Sheldon Silver Allegations: Medical Research Funding In Exchange For Plaintiff Leads

Sheldon Silver, the powerful speaker of the New York State Assembly, is alleged to have routed hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money to a mesothelioma research center, while receiving names and phone numbers of potential plaintiffs from the head of the facility – referrals which he in turn forwarded to the plaintiff law firm that employed and paid him. This is just one part of a case involving a complicated money recycling scheme involving Silver and a number of other players, including the law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, which was not accused of wrongdoing, and the now former head of the mesothelioma research center at Columbia University Medical Center, Dr. Robert N. Traub, who received a non-prosecution agreement in exchange for cooperation.  Silver surrendered to federal agents last week.