The New York Daily News by Simone Weichselbaum and Alison Gendar - January 30, 2011
A jilted husband claims a randy FBI agent seduced his wife during a federal fraud investigation - then tried to put the kibosh on charges against her in a state probe. Law enforcement sources confirmed the Justice Department is investigating Special Agent Adrian Busby - who denies he did anything wrong. But Yanko Belliard said his partner of 13 years, Yanet Salazar, had a torrid affair with Busby after she came forward with information about bogus Queens mortgages. Salazar spent hours talking with Busby, slept at his Far Rockaway apartment and even went on a vacation with the agent, his young sons and Belliard's own three young daughters, Belliard claims. "Before this happened, I thought we had a good life, a house, a solid family. No secrets. He comes and it's all ruined," said Belliard, 39, a computer program specialist. Belliard told his tale of betrayal to an investigator with the Justice Department nearly a year ago and said he has not heard the outcome. His ex - they were married in a church ceremony but never got a license - was convicted on state identity theft charges in 2009 and will be sentenced on April1.
A Justice Department lawyer and an FBI spokesman declined comment. Reached by cell phone, Busby, 37, did not want to talk specifics. "Was she a suspect in my case? She wasn't a suspect in my case," he said of Salazar. "Was she a confidential informant? That's something that the FBI would have to give out." He said the feds have been investigating the allegations since 2009. "If they did not find anything, then apparently my actions were appropriate," he said. Belliard said he gave investigators what he considered proof of an affair: his wife's cell phone bills; a photo of her running a red light near Busby's apartment, and a phone-tracking service that put her outside Busby's apartment. He also gave them an airline luggage tag with Busby's name on it, saying it was mistakenly switched from Salazar's luggage during a vacation. "I finally call Busby, and say, 'What are you doing? You have no right to sleep with my wife,'" Belliard said. "He said, 'What proof do you have?'" Busby's ex, Virginia, told the Daily News she was interviewed last year as part of the misconduct investigation but does not believe Busby would do anything improper. "As much as Adrian and I went through, he's a good man. He's a good father," she said, adding their eight-year relationship ended before the allegations. Belliard said the problem began in 2007 when Salazar, a real estate loan officer, learned the feds were looking into corrupt real-estate dealings in Queens. She got a lawyer, called the FBI, confessed she was involved and offered to turn snitch, Belliard said. Belliard and Salazar met Busby at their home and later at a Manhattan restaurant, and she agreed to help them set up a sting operation.
While the FBI probe marched on, the Queens district attorney was also looking into fraud and charged Salazar with felony identity theft in February 2008. Queens prosecutors said she and Realtor Elba Garcia stole the identity of a woman named Aurora Solano and used it to get a bogus mortgage. That's when, according to Belliard, Busby tried to intervene on behalf of Salazar, who had become his "confidential informant" in the federal probe. "Yanet told me that Aurora moved to New Jersey. Busby went there and tried to get a deal with Aurora to drop the charges against Salazar," Belliard said. "She told me Busby was trying to get to Aurora to make the case against Yanet go away." Solano and Garcia refused repeated requests for comment. Salazar's lawyer in the state case, Ronald Nir, said he knew Busby was spending an unusual amount of time with her but "did not see anything untoward." Busby said he did nothing wrong in regard to Solano, and said Belliard's own past discredits his allegation. "An abusive husband told you this. There are tons of females that he has threatened. How credible is he?" he said. Belliard was convicted of disorderly conduct in a 1995 assault case. He also admitted he snapped at his daughter's birthday party in 2009, angrily confronted Salazar and hit her, court records show. He was arrested and barred from coming near Salazar. She was arrested four months later for hitting Belliard, but the charge will be dismissed if she keeps out of trouble. "Sometimes I feel sorry for Busby," Belliard said. "It's the hunter that got hunted. In another way, Yanet used him." agendar@nydailynews.com
A Justice Department lawyer and an FBI spokesman declined comment. Reached by cell phone, Busby, 37, did not want to talk specifics. "Was she a suspect in my case? She wasn't a suspect in my case," he said of Salazar. "Was she a confidential informant? That's something that the FBI would have to give out." He said the feds have been investigating the allegations since 2009. "If they did not find anything, then apparently my actions were appropriate," he said. Belliard said he gave investigators what he considered proof of an affair: his wife's cell phone bills; a photo of her running a red light near Busby's apartment, and a phone-tracking service that put her outside Busby's apartment. He also gave them an airline luggage tag with Busby's name on it, saying it was mistakenly switched from Salazar's luggage during a vacation. "I finally call Busby, and say, 'What are you doing? You have no right to sleep with my wife,'" Belliard said. "He said, 'What proof do you have?'" Busby's ex, Virginia, told the Daily News she was interviewed last year as part of the misconduct investigation but does not believe Busby would do anything improper. "As much as Adrian and I went through, he's a good man. He's a good father," she said, adding their eight-year relationship ended before the allegations. Belliard said the problem began in 2007 when Salazar, a real estate loan officer, learned the feds were looking into corrupt real-estate dealings in Queens. She got a lawyer, called the FBI, confessed she was involved and offered to turn snitch, Belliard said. Belliard and Salazar met Busby at their home and later at a Manhattan restaurant, and she agreed to help them set up a sting operation.
While the FBI probe marched on, the Queens district attorney was also looking into fraud and charged Salazar with felony identity theft in February 2008. Queens prosecutors said she and Realtor Elba Garcia stole the identity of a woman named Aurora Solano and used it to get a bogus mortgage. That's when, according to Belliard, Busby tried to intervene on behalf of Salazar, who had become his "confidential informant" in the federal probe. "Yanet told me that Aurora moved to New Jersey. Busby went there and tried to get a deal with Aurora to drop the charges against Salazar," Belliard said. "She told me Busby was trying to get to Aurora to make the case against Yanet go away." Solano and Garcia refused repeated requests for comment. Salazar's lawyer in the state case, Ronald Nir, said he knew Busby was spending an unusual amount of time with her but "did not see anything untoward." Busby said he did nothing wrong in regard to Solano, and said Belliard's own past discredits his allegation. "An abusive husband told you this. There are tons of females that he has threatened. How credible is he?" he said. Belliard was convicted of disorderly conduct in a 1995 assault case. He also admitted he snapped at his daughter's birthday party in 2009, angrily confronted Salazar and hit her, court records show. He was arrested and barred from coming near Salazar. She was arrested four months later for hitting Belliard, but the charge will be dismissed if she keeps out of trouble. "Sometimes I feel sorry for Busby," Belliard said. "It's the hunter that got hunted. In another way, Yanet used him." agendar@nydailynews.com
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