deal in Washington. Tom DeLay, then House minority whip, gave Boulis a flag that had flown over the Capitol building. Abramoff brought his lead financier in the deal to a fund raiser for DeLay in Abramoff's box at FedExField. Ohio Republican Representative Bob Ney aided the purchase in the House on several occasions. In March 2000, before the deal was closed, Ney entered comments in the Congressional Record accusing the SunCruz management of cheating passengers. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) was listed as a financial reference for Abramoff in the purchase. He was also quoted in The Washington Post as saying "I don't remember it, but I would certainly have been happy to give him a good recommendation" and "He's a very honest man." On September 22, 2000, in secret, Abramoff convinced Boulis to accept promissory notes for $20 million in exchange for a secret 10 percent interest in the newly reorganized SunCruz Casinos. The deal was doubly illegal: Abramoff and his partners were violating the terms of their purchase agreement with their financiers which required that they put up $23 million of their own money, and Boulis was violating the terms of his settlement with the government, which required that he separate himself entirely from his company. The deal was closed on September 27, using false documents that purported to attest that Abramoff and his associates had paid the $23 million. On October 26, 2000, Ney entered comments into the Congressional Record praising the change of ownership. Ney later accused Abramoff of duping him. Payment dispute and murder The business relationship soured soon after the fraudulent purchase. Boulis allegedly clashed over the falsified wire transfer with an Abramoff associate. Abramoff was mostly a silent partner, but both he and his partners used SunCruz funds to pay for numerous personal expenses. Boulis also alleged that one of Abramoff's partners had links to organized crime. The relationship between Boulis and Abramoff's partners grew so contentious that he had a fistfight with one of them at a business meeting in December 2000, with both parties allegedly making threats. Boulis was shot to death in Miami two months later in February 2001, in what police called "a gang style hit". A lawsuit brought by Boulis' estate alleges that an Abramoff associate made three payments of $10,000 to Anthony Moscatiello immediately prior to the murder. Abramoff's partners had hired Anthony Moscatiello as a business advisor,