PHOTO: Norman Seabrook was arrested by federal agents last week. Courtesy of COBA
By Michael V. Cusenza
It seems that Norman Seabrook is the latest political power player to land in U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s public-corruption crosshairs.
The long-time president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association was arrested last week and charged with demanding and accepting bribes in exchange for investing union money in a Manhattan-based hedge fund.
Seabrook, 56, was nabbed along with Murray Huberfeld, 55, a founder and part-owner of Platinum Partners hedge fund. According to Bharara, Huberfeld paid a $60,000 bribe to Seabrook, and promised future bribe payments, in exchange for Seabrook’s investment of $20 million of COBA money in Platinum Partners.
“As alleged, Norman Seabrook and Murray Huberfeld engaged in a straightforward and explicit bribery scheme,” Bharara said. “For a Ferragamo bag stuffed with $60,000 in cash, Seabrook allegedly sold himself and his duty to safeguard the retirement funds of his fellow correction officers. Norman Seabrook, as COBA’s president for over two decades, allegedly made decisions about how to invest the nest egg for thousands of hard-working public servants, based not on what was good for them, but on what was good for Norman Seabrook.”
COBA issued a statement following Seabrook’s booking.
“We are saddened and concerned by these allegations, but would point out that Mr. Seabrook is innocent of these charges until proven otherwise and we look forward to him having his day in court,” said COBA 1st Vice President Elias Husamudeen. “But let’s be clear, the current leadership of COBA will remain focused on protecting the women and men in uniform who risk their lives working in our jails every day. Our officers face an increase in gang violence, an increase in encounters with the mentally ill that they are inadequately trained for, and an increase in overtime that is pushing them to the brink. These issues are too important to allow for distractions.”
Seabrook and Huberfeld have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and one count of honest services wire fraud. Each of the two counts carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison.
“When an official takes advantage of his or her position as steward of an organization’s financial resources in order to line their own pockets, it is a dereliction of duty for someone trusted to protect the financial contributions of the hard working men and women who belong to the organization. When a hedge fund manager provides bribe payments to organizations to gain their business, he or she puts the financial security of the fund’s investors at risk,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Diego Rodriguez. “This kind of criminal collusion destabilizes the system and undermines investors’ confidence in the integrity of the marketplace. The FBI, along with our partners, will continue to work to protect our citizens from the destructive consequences of corruption and deceit.”
Even with the pelts of disgraced former state Legislature leaders Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos on his wall, Bharara shows no sign of slowing down – or mercy.
“We intend to be as aggressive as ever in exposing corruption wherever we find it,” he said at the Seabrook press conference. “And it is too bad that we seem to find it everywhere we look.”
michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
