Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) still used his undercover name from the FBI even after he left the agency and was serving in Congress, according to the New York Daily News.
Michael “Mikey Suits” Garibaldi was the name Grimm went by when he was working undercover. The nickname referenced his good fashion, the report said.
{mosads}Grimm portrayed a shady Wall Street trader who ran a hedge fund called Centurian Consulting. Grimm was tasked with investigating insider trading schemes in Operation Wooden Nickel.
The congressman left the FBI in 2006, and yet still used the name Michael Garibaldi as recently as 2012, according to newly unsealed documents obtained by the Daily News.
Grimm’s cellphone, for instance, was listed under “Michael Garibaldi of Centurian Consulting” and used the phone as his primary number as recently as last year, the report said.
He also received snail mail addressed to Garibaldi, a source told the Daily News.
Grimm kept his alter ego alive for more than six years after he left the FBI and for at least two years after he entered Congress in 2011. He had worked at the FBI for 11 years.
According to the Daily News, the new documents show prosecutors investigated Grimm for other allegations and searched for evidence proving he was involved in “extortion, money laundering and [violating] federal election laws.”
The new revelations surface less than a month after Grimm was indicted on 20 criminal charges by a federal grand jury.
He was charged with mail and wire fraud, obstruction of justice and perjury and filing false tax returns.
Grimm is accused of underreporting income from his restaurant, Healthalicious, in a scheme to avoid paying taxes. Grimm also allegedly employed workers who were illegally in the United States.
Grimm is running for reelection, but even Republicans privately admit his swing district is likely lost.