More on the mysteries of Thomas Kontogiannis, aka alleged co-conspirator #3 from the Cunningham plea agreement. From a 2001 Queens Press cover story, sent by a reader:

...Court papers filed by District Attorney Richard Brown in a civil lawsuit against Kontogiannis, Miller and others accused in the alleged computer scam, indicated that Kontogiannis is a "high profile real estate developer with extensive contacts and business interests not only in America but in Greece, Eastern Europe, Georgia, Russia and the Ukraine."

Questions also surround the presence of the New York Asylum Office of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) on the 3rd floor of 1 Cross Island Plaza.

According to the INS’ website, the New York Asylum Office has jurisdiction for asylum related matters over the State of New York excluding the jurisdiction of the Albany Sub Office, the Buffalo District Office, and the boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx.

But it remained unclear at presstime if federal officials were aware of what a Nov. 20, 2000 New York Post article called Kontogiannis’ running "afoul of the law."

"He [Kontogiannis] and an official at the U.S. Embassy in Athens were arrested by the FBI for taking bribes to provide phony U.S. visas. Both pleaded guilty, and Kontogiannis was sentenced to five years’ probation," the article stated.

A lot of these stories have a hint that Kontogiannis was perhaps not unfamiliar with organized crime. Not Sopranos style local waste management stuff, but more international. An old Greek Navy man, Kontogiannis knew boats, how to move and launder money, set up front companies, and seemed to have some transport and logistics companies. But here's the thing: when Kontogiannis was confronted with the law in the two cases we know about -- his 1994 guilty plea for visa fraud after he was arrested by the FBI with an official from the US embassy in Athens, and his 2002 guilty plea in the pretty large Queens school district bid rigging scheme, he escaped jail both times. His sentences always seemed pretty light. I am starting to get the sense of someone who may be protected. It occurred to me reading the above article and others as plausible that Kontogiannis might have been useful for a faction of the US government at one time or another. It's pure speculation, but you could imagine that his skills might come to be useful for some things. One theory -- could Kontogiannis have been used by some US government agency (let's say the CIA -- again, pure speculation), even while being simultaneously investigated by another (the FBI, etc.)? Might someone from that agency have intervened to protect Kontogiannis in his encounters with the law? Could it be that Kontogiannis, the old Greek Navy guy who knows his way around Eastern Europe, Greece, the Balkans, Ukraine and Georgia and their gray markets, who knows how to launder money and create front companies, who knows who to bribe, may have proved useful to the Pentagon or the CIA at certain points, that one of his companies was perhaps used for laundering or moving money or shipping or logistics or financial transfers? (Total speculation: Perhaps even that he might have been a contact of Wilkes' friend at the CIA, who did a long tour doing logistics and administrative tasks for the Agency in those regions?)

Check out this as well:

...The confidential informant who assisted in this investigation described a party at the home of Thomas Kontogiannis in early 1996. In addition to our source and Kontogiannis, in attendance were Celestine Miller, her husband William Harris, and an iinfluential United States Congressman. Talk turned to the Presidential election.

According to our informant, the partygoers agreed that if the Republicans won in November, Miller stood a good chance at being named this country’s education Secretary.

However, although the Democratic candidate was elected and that appointment failed to materialize, Miller’s political aspirations lingered. When she decided to seek the United States congressional seat which was unexpectedly relinquished by the Reverend Floyd Flake, it was no surprise that her computer contract cronies came to her financial aid. ...

Who was the "influential US Congressman" already hanging around with Kontogiannis back in 1996?

(Editor's note: This post has been slightly revised).

Posted by Laura at January 12, 2006 10:40 PM