NEW YORK (TIP): Indian-origin Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has said that the rampant public corruption infecting New York is due to a lack of government transparency. Bharara said, “fundamental reform” is needed to end the “showme- the-money-culture” that’s prompted the feds’ crackdown on crooked state pols.

In a speech to the Citizens Crime Commission, Bharara said it was scandalous that someone could buy his way into office, get busted for bribery, use campaign contributions to hire a “fancy” lawyer and go to prison for years, while still pocketing a “generous state pension” for life. According to the New York Post, Bharara faulted a “substantial transparency problem throughout New York government,” which he blamed for the massive CityTime scam. Bharara also said it was much harder to “follow the money” when government makes it hard “to separate illicit money transfers from legitimate ones,” he said. When every state or local official is able to lawfully moonlight as a lawyer or accountant or consultant and may lawfully withhold deep details of that work, prosecutors face substantial challenges,” he added.