Add Federal Charges Against Council Aides In Embezzlement Jam
By ARI PAUL
The Federal indictments against two City Council aides were broadened June 24, adding to accusations that they embezzled money allocated for phony organizations.

KENDALL STEWART: Aides' woes deepen.

Brooklyn Councilman Kendall Stewart's Chief of Staff, Asquith Reid, and staffer Joycinth Anderson were charged in April with siphoning money granted to the Donna Reid Memorial Educational Fund since April 2005.

Another $50G Siphoned?

The new charges state that nearly $50,000 earmarked for two other groups, Community Opportunity and Research Development as well as Central Brooklyn Community Services, was split between the two employees for personal use.

Mr. Stewart had contended in April that the indictments were not targeted at him or his office.

The two aides were charged with money-laundering and mail fraud conspiracy and could serve up to 40 years in prison if convicted on those counts. Mr. Reid was also charged with two counts of witness-tampering, and faces another 40 years in prison if convicted of those activities.

The original charges followed the admission that the Council had been appropriating millions of dollars to phony organizations but later shifted that money to other neighborhood projects without mayoral scrutiny. In response, Council Speaker Christine Quinn has instituted a number of reforms to make discretionary funding disbursement more transparent. Those reforms have continued to draw criticism from some of her colleagues, including Queens Councilman John Liu, who say that the changes do not go far enough in solving the problem.