IRS to auction Cunningham cache March 23

[question everything]

IRS to auction Cunningham cache March 23

By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
North San Diego County Times
3/3/0

Antiques and home furnishings seized from former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, goods that an auction company official says have a "certain provenance," will be auctioned off March 23.

More than four dozen items were seized by the IRS from Cunningham's former Rancho Santa Fe mansion late last year after he pleaded guilty in November to bribery and tax evasion.

The items were seized after the disgraced Republican lawmaker admitted they were bought for him as bribes or with money illegally funneled to his bank account by defense contractors. Cunningham has a back tax bill of at least $1.57 million, according to federal authorities.

The IRS and its contracted sales agency, EG&G Technical services, will conduct the sale at a warehouse in Rancho Dominguez in Los Angeles County, the federal government announced Thursday.

(snip)

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/12/07/news/top_stories/22_11_3212_6_05.txt

[NastyRiffraff]

1. I want the commode!

Just as a reminder of these dark days, lest I forget . That commode just symbolizes all the corruption and criminality.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. The 19th- and early 20th-century antiques included:

"It's a very nice (batch), hand-selected and very good," he said.

The 19th- and early 20th-century antiques included:

-- a massive cherry-wood sleigh bed

-- six armoires, some with full-sized mirrors, gold-leaf embellishments and hand-crafted wooden crests.

-- a silver candelabra

-- custom oak doors with leaded glass window panes.

-- wooden night stands and end tables with marble tops

-- marble-topped dressers, one with beveled oak facing.

-- eight Persian-style rugs.

[amerikat]

3. EG&G does the auction? How Ironic.

Can you say "full circle" or "one big ball of wax"?
http://www.urscorp.com/EGG_Division/index.php


Edit to add: I wonder if any of the bought influence will now make a profit in his demise.

[Kenergy]

4. What happened to the defense contractors that offered the bribes?

Are they going to be charged with corruption?

[ronnykmarshall]

5. and his wife?

She's up to her neck in this mess as well.

[JPZenger]

6. Used to Drive His Rolls Royce to the Capitol

I guess no one suspected that Duke was corrupt, even though he drove his Rolls Royce to his reserved space at the Capitol.

[question everything]

7. And this, really, should be the lesson to all of us

to look for elected officials, and government employees, who live beyond their means. In the cold war this would be an indication of foreign governments paying for state secrets. Now, it is the drain on the government. No doubt, Cunningham gladly voted, or would have voted, to trim domestic programs for the rest of us and cutting taxes for the rich.

This was one comment by the judge - that Cunningham caused the Pentagon to spend more money - our money - to purchase products that it did not need.

[Demeter]

8. You Mean Like Bush & Cheney--Living Beyond Our Means?

[maddezmom]

9. kick

[WhiteTara]

10. Cunningham's ill-gotten gains to be auctioned off to repay the taxpayers

Oh, I love it when I get to post things like this.
http://www.10tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4584340&nav=LUESMuat

LOS ANGELES Ex-Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, newly imprisoned for bribery, has another debt to pay: three-point-six (m) million dollars in back taxes and restitution.
Some of that will be paid through a March 23rd auction of his expensive furniture, much of it given to him by defense contractors as bribes.Britney Sheehan, whose company will hold the auction for the government, says some lovely Persian rugs are included, along with antique tables, a sideboard buffet and chests of drawers.Sheehan says the government doesn't estimate what seized goods might fetch at auction. But appraisers say some of the rugs could be worth up to 40-thousand dollars each.In addition, Cunningham has been ordered to forfeit the proceeds of his 76-hundred-square-foot mansion which sold in December for more than two-and-a-half (m) million. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

very short article