Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Disbarred Lawyer From Northern Westchester Admits To Stealing $1M From 9/11 Victim Funds Disbarred Lawyer From Northern Westchester Admits To Stealing $1M From 9/11 Victim Funds
Disbarred Lawyer From Northern Westchester Admits To Stealing $1M From 9/11 Victim Funds A disbarred attorney from Northern Westchester admitted to stealing approximately $1 million that was rewarded to one of his clients from the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. Yorktown Heights resident Gustavo Vila pleaded guilty in White Plains Federal Court for stealing from his client, who was a first responder who suffered life-threatening medical conditions while cleaning up the crash site at Ground Zero. The Victim Compensation Fund was created in the wake of the terror attack to provide government funds to compensate anyone who was harmed or killed as a result of the attacks. It ran fr…

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by Zak Failla
Massapequa, NY
News
Queens Pharmacy Operator Accused Of Sending Cocaine To DEA Investigator’s Home Queens Pharmacy Operator Accused Of Sending Cocaine To DEA Investigator’s Home
Queens Pharmacy Operator Accused Of Sending Cocaine To DEA Investigator’s Home A pharmacy owner in Queens is facing charges for allegedly arranging to have cocaine sent to the home of a DEA agent who was investigating his business. Queens resident Dimitrios Lymberatos, 34, turned himself in to the DEA on Friday, Oct. 9 and is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court this afternoon on charges that include obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said that in November last year, a DEA Diversion Investigator conducted a regulatory into Lymberatos’ Queens pharmacy, which delayed the issuance of its registration to d…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Four Admit To New Year's Eve Murder Of 13-Year-Old Innocent Bystander In Westchester Four Admit To New Year's Eve Murder Of 13-Year-Old Innocent Bystander In Westchester
Four Admit To New Year's Eve Murder Of 13-Year-Old Innocent Bystander In Westchester Four members of a street gang pleaded guilty to the murder of 13-year-old Shamoya McKenzie on New Year’s Eve in 2016 in Westchester. David Hardy, Marquis Collier, Jermaine hugely, and Sincere Savoy, members of the “Goonies” street gang pleaded guilty on Thursday, Oct. 1 for their roles in the death of McKenzie in Mount Vernon, who was struck by a stray bullet intended for a purported rival gang member. Earlier story - Gang Members Charged In Mount Vernon Teen Basketball Star's Fatal Shooting Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said that to fund their gang and maintain a stranglehold i…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Financial Advisor From Westchester Accused Of Embezzling $640K From Clients Financial Advisor From Westchester Accused Of Embezzling $640K From Clients
Financial Advisor From Westchester Accused Of Embezzling $640K From Clients A financial advisor from Westchester has been accused of embezzling more than $640,000 from clients. Gregg Brie, of White Plains, was arrested on Thursday morning, Oct. 1 and charged with securities fraud and wire fraud, Audrey Strauss, the acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced. “As alleged, Gregg Brie stole money so he could live a lavish lifestyle," Strauss said. "This office is committed to rooting out fraudule…

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by Joe Lombardi
Mount Vernon, NY
News
Court Order Requires Mount Vernon To Address Polluting Storm Sewers Court Order Requires Mount Vernon To Address Polluting Storm Sewers
Court Order Requires Mount Vernon To Address Polluting Storm Sewers The federal government is forcing Mount Vernon to address its long-broken sewer system, which has sent raw sewage into city homes, the Bronx and Hutchinson rivers for years. A federal district court is ordering the city to bring its polluting storm sewer system into compliance with the Clean Water Act after ignoring two previous EPA administrative orders to make the required fixes. The city's sewage system includes more than 195 miles of sewer lines, 3,100 catch-basins, and 3,000 manholes which run through Mount Vernon. Since the problems were discovered, the city has been fined millions of…

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by Zak Failla
Ridgewood, NJ
Police & Fire
FBI Raids Ridgewood Home Of Former Upper East Side Art Gallery Owner FBI Raids Ridgewood Home Of Former Upper East Side Art Gallery Owner
FBI Raids Ridgewood Home Of Former Upper East Side Art Gallery Owner FBI agents carted off boxes and bags of apparent evidence during a raid Tuesday on the Ridgewood home of a former Manhattan art gallery owner, witnesses said. Frederick Street was lined with vans and other federal vehicles as agents sorted items collected from the home of Selim and Aysel Dere in the driveway and attached garage. The couple's son, Erdal Dere, 50, of New York City, and another man, Faisal Khan, 47, of Flanders were arrested by federal agents on Tuesday. An indictment returned by a grand jury in Manhattan charged both men with "engaging in a years-long scheme to defraud …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Former Town Justice In Northern Westchester Sentenced For Tax Evasion Former Town Justice In Northern Westchester Sentenced For Tax Evasion
Former Town Justice In Northern Westchester Sentenced For Tax Evasion A former town justice in Northern Westchester will spend time behind bars after admitting to a decade-long tax evasion scheme. Former Lewisboro Town Justice Marc Seedorf, a Carmel attorney, was sentenced in White Plains Federal Court to six months in prison following his guilty plea to tax evasion last December. Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said that between 2009 through October 2019, Seedorf was a Town Justice for the Town of Lewisboro, and an Administrative Law Judge for Westchester County.  He also received income from the private practice of law.  Strauss said tha…

