WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Former New York Police Department Commissioner Bernard Kerik, a former nominee for U.S. homeland security secretary, pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges.
Kerik appeared in a federal court in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, the New York Daily News reported. He was formally charged with making false statements on loan applications and filing false tax returns for three years.
During the hearing, U.S. District Judge Stephen Robinson rejected a motion to move Kerik's trial on earlier charges that he gave false statements when he was being vetted for the job of secretary of homeland security from Washington to White Plains. The judge said he might reconsider his position next month.
Kerik is now free after posting his New Jersey home as security for $500,000 bail. Robinson said he is considering changing the conditions of bail, which also included the surrender of Kerik's passport and restrictions on his travel.
