Asquith Reid, who used to work for Councilman Kendall Stewart of Brooklyn, admitted in a deposition made public just now that his daughter was hired by the Council in October 2002 and that he directly supervised her, which is against Council rules.

Stewart, who was never accused of any wrongdoing, went on to lose his re-election last bid last year to Jumaane Williams.

One Stewart’s rivals, Jumaane Williams, said he will call for the councilman’s resignation at a press conference later today.

A message left at Stewart’s legislative office was not immediately returned.

The aides, Asquith Reid and Joycinth Anderson, will plead guilty tomorrow, according to the BCN:

The Jamaican-born former chief of staff to New York City politician, Dr. Kendall Stewart, is set to enter a guilty plea this week, CaribWorldNews has learnt.

Court documents accessed by CWNN show that Asquith Reid, Stewart's former chief of staff, along with alleged co-conspirator and staffer, Joycinth `Sue` Anderson, are set to enter their pleas on Thursday.

Federal prosecutors say the two have advised the government that they wish to plead guilty before Judge Victor Marrero at 2 p.m. on June 25th.

Prosecutors alleged last April that both Reid and Anderson, former employees of Stewart, embezzled more than $145,000 in public funds.
The funds were apparently taxpayers money Stewart had allocated over three years to the Donna Reid Memorial Education Fund, a non-profit honoring the memory of Reid`s late daughter.

“Obviously there is additional information everybody will get,” she said. “As we look at that, if there are more comments and questions we can answer, we will.”

Quinn is expected to meet with Council members later today behind closed doors.

The indictment cuts into a claim Quinn has been making since the little-known slush fund came to light recently. For a number of years, taxpayer money was hidden behind the name of fake organizations and later doled out. Because the money ultimately went to legitimate groups, a number of people, including Quinn, have downplayed the significance of the fake organizations and equated the practice with an improper accounting practice.

But the indictment today alleges that $140,000, funneled into one of these fake groups, later went to the Donna Reid Fund, which had previously had its application for funding rejected.

Quinn said she had met one of the staffers named in the indictment, Asquith Reid, but did not immediately recall meeting the second, Joycinth Anderson. She also said he had not yet had time to read the full indictment.

The charges include conspiracy to commit mail fraud, money laundering conspiracy and witness tampering and center around an organization called the Donna Reid Fund, which has received $356,000 in discretionary funds from the Councilman since April 2005.

Reid and Anderson siphoned off $145,000 for their own benefit. They also used about $18,000 "on a hall used for events for a political club controlled by the Council member and spending more than $3,000 on campaign literature for the Council member," according to the indictment.

The Department for the Aging initially rejected Stewart's attempt to fund the group, since its address was the same as his chief of staff's.

Later, the application was approved. In March 2007, about $140,000 that had been hidden behind fictitious groups in the city budget was transferred to the Donna Reid fund, at the order of the City Council's finance department.

Indictment attached.