This is about the subpoena CDR got the other day from the Feds about their dealings in regards to a airport:
Federal investigators subpoenaed Port Authority of Allegheny County documents related to a company that might have overcharged municipal agencies for its services, an agency official confirmed Wednesday.
Port Authority spokesman Jim Ritchie said the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division demanded documents related to contracts with CDR Financial Products. Citing potential litigation, Ritchie declined to disclose the number or nature of Port Authority contracts federal authorities subpoenaed. It responded to the subpoena around March or April, he said."It’s our understanding that we potentially are a victim," Ritchie said.
The Los Angeles-based company, Chambers Dunhill Rubin & Co., was one of at least three municipal financial advisers searched by federal prosecutors in November 2006 as part of an investigation into collusion among banks and brokers to overcharge public agencies participating in the municipal bond market, according to Bloomberg News.
On May 6, the Justice Department subpoenaed records of the Allegheny County Airport Authority related to the 2002 sale of $114.5 million in adjustable-rate bonds. Airport Authority counsel Jeff Letwin said the contract with CDR was for guidance in investing the proceeds of the refinancing. The authority periodically refinances bonds to lock in favorable interest rates.
Letwin was not immediately able to say who negotiated the contract or how the firm came to the airport authority’s attention. As a professional services agreement, it would not have been put out for competitive bid. He believed the value of the contract was about $25,000.I called the Justice Department to find out whether the airport authority is the target of this investigation," Letwin said. "No, we’re a victim."
As a victim you are certainly not alone. Anyway for the record CDR and Rubin and have given ten’s of thousands to Pennsylvania Democrats including over 40,000 to Ed Rendell. In general their activities were especially egregious in Philadelphia.
