Bronx songstress testifies at Espada trial

A Bronx songstress who served on the board of former Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada's nonprofit Soundview health center testified at his corruption trial Thursday that she wasn't in the loop on some of his insider deals and didn't approve.

"That's a lot of money," said former director Beverly Crosby after a prosecutor in federal court in Brooklyn asked about a $100,000-plus profit the government says Espada made on a janitorial contract with Soundview. "I think it should be going back into the company."

Espada, 58, the founder and chief executive of Soundview, and his son, Pedro Gautier Espada, are charged with stealing more than $500,000 from the nonprofit by using a corporate credit card to pay for personal expenses, and using a for-profit janitorial company they controlled to charge exorbitant cleaning fees and collect rent from Soundview tenants.

His defense lawyer contends that some of his personal spending was covered by a per diem expense allotment under his contract, and that the Soundview board of directors -- which included a contingent of family members and friends, along with community representatives -- signed off on the arrangement with his janitorial company.

Crosby, a successful local club singer who served on Soundview's board for 10 years, contradicted some of those claims. She said, for example, that she always understood that Espada and other Soundview employees received a per diem when they traveled -- but not that Espada, as he claims, was entitled to a per diem even when not traveling.

"It's travel money," she said. "Incidentals."

She also said she was never told that the Espadas' janitorial company was collecting rents from Soundview tenants, that his son drew salaries from both Soundview and the janitorial company, or that Espada had the company continue to pay for his personal expenses after telling the board that he was selling it to Soundview for $1 to bring janitorial services in-house.

On cross-examination, Crosby said her singing career had included a stint with The Crystals -- the group that had the hit song "Da Doo Ron Ron" -- and that she joined the Soundview board because she knew another director, and supported the mission of bringing health care to an underserved South Bronx population.But she admitted that financial acumen was never her strong point. Asked what she brought to the board, she said, "My music."