The fed’s pay-to-play probe into state Sen. Carl Kruger also extends to whether his top aide traded political favors in exchange for campaign contributions, sources close to the investigation told The Post yesterday.
Jason Koppel, the Brooklyn Democrat’s longtime chief of staff and campaign treasurer, is also a key target in the two-year investigation into alleged official misconduct by Kruger, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
The probe came to light this week when one of the pol’s alleged middlemen was charged with lying to the FBI in connection with the probe.
The criminal complaint against Michael Levitis, the alleged middleman and Brooklyn nightclub owner, doesn’t name the “public official” accused of accepting kickbacks, but sources have told The Post that the “official” is Kruger.
The complaint also says an unnamed “staff member” of the “official” is being investigated, and sources say it’s Koppel, a 34-year-old Brooklyn-based political operative.
Koppel is one of the state Legislature’s highest-paid aides, racking up a $162,442 annual salary.
His wife, Batya Storch, is a former aide to Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn and Queens).
When contacted yesterday, Koppel referred all comment to Senate Democratic majority spokesman Austin Shafran, who admitted that Koppel and Kruger are the targets of the investigation.
Shafran said, however, that “Senator Kruger, as well as his chief of staff, are the victims of an influence-peddling scam by someone accused of lying to a federal official.”
But Levitis’ lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, previously said his client “is a very small part of a very significant criminal investigation,” and that “there is an allegation of quid pro quo between the senator and his constituents.”
In Albany yesterday, Kruger claimed ignorance when approached by a Post reporter, shaking his head and saying, “I didn’t see the story” before darting into a members-only Senate lounge.
Levitis was caught on audiotape on April 14, 2009, telling a federal informant that the informant needed to pay off a public official’s staff member — who sources said is Koppel — to get assistance on an upcoming business inspection.
He later said Koppel “asked that you do a fund-raiser” for Kruger also, and the informant agreed.
Kruger represents parts of southern Brooklyn.
Yesterday, Levitis’ lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman said his client was “caught between an angry government and yet another Albany politician.”
Additional reporting by Brendan Scott in Albany