Bernard Kerik, New York’s former police chief and a close associate of Rudy Giuliani, was indicted yesterday on fraud and corruption charges in a scandal that poses a significant threat to the Republican front-runner’s presidential campaign.

Mr Kerik surrendered to the FBI after a grand jury indicted him on 16 counts of tax fraud and corruption, which carry a maximum sentence of 147 years. Many of the charges stem from when he was New York police commissioner, a job to which he was promoted by Mr Giuliani, his close friend and mentor who was the city’s Mayor at the time. Mr Giuliani is also godfather to two of Mr Kerik’s children.

The former police chief has been under investigation for more than 18 months and his close association with Mr Giuliani has been an ongoing distraction for his White House campaign. The indictment comes at a crucial moment in the electoral cycle, with fewer than 60 days to the first nominating votes.

The latest chapter in Mr Kerik’s downfall highlights what Mr Giuliani’s rivals believe to be perhaps his greatest vulnerability: that the company he keeps and the way he ran New York will come back to haunt him.

Mr Kerik’s friendship first caused problems for Mr Giuliani in 2004 when, on his personal recommendation, President Bush chose Mr Kerik to be his Homeland Security director. The nomination soon collapsed after tax issues involving Mr Kerik’s former nanny. He was later engulfed by allegations involving his personal and business life, including claims that he had adulterous trysts in a flat near Ground Zero that was set aside for rescue workers.

One of the indictments yesterday alleges that Mr Kerik lied to the White House when he was nominated for the Homeland Security job; another alleges that he received favours from a building firm with alleged ties to the mafia. Mr Giuliani said: “It was a mistake not checking him out as thoroughly as I should have. I made mistakes. I will continue to make mistakes. I am not running as the prefect candidate.”

He urged voters to look at his whole record in New York and praised Mr Kerik for reducing crime in the city.

Evidence has mounted that even though Mr Giuliani knew of Mr Kerik’s vulnerabilities, he still recommended him for Homeland Security.

Dan Vega, of the Democrat National Committee, said: “Rudy Giuliani’s tough-on-crime mantra is laughable given that he promoted Bernard Kerik throughout his career while knowing he had ethical problems.” Mr Kerik began as Mr Giuliani’s driver in 1993, then rose to become police commissioner and later his business partner.

The Kerik episode also highlights Mr Giuliani’s questionable loyalty to other associates. He keeps a childhood friend, the former Catholic priest Alan Placa, on the payroll of his consulting company, even though he had to leave the Church after allegations that he sexually abused children and helped to cover up abuse by other priests.

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