Caption Courtroom Sketch Eric Adams

Eric Adams makes history as first Mayor to be indicted while governing New York City

 

 New York Times

Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal criminal charges, according to people with knowledge of the matter, and will be the first mayor in modern New York City history to be charged while in office.

The indictment is sealed, and it was unclear what charge or charges Mr. Adams, a Democrat, will face or when he will surrender to the authorities. Federal prosecutors were expected to announce the details of the indictment on Thursday.

The mayor, in a videotaped speech posted online late Wednesday, adopted a combative tone, saying any charges against him would be “entirely false” and “based on lies.” He said he had been targeted by the federal authorities because he had “stood my ground” for New Yorkers.

Mr. Adams, 64, also made it clear he had no intention of resigning, which he is not required to do under the City Charter. He said he would request an “immediate” trial and would “fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength, and my spirit.”

The indictment comes a little less than a year after federal agents searched the home of Mr. Adams’s chief fund-raiser and seized the mayor’s electronic devices as he left a public event in Manhattan.

The mayor and his aides have said he was cooperating with the authorities, and Mr. Adams has continued to insist that he has done nothing wrong.

Mr. Adams, a retired police captain, was elected New York’s 110th mayor in 2021 after a campaign built on a pledge to reduce crime, bring professionalism to City Hall and tap his personal brand of “swagger.”

But he staffed top positions with friends and loyalists, and his inner circle became engulfed by federal investigations. This month, federal agents seized phones from numerous top city officials, including a top aide to Mr. Adams, the schools chancellor and the police commissioner. The commissioner, Edward A. Caban, and the schools chancellor, David C. Banks, later resigned.

Mr. Adams, the second Black person to lead the nation’s largest city, was already facing a competitive primary in his run for re-election next year, and the indictment was likely to prompt more challengers to enter the race.

Here’s what else to know:

• The indictment raised immediate questions about Mr. Adams’s ability to serve as mayor, adding to the growing pressure for him to step down. Gov. Kathy Hochul has the power to remove him from office.

• Mr. Adams made it clear in his statement that he had no immediate plans to resign. If he changes his mind, Jumaane Williams, the city’s public advocate, will become the city’s acting mayor.

• Several federal corruption investigations have reached top people around Mr. Adams, with some of the highest-ranking officials in his administration coming under scrutiny. Read more about the investigations here. Here is a timeline of the key moments leading up to the indictment.

• The swarm of federal inquiries in the lead-up to the indictment of Mr. Adams plunged his administration into a free fall, further diminishing his political stature. It raised doubts about his re-election chances next year and his ability to engage with other political leaders. Read more about the challenges in City Hall here.

At around 11:30 p.m., Frank Carone, the former City Hall chief of staff, exited Gracie Mansion. In a grey suit, Carone described the mayor as “strong” and said he would not respond to calls to resign. “Like anybody else, he is innocent until proven guilty and he deserves his day in court,” Carone said. In response to questions about whether Adams would or should be replaced, he spoke sternly. “There is one mayor of New York City, and that is Eric Adams.” 

 

 

Bragg indicts Trump

NY Post

The NYPD is beefing up its presence as newly indicted former President Donald Trump is expected to surrender in New York on Tuesday, according to his lawyers.

Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office — which filed an unprecedented indictment against Trump, 76, related to hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels — wanted him arraigned Friday, sources said.

But Trump’s lawyers wouldn’t agree to that and instead, he’s expected to turn himself in Tuesday, his legal team said.

The ex-president will likely appear in court for his arraignment the same day, according his lawyers and a court administrator.

In a statement, Bragg said his office was in touch with Trump’s legal team on a surrender date.

“This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan DA’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal,” the statement said. “Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected.”

 

Another Assembly Member indicted

From NBC:

A New York state assemblywoman from Brooklyn who claims to be an advocate for Sandy victims has been accused of bilking FEMA and New York City's's Build it Back fund out of thousands of dollars following the monster 2012 storm.

Rep. Pamela Harris, a former New York City correction officer, was named in an 11-count indictment charging her with cheating the two storm relief agencies out of thousands of dollars before and after she was elected to the State Assembly in 2017. The indictment also accuses the Coney Island Democrat of stealing from New York City Council coffers while running a nonprofit and lying about her schemes during bankruptcy proceedings in 2013.

