coming months. My family hopes to continue to move past this chapter in their lives.”
The disgraced ex-legislator allegedly promised the defendant — who sought the former elected official’s help after being charged with state tax crimes — that his sentence would be reduced to one year if he paid prosecutors $20,000 each in bribes, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Federal prosecutors said Meng offered to be the middle man, instructing the individual to conceal and deliver the $80,000 payout in a fruit basket. The government investigation, however, uncovered no evidence the past politician even contacted prosecutors, and officials said Meng planned to keep the bribe money for himself.
“Give it to me and I will give it to them,” Meng allegedly told the defendant during a July 17 recorded telephone call, according to a criminal complaint.
Meng was caught red-handed on July 24 at his Flushing lumber yard accepting the fruit basket, which held thousands of dollars in cash from the defendant, who was cooperating with FBI special agents, authorities said. He was immediately placed under arrest and was released the following day on a $1 million bond secured by his two homes in Bayside and Flushing, said Bob Nardoza, spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.
Assemblymember Grace Meng, who has held her father’s old Flushing seat since 2008, was elected to Congress last week in a 2-to-1 landslide.
The then-congressional candidate originally distanced herself from her father in July when news broke of his arrest, saying in a statement she was “independent” of him and “always have been, always will be.”
She is not accused of any wrongdoings and is not tied to her father’s case.
Replying to “anonymous”: I also know Jewish patients driving in their Mercedes-Benz GL from their Great Neck address to see a cardiologist. To the surprise of my doctor friends, the patient uses Medicaid ! Medicaid patient driving Mercedes-Benz GL and living in Great Neck??? FRAUD!
Look around you, Public Consensus, they come from a background that’s trained them to be corrupt!
Mr. anonymous: Stop being a racist. Your ignorance is overwhelming.
I’m sure Bernie Madoff was Asian too…
I would be very leery about the other two family members as the nut doesn’t fall far from the tree. Corruption runs rampant in the Asian community. Didn’t John Liu’s crony get caught with her hand in the cookie jar? What about the joker that recked the RKO? He just tried to pull a fast one out in Douglaston but was denied the permit. Corruption is a part of their culture.
Using your line of reasoning, corruption and sex scandals are a part of American culture. Just because the Meng family are scammers, doesn’t mean all Asians are like that.
Sir, nothing is ever 100%. Anyone with commom sense should realize this,but corruption is diffinately a problem. Question: Didn’t the incoming president of the Chinese Communist party make a big issue about corruption throughout China? It is just part of doing business for them, with a majority of cases going unnoticed. I knew someone, who will remain unnamed, that transfered her assets to her sister in Taiwan and then claimed Medicaid, Food stamps, and grants for her son to go to St. Johns.
Corruption is found is EVERY race. You just named two examples- CLEARLY that’s enough to declare that corruption runs in the Chinese culture. And I’m sure that “Club Fed” is filled with Asians. Let me hit you with some education: Fraud and Corruption are everywhere. But when Caucasians do it, i.e., Bernie Madoff, Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling of ENRON, race cards are not called and we don’t generalize all Whites as “criminals” or “corrupt.” However, when an Asian commits fraud, let’s call him and every single Asian we see “corrupt.” Does that make sense to you because it doesn’t for me. Get educated and think before you speak.