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Southern District of New York

Manhattan's Top Federal Prosecutor To Resign Before Trump Presidency Manhattan's Top Federal Prosecutor To Resign Before Trump Presidency
Manhattan's Top Federal Prosecutor To Resign Before Trump Presidency US Attorney Damian Williams, who has overseen high-profile cases in the Southern District of New York, has announced his resignation, a move that comes ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term and the expected nomination of his successor.  Williams’ resignation will take effect at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, according to a statement from his office on Monday, Nov. 25.  The resignation comes as President-elect Trump has announced plans to nominate Jay Clayton, a former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman under Trump’s first administration, to lead the of…
FBI Thwarts Iran-Linked Plan To Assassinate Donald Trump, DOJ Says FBI Thwarts Iran-Linked Plan To Assassinate Donald Trump, DOJ Says
FBI Thwarts Iran-Linked Plan To Assassinate Donald Trump, DOJ Says An Iranian operative and two associates living in America have been charged in a murder-for-hire plot targeting United States citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump. Federal authorities have charged Farhad Shakeri, an alleged operative of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), along with two New York City associates in a plot to assassinate a US citizen critical of the Iranian government.  The case highlights the continued threat posed by Iran’s attempts to silence dissidents and even target top US. officials. According to the Department of Justice criminal complai…
Alleged Bribes, Illegal Campaign Cash: Feds Lay Out Case Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams Alleged Bribes, Illegal Campaign Cash: Feds Lay Out Case Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams
Alleged Bribes, Illegal Campaign Cash: Feds Lay Out Case Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams Federal authorities released the indictment against New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday, Sept. 26, laying out their case for corruption, bribery, and misuse of public funds, reports said.  Federal investigators have charged the 64-year-old Democrat with five counts, including conspiracy to receive illegal foreign campaign contributions, wire fraud, and bribery, said Damian Williams, the US. attorney for the Southern District of New York in a news conference.  Click here to read the complete indictment from the SDNY. Here is what those allegations are as summari…
Powerful NYC Attorney, Wife Missing After Luxury Yacht Capsizes Off Coast Of Italy: Reports Powerful NYC Attorney, Wife Missing After Luxury Yacht Capsizes Off Coast Of Italy: Reports
Powerful NYC Attorney, Wife Missing After Luxury Yacht Capsizes Off Coast Of Italy: Reports A New York attorney with Connecticut roots and his wife are among seven people missing after the yacht they were on capsized early this week in Italy, according to multiple reports. Christopher Morvillo, age 59, who attended the Canterbury School in Litchfield County, Connecticut, and later Fordham University, along with his wife, Neda Morvillo, age 57, are among six people who are unaccounted after the 184-foot luxury yacht overturned off the coast of Sicily on Monday morning, Aug. 19, according to ABC 7. Twenty-two people were on board the ship at the time of the incident near Palermo, ac…
UPDATE: Convicted ‘Bling Bishop’ From Bergen Jailed Ahead Of Sentencing UPDATE: Convicted ‘Bling Bishop’ From Bergen Jailed Ahead Of Sentencing
Update: Convicted ‘Bling Bishop’ From Bergen Jailed Ahead Of Sentencing 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A convicted con man from Bergen County known as the "Bling Bishop" was jailed on Monday after violating terms of his release before this summer's sentencing, federal authorities said. Federal jurors in lower Manhattan convicted Lamor Whitehead of Paramus two months ago of swindling the elderly mom of a parishioner from New Jersey out of her $90,000 life savings, among other counts. They also found him guilty of using ties to New York City Mayor Eric Adams in an attempt to extort a business owner into loaning him $500,000 and of lying to hide a second cellphone from FBI agents as the…
