PHILADELPHIA -- The FBI arrested two men who did computer work for a powerful state senator Wednesday on charges that they permanently deleted e-mails to thwart a federal investigation. Leonard P. Luchko and Mark Eister performed electronic "wipes" of computers at Sen. Vincent J. Fumo's Senate offices, his home at the New Jersey shore and at a nonprofit with deep ties to Fumo, authorities allege. "This was a deliberate, systematic and ultimately successful effort to interfere with a federal investigation," U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan said. "We have to assume that valuable information is lost forever." The document does not name Fumo and he has not been charged. The affidavit refers to an unidentified senator who clearly is Fumo. Luchko and Eister, employees of a state Senate entity that provides computer services to its Democratic members, are charged with obstruction of justice.
The investigation centers on whether Fumo used his office to extort corporate donations for the Citizens' Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, which benefits Fumo's South Philadelphia district. Investigators are trying to find out if the senator "benefited both politically and personally from expenditures made" by the nonprofit, according to court documents. The nonprofit, which has helped finance charter schools and refurbished run-down properties in South Philadelphia, has obtained millions of dollars in donations from powerful entities that lobby the Legislature. Federal investigators said they have been looking into the charity since 2003, and prosecutors say they have numerous e-mails from third-party sources that show Fumo used the nonprofit to funnel money to projects and causes important to him.
Fumo, the ranking Democrat on the Senate appropriations committee, is one of the most influential politicians in Harrisburg. He has said requests for donations to Citizens Alliance were efforts to help his district and did not influence his policy positions.