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Great Neck resident Avraham “Avi” Cohen, age 60, was among five people charged in a 17-count indictment in New York County State Supreme Court for allegedly submitting thousands of false and inflated bids to the state and city.
Attorney General Letitia James said that Cohen and his cohorts allegedly billed the New York State Office of Victim Services (OVS) and the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) for moving and storage services intended to aid public benefits recipients, domestic violence survivors, and other crime victims urgently in need of relocation services.
In total, more than $15 million was stolen from the HRA and OVS for over 25,000 moving jobs, the bulk of which was allegedly rigged or fraudulently detained.
James said that a wide-spanning investigation found that as a result of the defendants’ bid-rigging, HRA and OVS were charged up to three times the fair market value for moving services.
“It is unconscionable that these individuals swindled programs that gave crime victims the chance to escape their dangerous situations,” she said.
“Victims of crimes deserve every opportunity to get the help they need, but with financial gain in mind, the defendants took advantage of a system created to help those who needed it most.”
Others charged for their roles in the scheme:
- Derek Barney, age 56, of Carteret, New Jersey;
- Frank Lopez, Jr., age 53, of Queens;
- Cynthia Yeje Ramsaroop, age 52, of Winter Haven, Florida;
- Gennovee Yeje, age 48, of Land o’ Lakes, Florida.
Companies charged by the AG:
- Prime Moving & Storage Inc. of Queens;
- Prime Moving & Trucking LLC of the state of Delaware;
- Avi Moving & Trucking Inc., of Queens;
- Baya Inc., of Queens;
- Fastrac Processing LLC, of Queens.
It is alleged that Yeje and Ramsaroop worked for Cohen and operated the Office of Eviction Services as a means of steering business to Avi Moving & Trucking by creating a bid for the company versus two more expensive, false competitor bids.
In 2016, James said that Cohen sold the Office of Eviction Services to Yeje, and she, along with Ramsaroop, operated it remotely from Florida, with Cohen receiving regular monthly invoices emailed to him.
“Corruption has a real and tangible impact on city government and this investigation demonstrates its costly toll,” New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Margaret Garnett stated.
“Defrauding the very government programs meant to assist some of the most vulnerable in our city, in this case, survivors of domestic violence and other crimes, as well as public benefit recipients.”
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