RUSSELL SIMMONS DROPPED THE BALL ON JAY Z'S RACINO BECAUSE HE WANTS IT!

Rapper Jay-Z's partner in the group picked to operate the Aqueduct racino runs a debt collection company that's been sued more than 100 times for illegal tactics.

David Rosenberg is CEO and founder of Unifund CCR Partners, an Ohio-based firm whose aggressive collection methods are under scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission and the state attorney general's office.

The suits - dozens of which Unifund has settled - accuse the firm of going after people who've paid, implying they're lawyers and suing years after the last payment notice was sent.

The Federal Trade Commission recently subpoenaed the books of Unifund and eight similar firms.

"Consumers have reported that debt collectors frequently try to collect from the wrong consumers or the wrong amounts or both," the FTC said.

The deadline to comply with the subpoenas expired last week, but Unifund and the other firms - which own about 75% of the nation's delinquent debt - got an extension, an FTC spokesman said. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo opened an investigation into Unifund after receiving dozens of complaints about the company's harassment tactics, a source familiar with the probe said. Rosenberg's name surfaced in documents Gov. Paterson released detailing Aqueduct Entertainment Group's winning bid to operate the racino.

One behind-the-scenes AEG investor is Gain Global Investments Network LLC, which has a 7% stake in the racino. Rosenberg owns 42.8% of Gain Global and Shawn Carter (Jay-Z) and party promoter Steve Acevedo split the rest with 28.6% each.

Rosenberg was not identified in documents beyond his name, but Susan Appel, Unifund's counsel, said he's Jay-Z's partner.

He's also a pal and partner of another music entrepreneur, Russell Simmons, who's with a rival group seeking the Aqueduct deal.

Records show Unifund has settled dozens of the 116 suits filed against the company in the past three years, including a class-action suit in Nebraska in which Unifund agreed to pay $150,000 to 2,300 debtors

In Queens, Jose Luis Muniz got a notice on behalf of Unifund demanding payment of $21,000 in credit card debt he paid off 10 years earlier. Unifund settled his case for an undisclosed amount.

Unifund is just one controversy hanging over AEG. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver won't approve AEG until the state inspector general finishes probing the bidding process.

Some competitors say Paterson's staff favored AEG because Paterson wanted the political support of one of its investors, the Rev. Floyd Flake, a powerful clergyman who has $625,000 invested in the project.

Silver wants investors with a criminal conviction in the last 15 years for a financial crime disqualified.

That restriction led to the recent withdrawal of Darryl Greene, who had pleaded guilty in 1999 to fraud charges.

In 2001, Jay-Z pleaded guilty to stabbing a rival rap producer. Acevedo pleaded guilty in 2007 to using a forged police parking placard.