11 people, 2 companies cited in deed fraud

From CBS 2:

Eleven people and two corporations have been indicted by a grand jury in a fraud scheme that cost several homeowners their property deeds in Queens, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The defendants – nine of whom were in custody of as of Wednesday and two of whom were still being sought – were accused in a scheme where they fraudulently took the deeds away from homeowners, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.

Half of the victims were elderly, prosecutors said.

The investigation began in 2014, when several Queens homeowners told prosecutors they had received cold calls from people employed by the Kings Development Group in Queens. The callers allegedly said they would assist the homeowners with whatever financial problems they were having with their homes, prosecutors said.

It turned out that the company was not assisting the homeowners, but tricking them into signing over the deeds to their property, prosecutors said.

The deeds were transferred to a corporate entity, but the homeowners were still financially responsible for their mortgages, prosecutors said. Once the new deeds were recorded, the defendants allegedly advised the current tenants that they were the new owners and started collecting monthly rents, evicted the homeowners who were now their tenants, or told the New York City Housing Authority and the Department of Social Services that they were the new homeowners and started collecting subsidies, prosecutors said.

All eyes on Preet

From the NY Post:

The sense that Bharara’s final shoe is about to drop is especially keen because he filed related corruption charges against businessmen, police officers, a hedge fund manager and the head of the correction officers’ union.

And with subpoenas served months ago on City Hall, de Blasio deputies, some consultants and donors, it is clear that Bharara is aiming at a substantial target.

That could be why the prosecutor recently agreed after an unusual meeting with President-elect Donald Trump to stay on past the end of the Obama administration.

While the extension removes any immediate pressure, it can’t be a license to drag out the investigation deep into the election season. With all reasonable dispatch, Bharara should make his case, one way or another, sooner rather than later.

Construction company owner charged with manslaughter

From the Daily News:

A Brooklyn construction company owner was indicted after ignoring repeated warnings to properly secure his work sites -- including one where a worker fell to his death.

Salvatore Schirripa was charged with manslaughter Monday in the April 1, 2015, death of Vidal Sanchez-Ramon, as well as other counts related to two Bensonhurst construction companies he owns.

If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Wills a no show council member

From NY1:

City Councilman Ruben Wills' seat has been empty a lot lately. The indicted Queens Councilman has not been to City Hall since December, and he has not been to his court appearances, either.

Wills is on medical leave, and that illness is the latest hiccup delaying his corruption trial.

It was nearly two years ago that the Queens Councilman was charged by the state attorney general with grand larceny and filing false business records. He is accused of stealing public tax dollars from a nonprofit group he founded.

"I am not resigning on charges," Wills said in May 2014. "This is America, people. We are presumed innocent before you are proven guilty."

Sounds like he expects to go down. The phrase is "innocent until proven guilty".

Indictments in construction workers' deaths

From the Daily News:

Two construction managers are facing homicide charges in the death of a Queens hardhat who was crushed by a collapsing wall at a Meatpacking District work site, the Daily News has learned.

Wilmer Cuevas, 49, and Alfonso Prestia, 55, have been indicted for allegedly refusing to shut down the Ninth Ave. site April 6 after an engineer assigned to observe the work warned them it was too dangerous, police sources said.

The engineer’s fears were realized just moments later when a portion of a wall collapsed onto a pit 20 feet below street level — killing 22-year-old Carlos Moncayo.

“There was a life that was lost,” Moncayo’s brother-in-law Tobias Espejo, 35, told The News. “If this was an accident and they didn’t take responsibility, they are responsible.”

Cuevas, of Sky Materials Corp., and Prestia, of Hartco Consultants Corp., have been indicted on charges of criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter and reckless endangerment, sources said.

Slumlord busted for tenant harassment

From the Daily News:

A Brooklyn landlord has become the first person arrested under a new city-state campaign to go after property owners who threaten and harass rent-stabilized tenants, Mayor de Blasio and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Wednesday.

Daniel Melamed, 39, was indicted on charges of unlawful eviction, child endangerment and filing false documents in harassment of rent-protected tenants at the Crown Heights building he owns.

