Organized crime group flooded NYC streets with fake PA license plates

HARRISBURG — Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced criminal charges against a dozen people accused of taking part in a major organized crime ring that fraudulently obtained more than a thousand Pennsylvania license plates and used them to fuel a massive criminal enterprise involving automobiles in multiple states.

By illegally renting the license plates in New York City and other locations, this crime ring profited significantly and allowed those who used the fraudulent plates to avoid paying more than $1 million in parking fines and EZ Pass tolls across several states.

The organized crime ring was headed by Rafael Levi, 50, of Brooklyn, N.Y., Attorney General Shapiro said at a news conference today at the Office of Attorney General in Strawberry Square. Charges were also filed today against 14 Pennsylvania businesses involved in the crime ring. The charges followed an extensive investigation by the Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section and a statewide investigative grand jury.

“This organized criminal ring used legitimate business tactics – applying for licenses and insurance, car loans and purchases – for completely illegitimate purposes,” Attorney General Shapiro said at today’s news conference. “From fraudulently-obtained license plates to washed car titles to multiple other frauds, they gamed the system to rack up millions of dollars in illegal profits. It’s widespread criminal conduct and today we brought a halt to it.”

According to a grand jury presentment made public today, here are the major elements of the fraudulent schemes perpetrated by the Levi ring:

• License plates fraudulently obtained : Levi and his associates provided fraudulent documents, to the PA Departments of Transportation and State. As a result, they illegally obtained more than a thousand Pennsylvania license plates. They rented the plates for $400 a month or more. The people who got these plates avoided paying parking fines and EZ Pass tolls totaling $1 million in New York, Pennsylvania and neighborhood states.
• Fake insurance cards: The Levi ring provided cars and vehicles with fake insurance cards. When accidents would happen involving any of these cars, motorists filed claims with insurance companies – but there was no legitimate policy to pay on.
• Washed car titles : The ring issued phony letters to PennDOT which enabled them to get clean titles on vehicles. The Levi ring scammed $500,000 owed to financial institutions through this part of the scheme.
• Fraudulent odometer rollbacks: The ring rolled back odometer readings on 35 cars – enabled them to sell cars for more money than they otherwise would’ve sold for.
• Drivers’ licenses: The ring obtained Pennsylvania drivers licenses at an address in Pennsylvania that they defendants never lived at – another part of the scheme.

“Rafael Levi and his co-defendants used all these criminal schemes to live in the lap of luxury,” Attorney General Shapiro said, citing a prime example: Luxury autos which the ring obtained through fraud, including a red Ferrari.

Through this fraud, the ring would get one of their interlocking dealerships to “buy” a vehicle in cash. The ring then proceeded to wash the car through another of the Levi organization’s many dealerships. The ring avoiding paying more than $100,000 in PA sales tax in this manner.

Attorney General Shapiro said the investigation was ongoing, and investigators have notified law enforcement in other states of possible criminal conduct involving the Levi ring in other states.

This investigation began after the Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section received information from the Pennsylvania State Police. Agents from the Attorney General’s office worked closely with State Police and investigators from the office of New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.

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."

Grace's brother is in a bit of trouble

From the NY Post:

The brother of Rep. Grace Meng could face a homicide charge in the hazing death of a Baruch College fraternity pledge, according to a Pennsylvania law-enforcement official close to the investigation.

Andy Meng — the younger brother of the Flushing Democrat and the president of the Pi Delta Psi national fraternity — could be charged with manslaughter or murder if he helped delay medical treatment for Baruch pledge Chun “Michael” Deng, the source said.

“He is a person of interest,” the source told The Post. “If by deliberate delay someone’s ability to seek medical help was compromised, then that could be a form of homicide.”

Deng, 19, died Dec. 8 from head injuries after fraternity brothers blindfolded and tackled him in the freezing cold. He was not taken to the hospital until more than 90 minutes after he was knocked unconscious, and fraternity members changed his clothes after pummeling him.

Pocono Mountain Regional Police and the Monroe County district attorney are examining phone records that show Meng, who was not at the house at the time, was in contact with the Baruch frat boys “immediately after” the hazing, the source said.

Meng, 28, of Bayside, is also being probed for whether or not he ordered the destruction of evidence after the incident. He’s suspected of instructing Pi Delta Psi brothers to get rid of anything with the frat’s insignia on it before police arrived, the source noted.

Meng is a national rep for Pi Delta Psi, a Flushing-based Asian-American fraternity founded in 1994. After Deng’s death, he announced that his umbrella group would revoke the Baruch frat’s chapter.

Now we can see why the family sent Grace to law school.

And a 28-year old frat boy? I graduated from college when I was 22...

Bloomberg outsources water tax collection

Hi Everyone:

While going over some corporate bills I noticed that payments to the NYC Water Board and NYC DEP are being sent to Pittsburgh, PA. for processing. I'm sure everyone is pleased that Mayor Bloomberg and the City of New York are contributing to economic development and job creation in Pittsburgh.

For your convenience a redacted copy of the payment notice is attached.

Sincerely,
Warren Schreiber

More jobs take a walk

From the Huffington Post:

A scrum of protesters and factory workers set to lose their jobs descended on a Brooklyn factory Wednesday, urging Maramont Corporation, which has supplied meals to New York City public schools for years, to reconsider its decision to move production to Pennsylvania.

Maramont's announcement that it would be laying off more than 140 workers has angered residents of Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood and city officials, given that the company has benefited from a slew of city contracts going back at least to the 1990s. The company has said it will relocate its production to Moosic, Pa., just outside Scranton, presumably a much cheaper labor market than New York City.

A database of New York City vendor contracts shows that Maramont has received $175 million worth of city contracts during the last decade. The most recent was a $5 million contract inked with the city's education department in 2008; no start or end date is listed for that contract.