23-Year-Old Taiwanese Operator Of $100 Million Dark Web Drug Market Seized By Feds At JFK 23-Year-Old Taiwanese Operator Of $100 Million Dark Web Drug Market Seized By Feds At JFK
23-Year-Old Taiwanese Operator Of $100 Million Dark Web Drug Market Seized By Feds At JFK Federal agents at JFK Airport seized a 23-year-old Taiwanese national who the Justice Department said owned and operated a dark web drug bazaar that produced well over $100 million in sales. The “Incognito Market” created by Rui-Siang Lin enabled its users to anonymously buy and sell drugs around the globe for nearly 3½ years, US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and other federal officials announced on Monday, May 20. Lin -- also known as Ruisiang Lin, 林睿庠, Pharoah, and faro – mastermineded a clandestine e-commerce network where buyers could browse thousands of listings for heroin, LSD, …
NJ Flight Attendant Smuggled Millions In Drug Cash To The DR Through Special Airport Lane: Feds NJ Flight Attendant Smuggled Millions In Drug Cash To The DR Through Special Airport Lane: Feds
NJ Flight Attendant Smuggled Millions In Drug Cash To The DR Through Special Airport Lane: Feds A flight attendant from New Jersey smuggled $2.5 million of an estimated $8 million in drug money from the United States to the Dominican Republic through a scheme that capitalized on flight crews’ easy access through airports, authorities charged. Charlie Hernandez, 42, of West New York and three other accused mile-high drug mules used code words such as “lotions” – meaning drug cash – and “los tigres” (for their drug-dealing partners), an indictment alleges. Each got a cut for slipping the cash through unscreened TSA security lanes for international commercial airline employees at JFK Air…
Bronx Tax Preparer 'The Magician' Busted By IRS In Record $100M Fraud Bronx Tax Preparer 'The Magician' Busted By IRS In Record $100M Fraud
Bronx Tax Preparer The Magician Rafael Alvarez IRS Fraud A Bronx tax preparer known as "The Magician" was arrested by IRS agents for a $100 million tax fraud that federal authorities said was one of the largest ripoffs of its kind. Rafael Alvarez, 60, submitted thousands of bogus tax returns over a 10-year period, Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. It was one of the single biggest tax ripoffs by a single tax preparer in history, federal authorities announced on "Tax Day" Monday, April 15. And it allowed Alvarez to pull in $15 million in revenue in just three years, Williams said. It also won Alvarez his sleight-of…
TURF WAR: Bronx Man Charged With Uncle's 2021 Murder In Bangladesh TURF WAR: Bronx Man Charged With Uncle's 2021 Murder In Bangladesh
Turf WAR: Bronx Man Charged With Uncle's 2021 Murder In Bangladesh A man who shot and killed his 72-year-old uncle in Bangladesh three years ago over a long-running land dispute is in federal custody in Manhattan. Ganet Rozario, 52, of the Bronx was ordered held by a federal judge following his arrest for the murder of fellow U.S. citizen Michael Rozario on June 11, 2021. Both men reportedly had gone to an upazila (or section) of the South Asian republic known as Sirajdikhan two months earlier to address a dispute over who owned a piece of land there. An arbitration meeting aimed at a resolution dissolved into conflict between the two men, however, accord…
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez Indicted On Federal Bribery Charges Democratic Senator Bob Menendez Indicted On Federal Bribery Charges
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez Indicted On Federal Bribery Charges Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey was indicted Friday on federal corruption charges that include allegations of him secretly supporting the government of Egypt and trying to influence U.S. prosecutors' case against Bergen County real estate magnate Fred Daibes. Mendendez, 69, who's chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made several moves in exchange for bribes, some of which were passed to his wife, Nadine Arsianian, a sweeping indictment unsealed on Sept. 22 alleges. A staggering array of charges were brought by the grand jurors in the Southern District of N…