The mayor and Schneiderman formed a task force to go after landlords who illegally force out rent-stabilized tenants so they can jack up the rent.

The charges involve a Melamed building on Union St. where he began illegal construction and demolition last year.

The indictment alleges he knocked down interior walls and destroyed common spaces, and illegally shut off heat to rent-stabilized tenants as temperatures plummeted in December.

He also exposed tenants -- including a 6-year-old -- to toxic lead paint dust. In some apartments the dust tested at 80 times above acceptable levels, the indictment alleges.

More charges for Silver

From the Huffington Post:

U.S. prosecutors unveiled new charges against former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on Thursday, accusing him of taking official actions on behalf of an investor who provided access to a high-return, low-risk investment vehicle.

A revised indictment issued by a Manhattan federal grand jury added four new counts to three earlier ones facing the Democratic politician, who was first hit with public corruption charges in January.

Beyond charges of honest services mail and wire fraud and extortion, the indictment says Silver engaged in monetary transactions involving crime proceeds by investing money from the scheme in a private investment vehicle.

Silver previously pleaded not guilty. His lawyers, Joel Cohen and Steven Molo, said in a joint statement that the filing was "an attempt by the government to address defects in the indictment that we raised in our motion to dismiss."

Silver, 71, was previously accused of using his position at a law firm to conceal more than $3 million earned referring asbestos sufferers to the firm from a doctor whose research received secret benefits, including $500,000 in state grants.

Prosecutors say Silver, who remains an assemblyman for Manhattan's Lower East Side after resigning as speaker, also received $700,000 by steering real estate developers with business before the legislature to another law firm.

Odometer ripoffs tied to Queens man and Israeli brother

From Consumer Affairs:

A Queens, New York, man and his Israeli brother were charged in indictments unsealed today with offenses related to a long-running odometer tampering and money laundering scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced.

Chaim Gali and John Triculy, 40, of Queens Village, New York, and Shmuel Gali, 42, of Israel, are charged in a 15-count indictment in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (EDPA) with conspiracy, securities fraud and false odometer statements. The Galis are also charged in a related two-count indictment in the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) with mail and wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy.

“Mileage is one of the most important factors in a consumer’s decision to purchase a used car,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Misrepresenting the mileage on a used car fraudulently induces a consumer to pay more money for less value, and it hides necessary information that will affect how a consumer maintains and repairs that vehicle.”

The indictments allege that the Galis devised a scheme to defraud buyers of used cars by misrepresenting the mileage of approximately 690 vehicles they sold beginning as early as 2006 and through at least 2011.

The indictments charge that the Galis used fictitious dealer names to purchase high-mileage, used motor vehicles from a national vehicle leasing company. The defendants are charged with conspiring to alter the odometers in these vehicles, which they purchased in Florida, Maryland, Missouri and elsewhere, to reflect false lower mileages.

The indictments allege that the Galis then fraudulently altered the motor vehicle titles to reflect the false lower mileages and as a result, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania issued motor vehicle titles reflecting the altered mileages.

The defendants subsequently sold the vehicles at wholesale automobile auctions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey using various dealerships, including Chase Auto Center and Conestoga City Autos.

At the auctions, the Galis provided the buyers with Pennsylvania titles bearing the false lower mileages. The EDPA indictment alleges that in some instances, the title indicated mileage more than 100,000 miles less than the true mileage of the vehicle.

“The defendants created an elaborate odometer tampering and money laundering scheme to con would-be buyers into purchasing used cars at inflated prices,” said U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch for the EDNY. “They then used the proceeds of their crimes to continue their fraud against additional unsuspecting consumers."

Tabone really stepped in it!

From the NY Post:

As jury selection began Monday in the new bribery trial for former state senator Malcolm Smith, his co-defendant was slapped with ​new charges — for allegedly tampering with a witness.

Prosecutors say former Queens Republican Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone on May 23 confronted Philip Ragusa, who then chaired the borough’s GOP party, at his home and tried to convince him not to testify when Tabone and Smith were on trial earlier this year for trying to fix the 2013 mayoral race.

That White Plains federal court proceeding resulted in a June mistrial following the feds’ late release of more than 92 hours of recordings – including 28 hours in Yiddish yet to be translated.

