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Sunday, May 1, 2005
2000
February: Boulis enters serious negotiations to sell SunCruz Casinos to Abramoff and Kidan. SunCruz has 11 boats that run daily offshore gambling cruises.
May: Abramoff, DeLay and Rudy are among those on 10-day trip to Britain and Scotland, which includes golf at renowned St. Andrews course.
June 9: DeLay's office gives a U.S. flag that has flown over the Capitol to Boulis.
June 15: SunCruz jet flies a group from D.C. to U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in California. They include Abramoff, Kidan, Rudy and SunCruz executive Joan Wagner and her husband. A week later, Boulis agrees to sell SunCruz to Abramoff and Kidan for $145 million.
Sept. 18: SunCruz principals meet in New York to begin closing the deal. That same night, Kidan and his lead financier, Greg Walker of Foothill Capital Corp., travel to D.C. to join DeLay and Abramoff for a DeLay event in the lobbyist's box during a Redskins-Cowboys game.
Sept. 26: Terms of SunCruz sale finalized at $147.5 million. Boulis retains 10 percent stake. Abramoff and Kidan agree to put in $23 million cash; obtain a $60 million loan from Foothill Capital and another lender, Citadel Equity Fund; and to owe balance to Boulis.
Sept. 27: Kidan and partner Waldman each fax to lender a document showing that Kidan wired the $23 million to Boulis's bank. The wire transfer later will be at the center of a criminal inquiry, when lenders allege that the document was forged and the deal fraudulent because no money changed hands.
Oct. 26: Ney praises Kidan in the Congressional Record, saying "he will easily transform SunCruz from a questionable enterprise to an upstanding establishment."
Dec. 5: Boulis and Kidan come to blows at a business meeting. Kidan reneges on debt to Boulis, saying that Boulis hid problems at SunCruz. Kidan says Boulis attacked and threatened to kill him; he obtains restraining order against Boulis. Abramoff agrees with Kidan in subsequent e-mail messages that Boulis should be removed from SunCruz.
Dec. 13: Payments totaling $145,000 begin from SunCruz to Kidan's associate, Anthony Moscatiello, and his daughter, for food and beverage consulting and other services. Moscatiello has been identified by law enforcement as an associate of the Gambino crime family.