'PlugwalkJoe' Admits Unprecedented Twitter Hack That Included Musk, Kardashian, Biden: Feds 'PlugwalkJoe' Admits Unprecedented Twitter Hack That Included Musk, Kardashian, Biden: Feds
'PlugwalkJoe' Admits Unprecedented Twitter Hack That Included Musk, Kardashian, Biden: Feds A 23-year-old British citizen who hacked the Twitter accounts of Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian and Bill Gates, among others, pleaded guilty in federal court to a host of related charges as part of a deal with the government. Joseph James O'Connor -- also known as "PlugwalkJoe" -- technically faces up to 77 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines but will likely get somewhere between 10 to 20 years when all is said and done. The Liverpudlian hacker admitted during a plea hearing in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 9, that he committed one of the largest high-pro…
El Chapo Sons, Dubbed ‘Pioneers' Of Fentanyl Epidemic, Charged In Massive Sinaloa Cartel Case El Chapo Sons, Dubbed ‘Pioneers' Of Fentanyl Epidemic, Charged In Massive Sinaloa Cartel Case
El Chapo Sons, Dubbed ‘Pioneers' Of Fentanyl Epidemic, Charged In Massive Sinaloa Cartel Case Four sons of notorious druglord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman are among more than two dozen members of Mexico's reigning Sinaloa cartel charged in a massive fentanyl-trafficking offensive announced by federal officials on Friday. The infamous quartet known as the Chapitos – each of whom had $5 million U.S. bounties placed on their heads – were dubbed “the pioneers” of fentanyl’s introduction to American users by DEA Administrator Anne Milgram during an April 14 news conference in Washington, D.C. “Death and destruction are central to their whole operation,” said Milgram, a former New Jersey a…
US Marshals Look To Seize Lodi Driver Charged With Crashing Stolen Car During Route 46 Pursuit US Marshals Look To Seize Lodi Driver Charged With Crashing Stolen Car During Route 46 Pursuit
US Marshals Look To Seize Lodi Driver Charged With Crashing Stolen Car During Route 46 Pursuit A Lodi man who crashed a stolen car on Route 46 during a police chase will remain in the Bergen County Jail until U.S. Marshals can pick him up. Samuel Sosa, 24, initially stopped the stolen 2010 Lincoln MKX at the highway on-ramp from Main Street near Chief Fire Equipment & Service around 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18, following a hit-and-run on Avenue E, Lodi Police Sgt. Dominic Miller said. Sosa then hit the gas, however, fleeing onto westbound Route 46, the sergeant said. The SUV, reported stolen out of New York City, hit two utility poles outside the Pleasure Plus adult video store just …
‘Bling’ Bishop From Bergen Seized By FBI, Charged With Swindling Retiree Out Of $90,000 ‘Bling’ Bishop From Bergen Seized By FBI, Charged With Swindling Retiree Out Of $90,000
‘Bling’ Bishop From Bergen Seized By FBI, Charged With Swindling Retiree Out Of $90,000 A flashy Brooklyn bishop who lives in Bergen County – and was infamously robbed at gunpoint during a live-streamed church service earlier this year – swindled one of his parishioners out of $90,000 in retirement money that he used for himself, federal authorities charged. Lamor Whitehead, a 44-year-old Paramus resident known for his Rolls Royce, Gucci suits and bling, was arrested by federal agents on Monday, Dec. 19, on an indictment that charges him wire fraud, extortion and lying to the FBI. The indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan accuses Whitehead of …
Feds: NJ, NY Postal Workers Stole Credit Cards To Buy $1.3M In Luxury Items For Online Resale Feds: NJ, NY Postal Workers Stole Credit Cards To Buy $1.3M In Luxury Items For Online Resale
Feds: NJ, NY Postal Workers Stole Credit Cards To Buy $1.3M In Luxury Items For Online Resale Three U.S. Postal Service workers from New Jersey and New York City masterminded a scheme to buy more than $1.3 million worth of designer clothes and accessories using credit cards that they stole from the mail, federal authorities charged. The items were then sold with the help of an entrepreneur who operated an online shopping site, they said. Nathanael Foucault, Johnathan “Junzie-J” Persaud, and Fabiola “Lady Fab” Mompoint passed the cards to a quintet of shoppers who bought the items at department stores in New Jersey and the city with the stolen credit cards, an indictment returned by …
