Sheldon Silver, Former Assembly Speaker, Is Indicted

By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM 33 minutes ago

A federal grand jury affirmed three fraud and extortion charges that were the basis of Mr. Silver’s arrest last month.

Mr. Silver, according to the charges, “repeatedly took actions and used his official position to prevent the public, investigators and others from learning about his corrupt arrangements.” He also made fraudulent representations and omissions about his outside income on disclosure forms and in public statements to mask the corrupt payments, the indictment said.

The indictment also noted that Mr. Silver moved to block a state corruption commission from obtaining information about his outside income. The panel, the Moreland Commission, was created in 2013 by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, also a Democrat, who shut it down nine months later before it had completed