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Apparently Milton Street isn’t the celebrity I thought he was, as jury selection only took one day. Testimony begins today in the ex-mayor’s brother’s fraud trial.
So here’s the backstory; this is summed up the best I’ve seen it so far:
Later in 2002, court records show, PAS awarded a subcontract to Street’s company Notlim Service Management. The subcontract, worth up to $3.2 million, was to maintain the airport’s baggage conveyor systems, Jetways, and passenger transport vehicles. It was work in which Notlim - Milton spelled backward - had no experience. The solution, prosecutors allege, was for Notlim to hire PAS workers already doing the work and get $166,000 monthly as a minority subcontractor. Notlim then reimbursed PAS $133,000 for using its employees, according to prosecutors, and Street pocketed the $33,000 balance.
But in June 2003, when Philadelphia news media published accounts of the Notlim airport deal, Milton Street announced his withdrawal from the relationship at his brother’s request, saying it would “raise questions about the appropriateness of the subcontract because of my relationship to the mayor.” To replace that lost income, prosecutors allege, Street, aided by Velardi, defrauded Thanh Nguyen, owner of V-Tech Services Inc., a facilities maintenance firm. Street allegedly got more than $80,000 from Nguyen by promising him Notlim’s $3.2 million airport subcontract - despite the fact that the business relationship no longer existed.
Oh, Milton. The trial was scheduled to start at 9:15 this morning, so it should already be rolling! Don’t worry; yours truly will be heading over to the trial sometime next week.
Testimony to start in Milton Street’s federal fraud trial [Inquirer]
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