Men Drop Sex Assault Suits Against Retired Bergen Judge Turned Fox Analyst Andrew Napolitano Men Drop Sex Assault Suits Against Retired Bergen Judge Turned Fox Analyst Andrew Napolitano
Men Drop Sex Assault Suits Against Retired Bergen Judge Turned Fox Analyst Andrew Napolitano Two men have dropped their lawsuits accusing disgraced former Bergen County judge turned Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano of sexually assaulting them. Napolitano, who was fired from Fox last August amid accusations of sexually harassing employees, had already made headlines this week for selling his condo at Trump International Hotel & Tower on Central Park West. Then came reports, first published in the New Jersey Law Journal, that Charles Corbishley and James Kruzelnick had withdrawn their suits accusing Napolitano of sexual abuse three decades apart. Napolitano also dropped a lib…
Giuliani Suspended From Practicing Law In NY Giuliani Suspended From Practicing Law In NY
Giuliani Suspended From Practicing Law In NY A New York court suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in the state on Thursday because of “false and misleading statements” about former President Donald Trump’s election loss last fall. The temporary license suspension took effect immediately – a day short of Guiliani’s 52nd anniversary of practicing law in New York State – pending the outcome of a full formal disciplinary hearing. The former New York City mayor and federal prosecutor was a personal attorney to Trump when he lied about the legitimacy of President Biden’s victory, alleging widespread ballot fraud in key swing states,…
NYC Subway Bomber Sentenced To Life Plus 30 Years NYC Subway Bomber Sentenced To Life Plus 30 Years
NYC Subway Bomber Sentenced To Life Plus 30 Years A would-be suicide bomber who detonated a device strapped to his chest in a crowded subway station near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan was sentenced Thursday to life in prison plus 30 years. Judge Richard J. Sullivan said the punishment fit the “heinous crime” when he sentenced Akayed Ullah for the December 2017 attack in subway tunnels beneath Times Square and the bus terminal. Ullah, a 31-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant, began researching how to build a bomb about a year before the attack, federal authorities said. That morning, packed a homemade device with metal screws bef…
Jersey Shore Construction Contractor Admits Ducking Nearly $1,000,000 In Taxes Jersey Shore Construction Contractor Admits Ducking Nearly $1,000,000 In Taxes
Jersey Shore Construction Contractor Admits Ducking Nearly $1,000,000 In Taxes A Jersey Shore businessman admitted in federal court that he ducked more than $952,778 in payroll and personal income taxes by putting his Manhattan construction company in an associate’s name, paying workers in cash and hiding the scheme from his accountant. Bilal Salaj, 55, of Morganville admitted in U.S. District Court downtown that he “continued to hold principal control and decision-making authority over the business and its financial affairs” of the business after changing ownership in July 2014, Southern District of New York Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said. That included con…
GOTCHA! Cliffside Park Detective Captures Accused NYC Child Sex Trafficker Wanted By FBI GOTCHA! Cliffside Park Detective Captures Accused NYC Child Sex Trafficker Wanted By FBI
Gotcha! Cliffside Park Detective Captures Accused NYC Child Sex Trafficker Wanted By FBI A Cliffside Park detective sergeant tracked down and captured an accused child sex trafficker who authorities said was hiding out from the FBI in a house across from a grammar school. A federal judge in the Southern District of New York had issued a fugitive warrant for Martin Concepcion, 23, of Queens on charges of trafficking a minor for sex and conspiracy. A member of the FBI/NYPD Joint Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, in turn, contacted Cliffside Park Detective Sgt. William Crapara and said that Concepcion -- known as "Tito" -- might be hiding out with relatives in t…
