Something’s rotten on the Irish Coast

The more I look at Dodd’s Irish cottage, what with the 12 waterfront acres and the bargain price, the less that makes sense.  Having explored the price of real estate in the Emerald Isle a few years back (admittedly at the top of the market), 12 acres on the waterfront should have commanded a king’s ransom.

However, more disturbing than the deal are the players.  As reported in The Hartford Courant, a veritable tangled web of … interesting characters were involved in this tale, including Edward R. Downe, convicted of tax and securities fraud in 1992 and co-owner of a D.C. condo with Senator Dodd,  William “Bucky” Kessinger of Kansas City, Mo., a real estate developer who sold his two-thirds of the estate to Dodd and left hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table in the process, and Galway businessman John W.M. Moore, who intervened with the Galway planning office to speed approval of proposed renovations of the cottage.

Where’s the tale?  Well, it turns out that Moore was involved in Crystal Brands of Ireland, a crystal exporting company that  employed convicted fraudster Downe, who was recorded as a witness to the real estate transaction in which Kessinger and Dodd acquired the property.  Along the way, Downe was pardoned by outgoing President William Jefferson Clinton, despite owing millions in SEC fine for his previous ”indiscretions,” apparently without having to go through a tedious Justice Department interview…

But don’t take my word for it — read for your self:

Pardon For A Friend, A Good Deal for Dodd

GOP Chairman Criticizes Dodd Real Estate Deal

Dodd’s Country Cottage (the blog post that got me started… H/T:  Jim Vicevich)

Now tell me — does it pass the sniff test?