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Routine IRS Checks Exposed Spitzer

Bank transactions made investigators suspicious

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 11, 2008 5:09 AM CDT
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(Newser) – The inquiry that uncovered New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's alleged assignations with high-priced hookers began in a decidedly unglamorous IRS office in Long Island, reports the New York Times. There, investigators were poring over suspicious bank transactions when they noticed the governor was apparently trying to conceal the transfer of thousands of dollars via what appeared to be shell companies, officials said.

Investigators at first suspected bribery or corruption and called in the FBI, but they soon discovered Spitzer's involvement with prostitutes. With help from an ex-prostitute, the team obtained a judge's permission for a series of wiretaps on the escort service's employees. Those taps uncovered the extent of the prostitution ring, with the Emperor's Club at its center and the disgraced New York governor one of its clients.

Traders watch a statement by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer on a screen in a booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday March 10, 2008. A law enforcement official has told The Associated Press that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's involvement in a prostitution ring was...
Traders watch a statement by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer on a screen in a booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday March 10, 2008. A law enforcement official has told The Associated Press...   (Associated Press)
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer arrives at his Fifth Avenue apartment, Monday, March 10, 2008, in New York. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer arrives at his Fifth Avenue apartment, Monday, March 10, 2008, in New York. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)   (Associated Press)
With his wife Silda Wall Spitzer holding the car door, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer arrives at his Fifth Avenue apartment, Monday, March 10, 2008, in New York. Spitzer, the crusading politician who built his career on rooting out corruption, apologized Monday after he was accused of involvement in a...
With his wife Silda Wall Spitzer holding the car door, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer arrives at his Fifth Avenue apartment, Monday, March 10, 2008, in New York. Spitzer, the crusading politician who built...   (Associated Press)
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer speaks during a news conference in Albany, N.Y., in this Dec. 12, 2007 file photo. The New York Times reported Monday March 10, 2008 that Spitzer has told senior advisers that he had been involved in a prostitution ring _ a stunning turn of...
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer speaks during a news conference in Albany, N.Y., in this Dec. 12, 2007 file photo. The New York Times reported Monday March 10, 2008 that Spitzer has told senior advisers that...   (Associated Press)
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Lust and pride, a fatal combination
Time

WSJ rips Spitzer as 'stupendously deluded'
Wall Street Journal

 
prostitution • FBI • IRS • sex scandal • Eliot Spitzer • prostitution ring

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