New York (Times Union) – State officials can’t account for US$39,560 in taxpayers’ money that Senator John Sampson steered to a now-defunct Brooklyn charity, the leader of which opened a liquor store with the powerful legislator several months?later.The exact financial relationship between Sampson, who until last year led the Senate Democratic Conference, and Edmon Braithwaite, a Guyanese,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, is unclear. But Sampson, of Guyanese parentage, noted that he became a “shareholder” in a liquor store Braithwaite owns in 2011,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, according to a disclosure form. The State Liquor Authority refused a Times Union request for details on the store because “disclosure of the information and documents requested would interfere with an ongoingEdmon Braithwaiteinvestigation.”Sampson, a Brooklyn Democrat, was charged earlier this month with embezzling US$440,000 from mortgage accounts and then threatening to “take … out” potential witnesses against a business associate, Guyanese Ed Ahmad, who is also facing jail time for a huge mortgage fraud in the Queens area that spanned several years and included straw buyers. Ahmad apparently struck a deal with the prosecutors and reportedly secretly taped Sampson who was attempting to get rid of witnesses against Ahmad.Sampson pleaded not guilty. Federal prosecutors said the case against him is ongoing; they also revealed that Sampson was taped by a former colleague, ex-Sen. Shirley Huntley, at the direction of the?FBI.Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, would not answer specific questions about Braithwaite, Sampson, or the liquor store. “The case against Senator Sampson is pending and the investigation is ongoing,” Nardoza?said.Sampson’s spokesman, Mike Roberts, said that the senator relinquished his stake in Braithwaite’s liquor store — Gateway Wine and Spirits in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood — earlier this year, and said questions about it were “moot.” Roberts said no law enforcement officials had inquired about the?matter.“Why would they?” he asked. “We’re looking for storms in teacups, I suspect. The senator did what any senator, when their constituents petition them, would?do.”Braithwaite did not comment. After a week of calls and emails, he left the Times Union a voicemail late Friday saying he had been unable to respond because he was undergoing radiation treatment for cancer. He did not return subsequent?calls.A Guyanese immigrant and entrepreneur,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, Braithwaite is known in Brooklyn political circles as the founder of One Caribbean Radio. The station runs a talk format aimed at the three million-plus Caribbean immigrants and launched on an AM frequency in October 2007. It now broadcasts via the?Internet.According to a 2008 profile by New York Daily News columnist, Clem Richardson, the station quickly became a destination for elected officials seeking to reach Caribbean Americans, many of whom live in central Brooklyn. The station’s guests have included area legislators like Sampson and Senator Kevin Parker, as well as then-City Council members Letitia James, David Yassky, Bill de Blasio and District Attorney Charles Hynes.Hynes, who is white, made a monthly appearance and described Braithwaite as “a great?guy.”Braithwaite formed the One Caribbean Foundation in May 2008 and applied to the IRS for tax-exempt status in July 2010, records show. Its mission is “to organize and administer a charitable scholarship fund for individuals of Caribbean heritage, to be used for educational and medical assistance,” according to the IRS application.It also planned to “embark on a programme to train and teach inner city underprivileged youth the inner workings of a functional digital radio station” — One Caribbean?Radio.Sampson earmarked a US$100,000 member item for the foundation as part of the 2009-10 budget. The grant was administered by the Office of Children and Family Services, which sent $39,560 to the foundation in October 2010, state records?show.One Caribbean Foundation has three listed directors: Braithwaite and his wife,Wholesale Jerseys, Myrie, as well as Charles Mohan.Mohan, an adjunct professor and consultant, said he became acquainted with Braithwaite through various Guyanese-American groups and was a commentator on One Caribbean Radio when Braithwaite recruited him for the foundation. He is listed as its treasurer.“It never got off the ground. I never really participated or know if there was anything done. As far as I know, nothing was done,” Mohan said. He said his last involvement with the foundation was in July 2010, when he signed the IRS application.Mohan said that he was unaware of the $39,560 state?grant.According to OCFS spokeswoman Jenn

Almost one year after being awarded a contract to construct drainage structures on Middleton Street between Station and Lamaha Streets, Kitty, the project is set to be completed this month end,Cheap MLS Jerseys, according to workers on the site.The $10M contract was awarded to Courtney Benn Contracting Services Ltd (CBCSL) in November 2011.Residents in the area have complained bitterly that CBCSL have not only blocked off the access road in the area for almost a year but the company has also damaged the road and water mains.The drainage structure at Middleton StreetThe residents said that the length of the drain is 250 feet but the actual length of the drain is approximately 330 feet. However,China NFL Jerseys, they noted that the workers in the area said that the contract only stipulated 250 feet of drain to be built. There is also to be a revetment that will prevent the road from caving into the drains.According to one resident,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, he was told that the removal of stockpiled materials and equipment on three occasions,Wholesale Basketball Jerseys, further delayed the project.“Persons are made uncomfortable during the building process,Cheap Soccer Jerseys, and we have to use Station Street on all occasions, this is frustrating. They have severely damaged the road.”Residents further stated that workers related that the contactor is responsible for re-paving the road as a result of damages which may occur during construction.When the Ministry of Public Works officials were contacted for a comment they were unavailable. Minister Robeson Benn who is in charge of the sector, was not in the country.

In an age when phones dominate,NFL Jerseys Authentic China, calling 911 might not always be the best way to report an emergency.One man in Tucville, Georgetown, said he was on his phone calling 911 while looking at four armed men as they tried,Cheap Jerseys China, for more than 20 minutes, to gain entry into his neighbour’s home a little after 04:00 hrs on Wednesday.The man said he stayed on the phone even as the gunmen successfully ripped his neighbour, former Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hutson’s back door apart and shook on the grillwork until a part of it broke.This reportedly transpired at Lot 27-912 Tucville where the former army official resides with his family. Yesterday, Roland Hutson, the son of Charles Hutson, said that he and his family were asleep when his wife, Taryn Hutson, heard a commotion in the yard and woke him.“She heard a noise and when she peeped, she saw the four men at the back door. They jumped through the back fence by the alley way and come in the yard,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping,” Hutson said.He explained that just when his wife called out for him, he heard his father shouting in the bottom flat of the two-storey house.“My mom and dad stay downstairs and me, my wife and three children live upstairs,” Hutson said, adding that when he ran downstairs and into the kitchen, the men had already opened the door.“Two of them were pointing the gun at me while they were shaking on the grill to open it.”The father of three said that at that point there was nothing he could have done, since the men were pointing two guns at him.“I tell my mother and father to lock their bedroom door and when they (gunmen) come in,Cheap Authentic Jerseys, they tried to put me to lie down and when I refused, one of them took the gun and hit me in my head,” Hutson recalled.He further revealed that in mere minutes, the men packed a television, a laptop computer and his cellular phone in their bag, including $100,000 and escaped after terrorizing his family.They did not spare Hutson’s 15-year-old daughter. When she failed to follow their orders, one of the gunmen slapped her.“They even tried to get my parents’ bedroom door open but they couldn’t,” the father of three related.He added that after the men made good their escape, they too tried to call 911,Authentic NFL Jerseys, but no one answered. According to Hutson, he even visited the East La Penitence Police Outpost but there was a padlock on the gate.“I called and called but no one answered,Wholesale NFL Jerseys,” the Tucville resident stressed.Kaieteur News understands that half hour before the Hutson family was robbed and terrorized, the men broke and entered another home in the neighbourhood.