Not so "over"

For Bernie Kerik, the beat goes on and on.

Former Police Commissioner Bernard B. Kerik is under federal investigation for possible financial improprieties unrelated to the crimes he pleaded guilty to last month in state court, two law enforcement officials said yesterday.

The federal investigation began about a year ago and has focused on a foundation affiliated with the city'?s Department of Correction during Mr. Kerik's tenure as its commissioner, from 1998 to 2000, according to one of the officials, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity. Mr. Kerik later served as police commissioner from August 2000 to December 2001.

Last month, Mr. Kerik pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors in State Supreme Court in the Bronx. Under an agreement that allowed him to avoid jail time and a felony conviction, he admitted accepting $165,000 in apartment renovations from a company accused of having ties to organized crime; he agreed to pay $221,000 in fines.

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Word of the investigation came just five weeks after Mr. Kerik stood outside a Bronx courthouse, minutes after pleading guilty in the state case, and said, "?Today it'?s over."

The investigation is the latest blow for a man whose stunning rise from detective to the city's highest-ranking law enforcement official nearly took him to the White House, when President Bush nominated him to serve as Homeland Security secretary in December 2004.

Mr. Kerik withdrew his name a week after the president'?s announcement, citing tax and immigration issues involving his nanny, a move that was followed by a torrent of disclosures and accusations of personal and financial improprieties.

The foundation, the New York City Correction Foundation, was headed by Mr. Kerik during his tenure at the Correction Department.

The sole signatory on the foundationÂ?s accounts was Frederick J. Patrick, who pleaded guilty in 2003 to looting the nonprofit corporation. Its stated purpose was to finance programs and activities to strengthen the department.

Mr. Patrick held high-level posts in the department from 1994 until 1998, during the administration of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. Mayor Giuliani went on to name him to a series of higher level posts, including commissioner of juvenile justice and deputy commissioner of community affairs in the Police Department.

Mr. Patrick, who spent the stolen money on collect calls he accepted from inmates in city jails and state prisons, some of which officials have said involved phone sex, was sentenced in June 2004 to a year and day in federal prison. He was released in July 2005.

It was unclear yesterday whether the federal investigation was postponed during the 18-month inquiry by city investigators and Bronx prosecutors that led to Mr. Kerik's guilty plea, or whether it arose from information developed in that inquiry.

The sweet smell of success continues to eminate from Kerik and, by extension his mentor, Rudy Giuliani, "America's Mayor"™