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By LYN BIXBYFrancis J. Muska did not pay for his rooms at two Las Vegas hotels during a three-night visit that led to his resignation as chairman of the state Gaming Policy Board.
This story ran in the Courant July 13, 1996
Muska said a one-night stay at the Holiday Inn was covered by the hotel's chief executive officer, a friend of Bridgeport dog track owner A. Robert Zeff.
Muska admitted he did not know who took care of the bill for two nights at Bally's Resort Hotel when he gave a voluntary statement to state police. They were investigating his relationship with Zeff, who accompanied Muska to Las Vegas. The two men boarded a plane on April 24, the same day that Muska's policy board voted to exempt Zeff from having to undergo a state police background investigation.
Muska's statements are recounted in a state police affidavit that was used to obtain a search warrant allowing investigators to listen to 132 audio tapes that Zeff threw over a fence when his house was searched June 25.
The affidavit, which was unsealed Friday, contains details of the search, during which Zeff was arrested for interfering. The affidavit also discloses that Zeff offered to cooperate with the state police investigation of Muska and the Las Vegas trip if the information would not be used against him.
``This offer of cooperation with a criminal investigation, on the condition of limited immunity, is further evidence that Zeff has committed criminal acts and is conscious of his guilt,'' state police declared in the affidavit.
Zeff made the offer in a letter signed by one of his lawyers, Jay F. Malcynsky, which was written less than a week before state police searched his Westport home and his dog track. It was at the dog track, according to the affidavit, that investigators found a briefcase with a concealed recording device that Zeff is believed to have used to make some of the tapes he then tried to hide.
``As several of the officers went to the back of the residence, they observed who they recognized as Mr. Zeff at the wooden fence that separates his yard from that of his neighbors,'' the affidavit said. ``Mr. Zeff was observed holding two Gap shopping bags and then throwing one of them over the fence.''
A trooper shouted, ``State police, stop,'' according to the affidavit. Zeff ``turned and looked at him and then turned back away, throwing the second shopping bag over the wooden fence,'' the affidavit said.
Inside the bags, in addition to the audiotapes, were two cassette recorders, a telephone earpiece, a videotape and assorted paper documents, according to the affidavit.
Zeff, 62, a highly successful Detroit lawyer, was arrested on charges of interfering with the search and destruction of evidence. Friday, wearing a dark blue suit and a neck brace he has been using for some time, he pleaded not guilty to the charges in Norwalk Superior Court.
Judge Barry Stevens almost forgot to take Zeff's plea. He spent more than two hours listening to motions and legal arguments by Hubert J. Santos, a Hartford lawyer representing Zeff, and John M. Massameno, a senior assistant state's attorney, who is prosecuting the case.
Massameno called the investigation of the Las Vegas trip and the relationship between Zeff and Muska a ``major political corruption'' case and said it is being conducted under unprecedented secrecy. ``We believe there is probable cause that a bribe was involved,'' he said.
