Giuliani Associates made a donation to Cuomo to help start the pot business

New York politicians and staff on both sides of the aisle have been implicated in allegedly participating in misappropriated money to help start a cannabis business. Two Rudy Giuliani employees – Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman – told a Russian millionaire in 2018 that they had offered then-Governor Andrew Cuomo a donation of $ 125,000 to help set up a cannabis business in New Favoring York, the court records say.

The ongoing scandal, first reported by the New York Daily News, continues to reveal a web of corruption in the marijuana markets in several states.

Cuomo signed an adult cannabis law legalization in New York on March 31, but has been criticized for being reluctant to launch the market. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who replaced Cuomo, promised to pick up where Cuomo failed and kickstart the state’s adult cannabis market.

Political power struggles blocked progress in the New York State Legislature, forcing it to end its session in July 2021 without taking action on a core piece of state adult cannabis law. New York residents and legal advisors were frustrated by the delays on a supervisory body, among other things.

The New York Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act provides progressive social justice provisions. As in any other state with a legal market, competition for licenses and for building market dominance is fierce.

But allegations of corruption in the approval process could affect both the former governor and Donald Trump’s former attorney.

Manhattan Federal Court papers were filed Tuesday in the criminal case against Parnas, a former employee who helped Giuliani uncover filth on President Joe Biden in Ukraine. Parnas is on trial in October for illegally transferring cash from Russian millionaire Andrey Muraviev, along with several other US politicians, in violation of campaign finance laws that prohibit donations from foreigners.

The new documents claim Fruman sent Muraviev a list of which politicians received the Russian millionaire’s money – including the alleged donation from the cannabis business. “The list includes $ 125,000 paid to then New York Governor Andrew Cuomo,” the federal prosecutors wrote. But prosecutors admitted that there was no solid evidence that Parnas, Fruman, “or someone acting on their orders, actually made that payment” to the ex-governor.

Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi, who resigned last month on allegations of sexual misconduct, said Cuomo’s team had never heard of the donation.

Fruman pleaded guilty earlier this month, admitting that he had given at least $ 25,000 from the Russians to Democrats and Republicans to purchase marijuana distribution licenses in several states. Fruman was originally charged with 10 crimes.

The prosecutors involved in the case appear to be unable to determine the intentions of the Giuliani staff and whether the offer was just a ploy. “Even though [they] agreed to use Muraviev’s money to fund their joint cannabis business – primarily through donations to US politicians who they believed would help the business – in fact, they did not use all of the money for that purpose, ”they wrote Federal prosecutors. “Among other things, Parnas and Fruman used some of the money to pay for luxury hotel accommodations and airfare, as well as other personal expenses.”

Parnas attorney Joseph Bondy said federal prosecutors were misinformed and didn’t expect the case to go far.

It is questionable whether Giuliani himself has an interest in investing in the cannabis business. When Giuliani was Mayor of New York City, arrests of marijuana possession in the city rose to more than 40,000 annually, and the former mayor declared in 2014 that “marijuana can damage your brain.”

Neither former Governor Andrew Cuomo nor the staff of former Trump attorney Giuliani appear to have committed themselves to fair politics in the New York marijuana market.