CO-DEFENDANT IN MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR FRAUD SCHEME INVOLVING A FORMER NYC-FUNDED NONPROFIT HOMELESS SERVICES PROVIDER SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS OF SUPERVISED RELEASE, INCLUDING TWO YEARS OF HOME CONFINEMENT

Former CEO at the nonprofit was sentenced in June to six months in prison 

Nadia I. Shihata, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), issued the following statement on the sentencing of PETER WEISER, 83, on charges relating to a scheme through the City-funded nonprofit, Childrens Community Services, Inc. (“CCS”), which provided temporary housing and homeless services. WEISER was the business partner of THOMAS BRANSKY, 50, the former Chief Executive Officer of CCS. The two conspired to defraud the City of New York of millions of dollars through a multifaceted scheme to corruptly profit from the nonprofit. U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick sentenced WEISER to three years of supervised release, including two years of home confinement, and ordered WEISER to pay $7,687,583 in forfeiture and $7,687,583 in restitution. Judge Broderick sentenced BRANSKY on June 22, 2026 to six months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay approximately $7.69 million in restitution and $1.2 million in forfeiture. Bransky is scheduled to surrender to prison on November 17, 2026. In October 2025, WEISER pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349 and BRANSKY pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. DOI investigated this matter in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which is prosecuting the case.

DOI Commissioner Nadia I. Shihata said, “These defendants committed crimes that exploited the essential work of a City-funded nonprofit tasked with aiding the unhoused — undercutting the resources available to an exceptionally at-risk population. With today’s sentencing, these two defendants have been held accountable and must pay back the money they defrauded from the City. I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for its ongoing partnership to protect public funds and raise awareness about the consequences of using City-funded nonprofits for illegal, self-enrichment.”

According to the indictment and superseding information, BRANSKY was the Chief Executive Officer of CCS, a not-for-profit homeless services provider that had over $900 million in contracts with the City. As CEO, BRANSKY and others engaged in a scheme to defraud the City through CCS and a group of affiliated entities owned and controlled by WEISER, including by making, and causing to be made, false statements to the City of New York in order to obtain money. The scheme was furthered by electronic communications and bank wires and included submitting false statements and documents to the City to conceal WEISER’s role and ownership of the affiliated companies. CCS, and ultimately the City, paid over $50 million to WEISER’s companies for various goods and services—many of which were provided by other, legitimate companies and then simply marked up as much as three times their actual cost. Through this scheme, WEISER collected more than $7 million in illicit profits, while BRANSKY earned more than $1.2 million in salary.

Commissioner Shihata thanked Jamie McDonald, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, for his office’s partnership on this case, which is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Nicholas Chiuchiolo, Ni Qian, Jaclyn Delligatti, and Matthew Weinberg are in charge of the prosecution. Commissioner Shihata also thanked the City Department of Social Services for its cooperation with the investigation.