Greed 'n Graft

More props to my good buddies at WNYMedia.net As I alluded to below, George Holt's hole just keeps getting deeper and deeper. His response is to hang up on John Zack during the most-listened to news program in Buffalo morning drivetime. Attaway to do damage control. George Holt's son runs a basketball camp called 'All Pro Hoops'. According to wnymedia.net, "Holt and others were funneling money through shell organizations, and taking the cut on the back end." Smells funny to me. The figure being thrown around is $200,000. That's a lot of basketballs. Erie County gave money (to whom don't they give money?) to the Boys and Girls Club of the Northtowns, and an organization called Group Ministries. Those organizations would then give the money to George Holt's son for the basketball camp.

Back in 2002, Nancy Naples did an audit finding that the Legislature authorized approximately $822,500 in public benefit funds to agencies where contracts and/or funding applications indicate all or a portion of the monies will be 'passed through' to other, mostly unidentified organizations. She noted that there were 149 agencies (177 contracts) totaling approximately $3 million that do not fit exactly within the strict confines of the law (appropriate use of public benefit funds). Bigger problems surface when searches for records of All pro Hoops is not registered as a company with New York State , or Texas, where George Holt's son is from."

So, in a nutshell, George Holt funnelled his member item money, which is supposed to go to local agencies, to his son's company via "Group Ministries." Lamar Holt lives in Sugarland, Texas. Home of corrupt sonofabitch Tom Delay. Must be in the drinking water. BTW - is he the same Lamar Holt that's named as a basketball agent in this story? I can't imagine a sports agent is so poor that he needs funds raided from Erie County taxpayers to run a kids' basketball program.