Informant in New York Mayoral Ballot Bribe Plot Is Real Estate Developer With Sketchy Past

The cooperating witness at the center of the Malcolm Smith corruption scandal accused of having orchestrated a $100 million fraudulent real estate deal, according to reports.

Moses "Mark" Stern, who worked with feds to bring down state Sen. Smith and city Councilman Dan Halloran, was sued by Citigroup in 2010 after personally getting a massive loan of $126 million to purchase 11 shopping malls in the southeast in 2007.

According to the New York Post, Stern's company went bankrupt, and Citigroup sued. Stern pleaded guilty in federal court on March 11 to unspecified charges. It is unclear whether he will serve any jail time.

The Rockland County real estate developer then began meeting with the mayor of Spring Valley, Noramie Jasmin, after offering to give Stern land for development in exchange for bribing officials to get Smith on the mayoral ballot.

Moses Stern has been cooperating with the FBI for nearly two years, and helped lead to the arrests of six local politicians. This week Stern's work resulted in the arrest of Malcolm Smith and other New York political figures, who are accused of bribery, extortion, and fraud. Forbes originally reported in 2010 about Stern and the federal investigation that netted him.