Corzine friend denies wrongdoing

Rocco Riccio, a Hainesport resident now entangled in the ongoing saga of Gov. Corzine and his ex-girlfriend, denied yesterday that he improperly used his former state job to access the tax records of the governor's enemies.

At a news conference in the driveway of his cream-colored stucco home, he refused to explain much about his subplot in the storied relationship between Corzine and Riccio's sister-in-law, Carla Katz, head of Local 1034 of the Communications Workers of America, which represents state employees.

The romantic phase of that relationship, which included an engagement and a costly breakup, ended in 2004, Corzine has said.

Riccio, 44, is married to Katz's sister, Genise. He is a regular caller to WIP sports radio as a member of its so-called "Dirty 30," a pack of Philadelphia Eagles fans.

Somehow during the two-year Corzine-Katz courtship, Riccio became a good enough friend with the governor for Corzine to give him $15,000.

Riccio said earlier that he ran into financial difficulties after Corzine's staff encouraged him to quit his $75,000 New Jersey Turnpike Authority job earlier this year.

At the time, the Corzine administration was feeling the heat from allegations that Riccio used his previous government position with the state Department of Human Services to improperly access tax records.

The administration has denied that those records belonged to the governor's political enemies. Riccio said yesterday that "any records that were reviewed have been in the scope of work."

He said he welcomed an investigation into whether he improperly accessed the records, and Corzine said "it would be beneficial to have that information in the public forum."

Four times since the beginning of this year, Riccio asked Corzine or the governor's personal accountant for money, and on three occasions the governor or financial representative said yes. He asked again within the last few weeks and was told no.

Soon after that, Riccio spoke with the Star-Ledger of Newark about the governor's generosity in a story that ran earlier this week.

"I was made promises to step down, they were never kept," Riccio told the newspaper. "I fell on the sword for the guy."

Through his press secretary, Lilo Stainton, Corzine characterized his payments to Riccio as no more than helping a person in need.

Corzine has been generous with Katz and her kin. He also told the Star-Ledger that he gave Katz's mother, Angelina, $22,000 when the pair were dating.

But his payments to Katz have driven the main plot in this saga.

After they broke up, he reportedly gave her as much as $6 million.

With that money, she bought a $1.1 million condominium in the same Hoboken building where Corzine lives as she was negotiating a state worker contract with Corzine's administration.

Katz's continuing relationship with the governor has drawn howls of criticism from her fellow union leaders. In March, they wondered out loud whether Katz had improper communications - including e-mails - with the governor during the contract talks.

The state Republican Committee is suing to have Corzine release the e-mails. On Tuesday, he reluctantly turned them over to Superior Court Judge Paul Innes, who plans to inspect them and decide whether they should be released to the public.

Republican chairman Tom Wilson used Riccio's news conference yesterday to call again for a full investigation into the governor's relationship with the union president. He said "a cloud of corruption continues to hover over Jon Corzine as it pertains to his ties to Carla Katz and her influence over his actions."

As Riccio, wearing sunglasses, torn jeans and a strawberry golf shirt with lime and white stripes, was wrapping up his brief statement to the press yesterday, he said, "the governor and I have a long personal friendship that I hope will continue."