The New York Republican candidate for Senate, Joe DioGuardi was paid $5,000/month as an advisor to Medical Capital Corp—a subsidiary of Medical Capital Holdings, which blew $1 billion of investors' money on yachts and other crap. Nice.

DioGuardi, a former accountant, is running against Senator Kirsten Gillibrand next month. You may not know who he is, but the SEC sure does. They describe him as an "old crony" of a bunch of criminal board members in their investigation into Medical Capital Holdings' shady dealings (like buying a $3.2 million yacht called "Home Stretch" with stolen money). From the Daily News:

As a consultant, Joe was tasked with saving hospitals in New York from being shut down, but knew nothing of the schemes that were occurring behind the scenes," said his spokesman Brian Hummell, adding that his boss "has never seen the books."

The SEC described DioGuardi, who faces incumbent Democrat Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in next month's election, as an "old crony" of the company's bosses and suggested "he's connected to the original fraudulent scheme."

As of last November, thousands of investors were owed $1 billion. The feds froze the company's assets; the case is pending.

DioGuardi trails Gillibrand by double digits in polls, and this surely won't help his cause much. Good luck, Joe.

[NYDN]

[Image via AP]