NEW YORK, Nov 9: Former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik, a close ally of Republican presidential front-runner Rudolph Giuliani, was formally indicted on Friday on charges of tax evasion and corruption.

Kerik, appointed city police chief when Giuliani was New York mayor, surrendered to authorities after a federal grand jury indicted him on 14 counts including tax evasion, wire fraud and making false statements.

“Time and again Kerik was asked specific questions about his financial dealings and time and again he lied,” US attorney Michael Garcia told reporters, unveiling the 14-count indictment in White Plains, New York.

“It is a sad day when this office returns an indictment against a former law enforcement officer, particularly one who served in positions as high as those held by Bernard Kerik,” he added.

“But we will not hesitate to pursue any public official who violates his oath and betrays the public trust as Mr. Kerik is alleged to have done.” Kerik, 52, pleaded not guilty to the charges when he appeared before a judge and was to be released on bail set at $500,000. He faces 142 years in jail and fines of almost five million dollars if convicted on all the charges.

The former police chief is accused of secretly accepting more than $250,000 in renovations to his apartment from a construction firm with suspected mafia ties while he was Correction Department commissioner under Giuliani.

Kerik, who pleaded guilty in a state court last year to accepting the work, is also accused of not declaring a total of $236,000 in rent he received on an luxury apartment in New York’s posh Upper East Side.

Other payments allegedly not declared include a total of $100,000 received from a software company and a book publisher. He is also accused of making false statements at the time he was being considered as head of the US Department of Homeland Security in 2004.

Garcia accused Kerik of “selling his office” and “breaking the very laws he had sworn to uphold.” “The indictment also charges that Kerik went to great lengths to conceal this scheme,” accusing him of filing false financial reports, deliberately misleading officials and getting witnesses to lie to investigators.

Giuliani, who supported Kerik’s nomination for Homeland Security secretary, has sought to distance himself from Kerik, who withdrew his nomination for the federal position after admitting he had failed to pay taxes on a nanny.

“I have made a mistake, I made a mistake in not clearing him effectively enough,” Giuliani said in Iowa on Thursday.

Kerik’s trial is likely to take place in the next six months to a year, according to local reports, most probably in the closing stages of next year’s presidential race and threatening further embarrassment for Giuliani.

A Democrat spokesman said the scandal was sure to harm Giuliani’s chances.

Kerik, who once served as Giuliani’s chauffeur and bodyguard, rose through the ranks of the police department to become police commissioner, enjoying hero status in the wake of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks.—AFP