A superseding indictment in the $200,000 bribery case now alleges Tabone spoke to the “county chairman,” who is not mentioned by name, while the chairman was “failing in health” and “resting in bed” and “encouraged” him not to testify. Tabone also allegedly claimed “no court” could “force” Ragusa to testify. The death-bed conversation took place an hour before Ragusa was supposed to give a deposition to prosecutors.

Ragusa, who was never charged with wrongdoing, was expected to eventually testify at the trial in defense of another co-defendant, former Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), but died in June of leukemia.

I gotta laugh at this, because Tabone originally claimed that he would get the charges dismissed because he wasn't an elected official and therefore couldn't be charged with bribery and now he went ahead and screwed himself. Once you're charged with a federal crime, it's best not to talk to anyone because the wiretaps and nervous witnesses are more than likely gonna trip you up.

Smith's defense is gentrification

From the Politicker:

Embattled State Senator Malcolm Smith told a Queens audience last night that racially motivated forces of gentrification are behind his indictment on charges he attempted to bribe his way onto the 2013 Republican ticket for mayor.

At a debate in the Majority Baptist Church against his two opponents in the Democratic primary, former Councilman Leroy Comrie and attorney Munir Avery, Mr. Smith was given two minutes to address his legal problems. Mr. Smith warned the crowd that the accusations are part of a plot to eliminate a powerful black outer borough politician and target his district for real estate development and racial displacement.

“Don’t get caught up with the innuendos, don’t get caught up with the media spin, don’t get caught up with the false allegations. I can’t tell you much, but I can tell you one thing: being an African-American who is from Queens, who is independent, who is ambitious, must have upset somebody,” Mr. Smith, whose opponents in the primary are both also black, said. “Be careful who you talk to, be careful what you say. Because they’ve got their eye on southeast Queens, they’re trying to shift it. The same way Harlem is no longer Harlem and Brooklyn is no longer Brooklyn.”

Mr. Smith continued that he could not yet name who was behind the plot he alleged–which he claimed was behind the recent indictments of other prominent black elected leaders–but said that the culprit would be revealed at his retrial in January. Prosecutorial mishandling of evidence caused an upstate judge to declare a mistrial in the initial proceedings against Mr. Smith in June.

“You will see my innocence is exactly what I say it is. You find out who is behind the attack on all the African-American leadership in this city, that will come out as well,” he said. “If you don’t believe southeast Queens gentrification is beginning to happen, look around.”

Contest to predict next elected to fall

From City and State:

If you can correctly guess the next elected official to be indicted in New York State, you will win a dinner for you and a guest (or cellmate) with City & State Editor Morgan Pehme and C&S Contributor Gerson Borrero at the 46th Street Station House restaurant in Manhattan. The Station House, which is modeled after a real NYPD police station and owned by a retired cop, is the perfect setting for our contest winners to dine. It even includes a replica jail cell—or, as so many of our politicians call it, “home away from home.”

The end of Estelle Cooper

From the Queens Courier:

Former Queens Parks Commissioner Estelle Cooper passed away over the weekend, according to Sinai Chapels in Fresh Meadows.

The 82-year-old Whitestone resident, who was indicted in July on grand larceny charges for allegedly stealing over $50,000 from a nonprofit conservancy group she helped start, was facing up to 15 years in prison if she had been tried and convicted.

Liu pals indicted; "support rally" planned

From the Daily News:

Embattled Controller John Liu’s former campaign treasurer, Jia (Jenny) Hou, was named in an indictment with fund-raiser Xing Wu (Oliver) Pan.

Pan was busted in November for trying to get around campaign contribution limits by rounding up straw donors to give more than $13,000 to Liu’s mayoral campaign.

Hou, 25, was arrested in February and accused of taking part in the same scheme by directing at least 40 fraudulent donations to the campaign.

The two cases were joined on Thursday.

Hou was already arraigned on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, attempting to commit wire fraud and obstruction of justice. Each charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.

The new indictment added one charge of making a false statement, which carries an additional five years in jail.

From the NY Post:

City Comptroller John Liu’s former campaign treasurer has been hit with a new charge of lying to the FBI during its probe of contributions to the embattled mayoral contender.