Bergen Prosecutor: Feds Capture Parolee In $500,000 Ponzi Scheme Bergen Prosecutor: Feds Capture Parolee In $500,000 Ponzi Scheme
Bergen Prosecutor: Feds Capture Parolee In $500,000 Ponzi Scheme U.S. Marshals captured an ex-con who ran a Ponzi scheme while on federal probation that swindled a Fort Lee investor, among others, out of more than $500,000, authorities said. Giuseppe Valentino, 52, “solicited multiple investors in his company, Rhineau LLC, by representing that he had developed a proprietary algorithm for the execution of binary options,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Wednesday. A judge issued a warrant for Valentino’s arrest in March after Financial Crimes Unit detectives found that he’d collected a half-million dollars that he used for himself without inves…
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 …
‘Predator In White Coat’: Feds Seek Sex Abuse Victims Of OBGYN From Bergen ‘Predator In White Coat’: Feds Seek Sex Abuse Victims Of OBGYN From Bergen
‘Predator In White Coat’: Feds Seek Sex Abuse Victims Of Obgyn From Bergen It seemed a plea deal with state prosecutors in New York would keep former gynecologist Robert Hadden of Englewood out of prison after he was accused of sexually abusing patients. Then the feds came knocking. FBI agents arrested Hadden, 62, at his home on Wednesday and brought him to U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where a grand jury indictment charges him with sexually abusing dozens of female patients, including minors, over nearly 20 years. Federal authorities are asking other alleged victims to come forward (see below). Hadden victimized patients “under the guise of conducting purpor…
Bergen Judge Turned Fox Analyst Forced Hackensack Defendant Into Oral Sex, Lawsuit Claims Bergen Judge Turned Fox Analyst Forced Hackensack Defendant Into Oral Sex, Lawsuit Claims
Bergen Judge Turned Fox Analyst Forced Hackensack Defendant Into Oral Sex, Lawsuit Claims Former Bergen County Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano forced an accused arsonist into oral sex at his then-Hackensack home to avoid a prison sentence, a blockbuster lawsuit filed Friday against the FOX News analyst alleges. Charles Corbishley claims in a $10 million federal suit that a crooked defense lawyer sent him to the longtime Fox News analyst’s house, ostensibly to shovel snow, while a case against him was still pending in the late 1980s. Corbishely, who’d only just turned 20, had been charged in 1987 with starting an arson fire with another man behind a Hackensack apartment bu…
Israel’s Largest Bank Pays $900 Million In Offshore Tax Evasion Scheme, Soccer Payoffs Israel’s Largest Bank Pays $900 Million In Offshore Tax Evasion Scheme, Soccer Payoffs
Israel’s Largest Bank Pays $900 Million In Offshore Tax Evasion Scheme, Soccer Payoffs Israel’s largest bank and a Swiss subsidiary agreed in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday to pay $874.27 million to the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the New York State Department of Financial Services to settle offshore tax-evasion charges. At the same time, Bank Hapoalim B.M. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Hapoalim (Switzerland) Ltd., agreed to pay more than $30 million to the United States to resolve a federal investigation into their roles in laundering bribes and kickbacks to the world governing body for soccer. As part of the tax-evasion settlement, Bank Hapoalim B.M.&…
Feds Bust 400 Scammers Who Preyed On Elderly Feds Bust 400 Scammers Who Preyed On Elderly
Feds Bust 400 Scammers Who Preyed On Elderly Federal prosecutors throughout the U.S. have teamed up to charge more than 400 people in scams that have recently cost America’s senior citizens more than a billion dollars.  The largest coordinated sweep of elder fraud ever was announced by U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr during a talk earlier this week aimed at protecting older Americans from financial harm. The event, “Keeping Seniors Safe,” was held – where else? – in Florida. The Sunshine State had the most prosecutions brought by federal authorities in the sweep: 21. Ranking second was New York State, with 18. The Southe…
