Now-legendary crook Jack Abramoff, whose father and part of his extended family live in the Palm Springs, CA area --- Where this blog is produced --- Has confessed to ripping off millions and trying to bribe members of the government, but he SPENT money on his own apparently much-beloved car! Here, courtesy of THE NY TIMES, is a recounting of Abramoff's love affair with his personal BMW 7-series. Note that Jack played large to evade police radar guns, too.
During his heyday as one of Washington's top lobbyists, Mr. Abramoff made millions of dollars, traveled the world and routinely feted lawmakers and luminaries at his Pennsylvania Avenue restaurant. But one of his most conspicuous indulgences was his 2002 BMW, fully loaded with more than $48,000 worth of custom work.
The 745Li sedan was customized by Ai Design of Tuckahoe, N.Y., as a sort of mobile office for Mr. Abramoff, who at one time had a driver for it so he could accommodate a heavy workload. Invoices offer a look inside the tinted windows, a $450 addition that was the cheapest part of the job. 
Mr. Abramoff spent $19,995 for a ''custom-built, 15.2-inch-wide screen and manual flip-down video monitor,'' an invoice says.
''Monitor includes built-in cordless headphone transmitters'' it says, adding, ''Monitor is capable of displaying DVD, Game and Computer graphics/video signals.''
For $7,390, he added a hands-free cellphone system, with a special antenna amplifier to boost the signal, and a docking station for his laptop built into the back of the right front seat. The system was configured to use the overhead screen and could take commands from a wireless keyboard.
Mr. Abramoff also paid $6,495 for seat-back tables.
''These handmade tables are duplicate versions of vintage Rolls-Royce designs,'' the invoice says. ''Perfect for children or mobile office applications.''
While DVD players are now common in cars, Mr. Abramoff's was set into a custom-made console trimmed in wood veneer and leather. The price for player and console, installed, was $4,495.
To evade police speed traps, the car was equipped with a radar detector designed to perform over hills, around corners and across distances of several miles. The unit was ''mounted and etched into rearview mirror'' and was augmented by a pair of ''laser diffusers'' in front and back to avoid detection further.
A spokesman for Mr. Abramoff, whose friends and colleagues say he now has financial problems, declined to say whether he still had the car.
The former lobbyist is to be sentenced on March 29 in a South Florida fraud case. He has also pleaded guilty to corruption-related charges in Washington.
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