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Ex-Law Associate Testifies He Gave DiMasi $65K

BOSTON (CBS) - The man who allegedly funneled kickbacks to Sal DiMasi confirmed in court on Thursday that he gave the former house speaker $65,000 over two years.

Former DiMasi law associate Steven Topazio spent two days in court describing the transfer of funds he got from a company that wanted to do business with the state.

See: More on the case

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Lana Jones reports.

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Topazio said DiMasi never told him he knew that Cognos, a software company, was trying to get a state contract. Topazio added that DiMasi also never told him he knew the salesman who crafted the deal.

Topazio said when he first started getting $5,000 per month from the software company Cognos, he would cut a check for $4,000 and send it over to the Statehouse along with the rest of DiMasi's mail. He said they agreed DiMasi would get the bulk of the fee until the work started coming in, which never happened.

Though, when the contract lapsed and Topazio got a back payment of $25,000, he said DiMasi wanted it all to cover money he claimed he was owed. They argued, but Topazio eventually paid it.

Next week, deal maker Joe Lally will testify against DiMasi.

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