$368,783 Pension Theft Gets Teaneck Vending Machine/Jukebox Company Owner 2½ Years In Fed Pen $368,783 Pension Theft Gets Teaneck Vending Machine/Jukebox Company Owner 2½ Years In Fed Pen
$368,783 Pension Theft Gets Teaneck Vending Machine/Jukebox Company Owner 2½ Years In Fed Pen A well-known Teaneck businessman must spend 2½ years in federal prison for embezzling $368,783 from the employee pension fund of his vending machine and jukebox company, following his sentencing in Newark. Howard Preschel, 63, who paid five figures two years ago to settle a copyright infringement suit, admitted in federal court in Newark last August that he swiped the money over the course of at least eight years from CMG Vending Inc., which operated, leased, and rented vending machines throughout New Jersey and New York. Preschel founded and served as the trustee for the pension fund, from…
NJ Dad Accused Of Masterminding Sex Cult In College Dorm NJ Dad Accused Of Masterminding Sex Cult In College Dorm
NJ Dad Accused Of Masterminding Sex Cult In College Dorm A Piscataway man who moved into his daughter’s dorm has been charged with sex trafficking and extortion The 60-year-old is accused of subjecting his daughter's classmates at Sarah Lawrence College “to sexual and psychological manipulation and physical abuse,” according to an indictment unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York.  Lawrence Ray, also known as Lawrence Grecco, was charged with extortion, sex trafficking, forced labor, conspiracy and trafficking, two counts of use of interstate commerce to promote unlawful activity and money laundering…
ICE, NYPD: 'Money-Sucking' Crew With Bergen, Hudson Members Scammed Elderly 2X ICE, NYPD: 'Money-Sucking' Crew With Bergen, Hudson Members Scammed Elderly 2X
ICE, Nypd: 'Money-Sucking' Crew With Bergen, Hudson Members Scammed Elderly 2X Ten people -- six of them from Bergen and Hudson counties -- were charged by federal authorities with convincing unwitting elderly victims to invest their money in various businesses, pushing them into debt, and then scamming them again with a bogus debt-relief program. Those charged include two Hillsdale residents, identified as Joseph Ciaccio and Joseph Depaola, both 30; two Elmwood Park residents, identified as Derrek Larkin, 36, and Mattie Cirilo, 28; and one from Washington Township, Joseph Minetto, 32. Also charged were Anthony Cheedie, 34, of Jersey City, two people from Arizona, ano…
Doc From Morristown Falsely Prescribed Adult Diapers In Huge Billing Fraud Doc From Morristown Falsely Prescribed Adult Diapers In Huge Billing Fraud
Doc From Morristown Falsely Prescribed Adult Diapers In Huge Billing Fraud Two medical professionals, including a doctor who lives in New Jersey, were found guilty of helping scam tens of millions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid in New York, authorities said. Paul Mathieu, 53, of Morristown and Brooklyn resident Hatem Behiry, 51, used three medical clinics to send false claims to the federal programs over the course of a decade beginning in 2017, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman of the Southern District of New York said. Authorities estimate the scam cost the federal government $30 million.  Initially, Mathieu posed as the owner of the three clinics actua…
ID Released For Man Arrested In Connection With Mail Bombs Sent To Political Figures ID Released For Man Arrested In Connection With Mail Bombs Sent To Political Figures
ID Released For Man Arrested In Connection With Mail Bombs Sent To Political Figures The man arrested Friday morning in his home state of Florida in connection with the series of pipe bombs sent to political and government officials has been identified. Cesar Sayoc Jr., 56, of Aventura, Florida, is in federal custody after at least 12 packages containing the devices were sent to prominent Democrats and critics of President Trump. A white van with numerous stickers on both sides and on the back was also seized in connection with the arrest in Plantation, Florida in Broward County, near Fort Lauderdale. MSNBC also reported a picture of President Trump and numerous bumper stic…