Witness: Sheldon Silver never revealed he was directing state grants to doctor

After hiring then-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the Weitz & Luxenberg law firm kept away from government work to avoid conflicts of interest, but Silver never revealed he was directing state grants to a doctor who referred asbestos cases, a firm founder said at Silver's corruption trial Tuesday.

"He never told me that he was sending state money," Arthur Luxenberg testified in federal court in Manhattan.

Silver is charged with giving $500,000 in state grants to Dr. Robert Taub in return for referrals of mesothelioma cases that earned Silver over $3 million in fees. Silver contends the referrals and the grants were not connected, but prosecutors say his efforts to keep the grants secret revealed a guilty conscience.

In other testimony Tuesday, Gary Klein, the firm's managing attorney, said Silver performed no actual legal work on any cases, and was the only lawyer who was paid solely for his prestigious name and referrals. Klein also said Silver hated waiting for checks, and insisted that Klein deposit them directly in his account.

Prosecutors also called David Mandel, the head of Ohel, a Jewish social services agency that hired Taub's son after Silver intervened -- a favor prosecutors say was designed to keep referrals flowing.

Silver had directed $6 million in grants to Ohel, Mandel said, but the then-speaker's staff urged the group to find other sponsors in 2007, when the Assembly had to begin making public the names of lawmakers behind each discretionary "member item."

The trial is scheduled to resume on Thursday.