Developer Helped Congressman By Buying Boat, Arranging Loan

By Charles R. Babcock
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 5, 2005; A02

Thomas T. Kontogiannis, a Long Island developer, says he doesn't particularly like politics, so he never does business with the federal government. Still, he hit it off with Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham years ago, and recently Kontogiannis bought Cunningham's 65-foot yacht, the Kelly C, and helped the California Republican finance a house.

The developer says the transactions are nothing like Cunningham's dealings on another house and yacht that are the subject of a federal investigation. A federal grand jury is examining Cunningham's relationship with Mitchell J. Wade, a Washington defense contractor who bought a home from Cunningham, possibly at an inflated price, and then let the congressman stay rent-free on Wade's 42-foot boat, the Duke-Stir, while in Washington.