Jia “Jenny” Hou allegedly made the bogus statements on Feb. 27, one day before she was busted on charges of scheming to funnel illegal donations to Liu’s campaign.

Hou pretended that a Jan. 17 report she filed with the city Campaign Finance Board included all campaign-contribution bundlers “and [that] no one was left off,” according to a new indictment of fund-raiser Xing Wu “Oliver” Pan.

Hou also falsely claimed she had turned over “all responsive documents” after checking “every single e-mail in her e-mail account,” the Manhattan federal court filing says.

From Capital Tonight:

A reader forwarded an email invite sent by veteran Democratic consultant Bill Lynch to a “support” rally being held Monday for embattled NYC Comptroller John Liu “in light of recent investigations.”

The event is being held at a church, and Lynch is careful to note that this is NOT a campaign event, nor an effort to secure endorsements, but merely a moment to demonstrate general support for the comptroller as he battles for his political life.

Lynch’s firm, Bill Lynch Associates, served as the general consultant for Liu’s successful 2009 run for comptroller.

Liu has refused to pull the plug on his aspirations to run for NYC mayor in 2013, despite the fact that a top campaign aide was arrested in February on allegations of campaign finance fraud and a bundler was indicted on charges of conspiracy and wire fraud.

It will be interesting – not to mention telling – to see who shows up Monday.

Liu knew of bad campaign donations

From the Daily News:

Embattled City Controller John Liu may have known some contributions to his mayoral campaign were fishy, court records revealed as a second member of his political circle was busted Tuesday.

That news surfaced as the widening federal probe into Liu’s fund-raising for the 2013 mayoral race ensnared his campaign treasurer, Jia Hou. The feds accused her of steering 40 fraudulent donations to the campaign through a coordinated subterfuge that used straw donors to duck campaign finance laws.

The complaint alleges that Liu fund-raising bundler Xing Wu (Oliver) Pan — the other member of the Democratic controller’s camp to be pinched — coached an undercover FBI agent posing as a businessman to tell the candidate prior to a fund-raiser that this was his “event.”

Liu, the court papers quote Pan as saying, would “know what I meant” and understand that all the campaign contributions being collected at the event were really coming from the undercover agent’s “money.”

...City Councilman Peter Koo (D-Queens), a major Liu supporter and one of his top fund-raisers, said he should step down as controller if the insinuation that he may have known what was going on proves true.

“If he knew, he should consider resigning his position — if he knew,” Koo said.

Koo added that he saw Hou, whose family is close to the controller, a few days ago at a campaign function and she didn’t seem to know she was going to be charged.

The feds documented a flurry of instant messages that showed how Hou on July 14 of last year allegedly offered to reimburse one crooked donor. “Don’t worry about it,” she texted.

Hou also instructed campaign volunteers to “imitate the handwriting of campaign donors” to make their contributions look kosher, the court papers state. She is also accused of withholding potentially damning documents after she was slapped with subpoenas by government investigators last year.

Federal jury indicts Liu bundler

From the NY Times:

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted a top fund-raiser for the city comptroller, John C. Liu, on charges that he helped illegally direct thousands of dollars into Mr. Liu’s campaign account.

The five-page indictment against Xing Wu Pan, a New Jersey real estate developer who is also known as Oliver, did not add any new details to the original criminal complaint, which was filed in November.

But it did signify that the charges against Mr. Pan — one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of attempting to commit wire fraud, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years — had passed the next legal hurdle. It also suggested that, contrary to speculation, no plea deal appeared to be imminent.

Concrete tester accused of faking results

From CBS880:

A concrete-testing laboratory faked results for a LaGuardia Airport control tower, the new Yankee Stadium, the Lincoln Tunnel, a hospital and more than a dozen other projects around New York City, according to an indictment.

American Standard Testing and Consulting Laboratories Inc., President Alan Fortich and five staffers were expected to be arraigned Thursday on racketeering and other charges, becoming the latest of a string of concrete labs the Manhattan district attorney’s office has prosecuted on similar charges.

New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based ATSC’s phone number is disconnected, and Fortich didn’t immediately respond to an email message Thursday morning. Defense lawyers’ names weren’t immediately available.