Follow The Bouncing Checks

Follow The Bouncing Checks

Does Councilmember Brian Davis’s rubber check scandal stretch beyond one bad debt?

Frank LoTempio III, attorney for Councilmember Brian Davis, talks to Channel 7's Steve Barber outside D District headquarters.

On Tuesday evening, Ellicott District Councilmember Brian Davis and his attorney, Frank LoTempio III, met again with Buffalo Police at D District headquarters on Hertel Avenue to discuss allegations that Davis bounced a check for more than $3,500. The recipient of the bad check was Kevin Brinkworth, owner of the Gates Circle building that housed the restaurant One Sunset, which closed in December.

The restaurant, which was owned by local basketball legend Leonard Stokes, fell behind on rent, so the story goes, and Davis stepped in to help out—an especially generous gesture considering that he apparently had no money to back the check he gave to Brinkworth. To cover it, he turned to local musician Wade Hawkins, with whom he reportedly struck a usurious deal: Hawkins fronted Davis $5,000 with which to pay Brinkworth, and Davis would pay Hawkins back after one month—with $1,000 interest.

But Brinkworth claims the check was never made good. And Hawkins says his loan was never repaid. Buffalo Police are investigating, trying to determine if this is a civil or a criminal matter. In regard to the Brinkworth check, if it did indeed bounce, it would seem to be criminal: Under New York State law, a person who passes a bad check has 10 days from the time the recipient notifies him or her that the check is no good to pay up. After 10 days, it’s a criminal offense.

The loan from Hawkins, on the other hand, is most likely a civil case, if what Hawkins has said to the press is true.

On behalf of his client, LoTempio proclaimed Davis’s innocence to Steve Barber of Channel 7 Eyewitness News and Artvoice outside D District headquarters on Tuesday evening. He said it’s all a civil matter, and that the full story, if it comes out in court, will exonerate Davis. “This story is completely false, it’s certainly otherwise than the facts seem,” LoTempio said. “It’s not black and white. There’s contract issues. There is promissory notes issues. Those are the issues that will play out in court.”

Buffalo fireman Bryon McIntyre claims there’s more to the story, too. McIntyre ran against Davis in 2007’s Democratic primary; Davis won handily and went on to be reelected. While he was working the neighborhoods of the Ellicott District, McIntyre says, at least three owners of corner stores on the city’s Lower West Side told him that Davis had bounced checks in their stores, ranging between $300 and $500 for each check. None of the store owners complained, McIntyre said, because they were intimidated by Davis’s power to strip away their operating licenses.

McIntyre, a recovering addict and alcoholic who has been sober for 20 years, said he had no intention of using this personal information about his opponent in his campaign. “I live in a glass house,” he told me. “But everybody knew about this stuff. And now that this other story is out there, I think he needs to be exposed for this. This is not a one-time thing with him.”

The store owners are still afraid. I visited several corner stores on the Lower West Side earlier this week to check out what McIntyre told me. (I’ve left out their names and the exact locations of their stores: If Davis survives this scandal, they fear retaliation.) I asked the owners if they’d had trouble with Davis’s checks. All of them were at first reluctant to answer. “He has done bad to me,” one store owner finally admitted, “but I don’t want to do bad to him.” Then he told me that Davis had cashed a check in his store and told him to wait two weeks to bring it to the bank. Later, the man’s brother told me that Davis didn’t make good on that check for two years. Prior to this incident, Davis had caused the man’s shop to be closed for several months, so he kept quiet about the affair.

Another store owner told me that he too cashed a bad check from Davis, but that Davis eventually paid him back for it. It took a month, however, and the store owner had to keep calling and pestering Davis to pay.

These store owners—five altogether, and all but one expressed some knowledge of Davis writing bad checks in corner stores—were friendly but not forthcoming. The second store owner told me, “No one is going to talk to you.” Lots of his fellow store owners have had the same problem with Davis, he told me, as have store owners on the East Side. But they’re all afraid to cross Davis, because a councilmember has de facto power to close or keep open a corner deli in his or her district, or to impose conditions on licensing that cost store owners a great deal of money.

Davis is on sick leave through February 16, though he looked hale in the parking lot of D District on Tuesday. We conveyed a message to him regarding these allegations through his City Hall office, asking for a response. We’re told our questions were emailed to him. He did not reply to us. We also left numerous messages for LoTempio, his attorney. LoTempio did not return our calls.

—geoff kelly

Reader Comments

Dick Kern
12 Feb 2009, 09:52

From ARTVOICE blog: "Davis is chair of the Common Council’s Police Oversight Committee. I would assume he’ll be stepping down from that position, at least for the duration of the investigation?"

Questions:

1. Has Davis stepped down as chair of the Police Oversight Committee?

2. Has Davis commented on the "invasion" by six police agents of the Syaed Ali family home & siezure of thousands of dollars of family possession? That was 14 weeks ago (Nov 7), but the illegally siezed property has not yet been returned, nor have police met with Syaed & his attorney Richard Grim.

