Riverdale Press
Editorial
April 11, 2012

Ex State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. is on trial for misusing funds from Soundview Health Care Network. One of the clinics, above, was open for business on Easter Sunday.

On Good Friday, when government offices, banks and markets were closed, Soundview Health Center’s doors were open.

A 73-year-old man, who suffered a stroke and then had a pacemaker put in two years ago, went to Soundview to get his blood tested rather than trek to Manhattan.

A 35-year-old woman arrived with an upset stomach. She moved to Throgs Neck when the youngest of her three daughters was born 13 years ago, but she still travels to Soundview for care.

The doctors, she said, know all her childrens’ names and handle them so well.

New York Post
by Pedro Oliveira Hr. and Dan Mangan
April 6, 2012

Burrrrpp!

Bronx political powerhouse Pedro Espada Jr. ate like a pig and stuck his publicly funded nonprofit with the big bills, federal prosecutors claimed yesterday while unloading a blizzard of restaurant receipts to detail the former state senator’s largess at the taxpayers’ expense.

Those checks show how Espada and his wife had a penchant for chardonnay and bottled San Pellegrino water ­ no mere tap water for them ­ to wash down shrimp scampi, Atlantic salmon, lamb, veal and chicken wings they had ordered at eateries in New York City and Westchester.

Admitted she knew nothing about finance
New York Daily News
by John Marzulli
April 5, 2012

Beverly Crosby, who says she was once a member of the 1960s girl group The Crystals, was appointed to Pedro Espada's Soundview board.

SHE SANG “He’s a Rebel” with the all-girl pop group The Crystals, and that’s all ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. needed to hear.

Beverly Crosby testified Thursday in Brooklyn Federal Court how Espada appointed her to the board of his Soundview health clinic because her husband knew him, her friend was also on the board ­ and she had a voice.

“Music,” she answered when defense lawyer Susan Necheles asked what talent she brought to the board. “I teach music to children and senior citizens.”

New York Post
by Pedro Oliveira Jr. and Dan Mangan
April 5, 2012

Ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. and his similarly named son engaged in some musical chairs yesterday at their embezzlement trial ­ as defense lawyers suggested a witness was confusing the son with the dad.

Pedro Gautier Espada ­ for the first time during the trial ­ moved from his chair several seats away to sit right next to his dad just before the witness was asked to point at the “Pedro Espada” she dealt with on a suspicious building-cleaning contract.

Before that switcheroo, the two Espadas sat separated by their lawyers in Brooklyn federal court throughout the trial.

New York Post
by Pedro Oliveira Jr. and Dan Mangan
April 4, 2012

These guys really cleaned up.

Ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. and his son allegedly ran a bid-rigging scam that turned taking out the trash into cash for a Bronx cleaning company controlled by the younger Espada, testimony in Brooklyn federal court revealed yesterday.

The alleged scheme saw the elder Espada’s Soundview Health Care Network ask cleaning companies for bids on contracts to service several of the nonprofit’s clinics in The Bronx.

But Espada grossly overstated the amount of work that needed to be done ­ leading the companies to submit too-high bids that were doomed to fail, prosecutors claim.

Worker testifies at former Bronx state senator's embezzlement and tax fraud trial
New York Daily News
by John Marzulli
April 4, 2012

A hard-working former janitor testified Wednesday that he was fired from his job cleaning ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada's Bronx health clinics after asking for a $1-per-hour raise.

To say Espada and his son Pedro Gautier took advantage of the cleaner would be an understatement.

Maxwell Noble said he was paid mimimum wage for cleaning three clinics -- $513 every two weeks -- and did not receive overtime, vacation or health benefits and sometimes worked Saturdays scrubbing the floors without being compensated.

"I cannot buff this to the best of my ability during the week when people are in the clinic," Noble said in Brooklyn Federal Court where the Espadas are charged with embezzling more than $500,000 in funds from their non-profit Soundview Health Center.

The Albany Times Union's take on a report issued by the Center for Working Families, tied to the Working Families (AKA Wrecking Families) Party ... which is also tied to the fake progressive group ACORN.

Reporter Vielkind questions how any report can credibly analyze Pedro Espada's campaign donations when Espada is seen as one whose reporting may not be up-to-snuff.

But he misses the point, and the irony of who issued the report (or at least to whom they are affiliated). The Working Families Party is known for their endorsing and supporting just about every corrupt politician in New York City. Just last week they endorsed disgraced Charles Rangel for yet another term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Previously they've endorsed landlord and real estate-backed politicians such as Peter Vallone, C. Virginia Fields and Christine Quinn. They almost endorsed Michael Bloomberg! How can they complain about Pedro Espada's receiving donations from ... and his in turn support for landlords and developers when the WFP has been doing the same thing for years? Vielkind, like most reporters, rarely look at this sort of thing.

Click 'Read More' for the report.

New York Post
by Josh Saul and Bob Fredericks
April 3, 2012

Bronx residents lost weight while Pedro Espada Jr.’s wallet got fatter, prosecutors charged yesterday.

A Weight Watchers manager testified in the former state senator’s federal corruption trial that she rented space in his nonprofit health center ­ but wrote rent checks payable to a for-profit cleaning company Espada’s family controlled.

The manager, Laurie Stauber, said the weight-loss gurus cut a deal to operate at the Soundview Health Center after an invitation from Norma Ortiz, Espada’s obese top aide, who wanted to become a Weight Watchers client.

“Norma Ortiz contacted me and asked me to come in” as a tenant in 1999, Stauber testified in Brooklyn federal court.

At first, there was no charge.

New York Post
by Amber Sutherland and Dan Mangan
March 30, 2012

Pedro got paid ­ but good luck figuring out which one.

A confused CPA confessed she didn’t know the difference between Bronx politician Pedro Espada Jr. and his son Pedro Gautier Espada when asked about questionable checks at their embezzlement trial yesterday.

“Some of the checks are written to ‘Pedro Espada.’ To me, it’s the same person,” befuddled accountant Winnie Wong testified in Brooklyn federal court.

“Now I know they are two different people.”

Norma Ortiz says boss showered wife with gifts, but taxpayer-funded nonprofit paid bill
New York Daily News
by John Marzulli
March 29, 2012

Ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. showered his wife with roses, balloons and a lovey-dovey card for her birthday ­ but his taxpayer-funded nonprofit paid the bill, his longtime personal secretary testified Wednesday.

Pushing a walker, Norma Ortiz took the stand with difficulty ­ but armed with a grant of immunity from federal prosecution ­ at her boss’ trial on charges that he and his son embezzled more than $500,000 from their Soundview health clinic.

Ortiz, 67, choked up when Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Carolyn Pokorny asked if she was close to Espada.

“Like he was my brother,” she said. Espada then wiped his teary eyes.