FBI Circling Mason's LLC

Yesterday's FBI query: Newton Lao Leonard & Locke 

The question is, will they ever swoop in?

The F.B.I. takes its time to build a case, but from their increasingly frequent visits, there is no doubt they are investing time and resources on an investigation. And... their activity on GA indicates they are very, very interested in  Newton Lao Leonard & Locke (NLLL).  

NLLL is an Limited Liability Company (LLC) that appears on Councilwoman Beth Mason's resume as her employer  from 1993-2005 (Founder and President).  Her NLLL resume boasts an impressive list of clients and projects, but there's one problem: a Dun & Bradstreet report done in 2011 shows the company has no credit history; the company made no purchases (office supplies, presentation materials, equipment, furnishings), no payments to vendors, consultants, business travel, business entertainment, and so on.  The company has no record of having made any payment of any kind.

Moreover, Newton Lao Leonard and Locke, LLP was not a registered business with the NJ Treasury Department until April 16, 2010.

Hmmm... 

On May 29, 2013 the FBI Criminal Justice Division was doing internet searches on Newton Lao Leonard and Locke and Mason political operative 'James Barracato'. 

screenshot courtesy of MSV

James 'Finboy' Barracato, longtime Mason political operative has been in the public eye lately, breaching the first rule of political operatives: stay behind the scenes, make the story not be the story.

But Barracato IS the story, as questions swirl around why a Weehawken political operative is being copied  on the City's most sensitive legal matters.

Finboy has been a figure on the blogs for a long time as Beth Mason's hatchet man.  His actual political skills are best described by example.  When Barracato started working for Mason in 2009 she was a respected mayoral frontrunner. Under Finboy, her promising career plummeted from the zenith of Hoboken politics to the bottom of the trash heap. His immature, foolish antics, stunt after stunt, derailed last year's BoE campaign with a Nazi Truck and citywide midnight flyers.  Now he is poised to tank Ruben, with a litter of garbage postings on Patch. 

Last Wednesday, Finboy broke out of blog-world into the bright lights of the City Council, when Peter Cunningham  named him as the political operative Terry Castellano copied on her request for sensitive legal information from the City.

And today, an incredible MSV exclusive, has shown James Barracato stands-in for Beth Mason on communications between members of the 'Old Guard' City Council! 

Barracato's role as defacto 2nd Ward Councilwoman  and Board member of the Mason Civic League, Inc., may be why his name turned up in an FBI Google query.

Remember, that the non-profit Mason Civic League, Inc., filed E-Postcard federal returns in 2010 and 2011 (for 501(c)(3)'s with gross receipts of $50K or under) while it has employed at least 2 political operatives, rents a storefront on Washington Street and donated it's storefront to the Move Forward BoE campaign.  EZ-Postcard forms have no itemized income and expense reporting.  Note all of Mason's 501(c)(3)'s political activities are tax-payer subsidized.

Now, why would the Feds be looking at Mason's LLC?

Mason is one of the largest political donors in New Jersey, named recently in a Sunlight Foundation study as in the top 1% of 1% of campaign donors in the U.S..  Corporations are allowed to give higher contributions than individuals.

How much cash is washing through a company that has no record of any business activity?