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by Zak Failla
Cortlandt, NY
News
Area Attorney Sentenced For Evading $566K In Taxes Area Attorney Sentenced For Evading $566K In Taxes
Area Attorney Sentenced For Evading $566K In Taxes A Hudson Valley attorney living in Fairfield County will spend time behind bars after admitting to tax evasion and failing to pay over payroll taxes during a long-running scheme. Danbury resident Francis O’Reilly, an attorney in Putnam County, in Carmel, was sentenced this week to 18 months in prison for an elaborate scheme that cost the U.S. Treasury more than $800,000 following his guilty plea last year. Prosecutors said that O’Reilly has been permitted to practice law in New York since 1989, and has been a self-employed attorney who worked out of Putnam County at the O’Reilly Law Practic…

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by Zak Failla
Bridgeport, CT
Police & Fire
Bridgeport Police Chief, Personnel Director Arrested, Accused Of Rigging Hiring Bridgeport Police Chief, Personnel Director Arrested, Accused Of Rigging Hiring
Bridgeport Police Chief, Personnel Director Arrested, Accused Of Rigging Hiring Some of Bridgeport’s top police officials have been accused of rigging the city’s police chief search two years ago and then attempting to cover it up, according to federal authorities. Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez and the city’s acting Personnel Director David Dunn were arrested on Thursday, Sept. 10 by federal investigators for allegedly rigging the 2018 search for a new chief to ensure Perez would win. Additionally, Perez and Dunn were charged with making false statements to federal agents during the investigation into the alleged fraud. It is alleged that Perez - who was the a…

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by Zak Failla
Brentwood, NY
News
Hedge Fund Founder From Long Island Charged With Fraud, Extortion, Obstruction Of Justice Hedge Fund Founder From Long Island Charged With Fraud, Extortion, Obstruction Of Justice
Hedge Fund Founder From Long Island Charged With Fraud, Extortion, Obstruction Of Justice A hedge fund founder from Long Island is facing federal charges of securities fraud and extortion after he allegedly abused his position on a Neiman Marcus Group Inc. bankruptcy committee to purchase securities at a deflated price. Nassau County resident Daniel Kamensky, of Roslyn, the founder of the New York-based hedge fund Marble Ridge Capital, has been charged in Manhattan federal court on multiple charges. Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said that Kamensky’s alleged criminal acts occurred in connection with his scheme to pressure a rival bidder to abandon its higher bid for assets …

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Four Hudson Valley Brothers Accused Of $19M Scam To Defraud Amazon Four Hudson Valley Brothers Accused Of $19M Scam To Defraud Amazon
Four Hudson Valley Brothers Accused Of $19M Scam To Defraud Amazon Four brothers from the Hudson Valley have been charged for allegedly engaging in a scheme to systematically defraud Amazon.com of millions. "Through the course of the scheme, they manipulated Amazon’s vendor system in attempts to fraudulently induce Amazon to pay for goods that Amazon had not ordered," Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said. In executing the scheme, they fraudulently attempted to obtain at least approximately $32 million and successfully obtained at least approximately $19 million, Strauss said. The four are:…

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by Joe Lombardi
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Two From Westchester Among Four Charged With 'Cooking Books' For Hedge Fund Two From Westchester Among Four Charged With 'Cooking Books' For Hedge Fund
Two From Westchester Among Four Charged With 'Cooking Books' For Hedge Fund A pair of Westchester residents were among those charged in federal court to their roles in an alleged securities scam that saw them overstate their investment firm’s worth by hundreds of millions of dollars to bilk investors. U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss announced on Wednesday that White Plains resident Ashish Dole, 34, and Armonk resident Amin Majidi, 52, have been involved in an elaborate scheme that saw them mismark funds they managed by more than $200 million. According to Strauss, Majidi, Dole and New York City residents Jeremy Shor and Frank Dinucci, Jr. from 2014 through 2016, they …

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by Zak Failla