Why are police meeting with Davis but not Ali? What does Davis have to say?

mr.justice
12 Feb 2009, 16:22

http://www.newwnypolitics.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id= 132:syaed-to-franczyk-why-is-job-creating-businessman-being-harassed-by-pol iceq&catid=1

Syaed To Franczyk: Why Is Job Creating Businessman Being Harassed?
Written by Glenn Graminga, Editor

SYAED LAYS OUT CASE TO COMMON COUNCIL PRESIDENT, PROTESTING RAID BASED ON DEFECTIVE WARRANT..."DISTRIBUTION OF FALSE, TRUE, AND HALF TRUE PRESS RELEASES PROTECTED BY US CONSTITUTION"

WNY information technology services executive Syaed Ali has written a letter to Buffalo Common Council President Dave Franczyk that includes a full report on the Nov. 7 police raid on his family home, including his warrantless arrest and the seizure of thousands of dollars in his and his family's property. NewWNYPolitics has obtained a copy of this missive from an reliable source. The full text follows:

Dear President Franczyk:

I am composing this electronic communication to inform of you of blatant illegal actions and violations of civil rights granted to all citizens within the U.S. and New York State Constitutions by the Brown Administration, and Judge Craig Hanna.

This has stimulated a great deal of concern for me personally, and for the general populace of Buffalo, because such abuse of process, and power greatly places all residents and families in great danger.

Hanna authorized a warrant for allegations for issuing “false press releases” which is not illegal and the distribution of false, true, and half-truth press releases are protected by the U.S. Constitution. Also the “warrant” made allegations of aggravated harassment, but than cited code pertaining to damage of “religious premises”. Either Mr. Hanna, and Mr. Brown are incompetent or corrupt, because aggravated harassment refers to when persons contact other persons via phone, in person or electronically, and the individual being contacted requests the contacting party to cease and desist, and the contacting party continues communications, than that constitutes grounds for aggravated harassment allegations. Mr. Brown and Mr. Hanna’s allegations state “false press releases” being sent to media outlets, certainly if they believed it was me, I nor my attorneys’ were never contacted requesting to cease and desist such activities. Moreover Mr. Brown, Mr. Hanna, nor the Buffalo Police Officers involved had any proof to procure such a warrant.

Upon receiving this frivolous warrant the officers involved used a search warrant as an arrest warrant, abducted me without reading me my rights, and took me to NYS Attorney General’s office and asked about political associations and attempted to procure false implications and testimonies for approximately a little over 7 hours. Throughout the course of this abduction my right to communicate with family members or legal counsel was unlawfully denied.

While this false imprisonment was occurring the “Brown and Hanna Police” were at my home engaging in stealing of and unlawful conversion of property not listed in this illegal search warrant. The theft of my mother’s purse, my business records, business records of my family, credit cards, bank statement, tax returns, cash monies, uncashed checks, and the locking of my 3 year old and 4 month old niece in a dark room for nearly an hour is some of the activities the “Brown and Hanna Police” engaged in. Either Brown or Hanna are incompetent or corrupt, but even the IRS cannot release, someone’s tax returns without a 8821 tax form, anyone who treats children in that manner can be charged for endangering the welfare of a child, but maybe all is excused from NYS and Federal Laws if you are elected Mayor of the City of Buffalo.

When this abduction was concluded I was told that if I retained legal counsel, or spoke to members of the press I would be charged with aggravated harassment. The justification given by police to me and my family for theft of property and my abduction was “because you made the mayor really angry”

Since I have retained legal counsel, and have spoken to the press, Mr. Brown has threatened to pursue charges via Channel 7’s Eyewitness News, and alleged involvement of “other agencies” when in fact Art voice, and the Buffalo News has disproved Federal and State participation numerous times.

Furthermore they first denied having any knowledge of such an investigation. Than said its an on going investigation, and that they routinely investigate matters involving the mayor whether it is a political or regular threat overall ". Now the Mayor's security detail "says their is a serious threat to the mayor". My story through their half-truths has remained consistent, because it is the truth.

“The mayor wouldn't comment on the situation, but sources tell Eyewitness News Ali may have been harassing the mayor. "Anytime there is a situation where the police department feels it's necessary to investigate a matter relative to something that might have some bearing on the mayor, whether it's a threat or political threat, they've done that and they will continue to do that," said Peter Cutler a spokesperson for the mayor.” http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/37748544.html

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/566374.html

I used to think that the above-mentioned activities could only occur in the historic “Confederate South”, or a “Third World Nation”. Now I think only such things could happen in Buffalo, NY. This is the only town in America in which when a businessman is creating jobs without government assistance or breaking laws the Mayor uses the police to harass him. Buffalo is the only town in America that is hemorrhaging jobs, and population in which the Mayor would tell the Buffalo Niagara Jobs/ partnership to tell them stop posting employment openings, because we are “running to many ads”.

I am asking for help in any way possible to ensure further abuses by mayors, judges, and police are never carried out again, and any help to retrieve stolen property would be much appreciated.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Syaed Ali

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