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Friday, September 9, 2022
Bronx Chamber of Commerce - Upcoming Events, Legislative News, Grant Opportunities, & More
CONSUMER ALERT: NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF CONSUMER PROTECTION OFFERS GRANDPARENTS TIPS TO AVOID THE EVER-EVOLVING GRANDPARENT SCAM
Grandparent Scam Hallmarks: Involvement of a Family Member, Immediate Need for Money, and a Request for Secrecy.
Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez, “Criminals Are Getting Bolder, Even Showing Up at an Individual’s Home”
In recognition of Grandparents Day, the New York State Department of State's Division of Consumer Protection (DCP) calls attention to scams targeting grandparents. This date is dedicated to honor grandparents and to appreciate their unique roles in our lives. To celebrate this special day, DCP wants to empower grandparents to outsmart scammers who prey on family bonds. With the common grandparent scam, criminals impersonate someone trying to help a loved one so they can trick them into sending money.
“The grandparent scam has been around for years, but criminals are getting bolder by even showing up at an individual’s home. It’s one of the top scams targeting older consumers,” said Secretary of State Robert Rodriguez. “Criminals orchestrating this fraud use clever schemes and add new twists to this old trick. They systematically target older consumers and exploit the special relationship grandparents have with their grandchildren. Many of these schemes go unreported, so it’s important to raise awareness to help prevent these scams.”
New York State Police Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen said, “We urge all New Yorkers to take caution if they receive a call or text from someone claiming to be a loved one in urgent need of help and asking for money. Even if a scenario seems valid, do not provide any financial or personal information without confirmation. The State Police takes scams of any type seriously and those that take advantage of the elderly or vulnerable will be held accountable.”
New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) Acting Director Greg Olsen said, "So-called grandparent scams have increased substantially during the pandemic, exploiting trusted family relationships to target older adults. In fact, financial exploitation ranks highest as the most common form of elder abuse. Be vigilant and know the signs of a potential scam. If someone calls you claiming that a child or grandchild is in trouble, don’t act purely on second-hand information. Confirm any incidents directly with a loved one and contact the police or other trusted authorities to verify.”
Multiple grandparent scam scenarios have been reported and the number of reported incidents continues to increase. In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission received over 12,700 complaints from people ages 60 and older about scammers claiming to be family members or friends in trouble to trick people in providing money. These reports added up to $23.8 million in total losses.
Common Elements of a Grandparents Scam:
- Impersonation of Family - Scammers exploit grandparents' love by pretending to be a grandchild or relative in need of emergency cash. This scam starts with a call or text from a fraudster posing as a panicked grandchild or family member who is in trouble and requires immediate financial assistance. In some scam scenarios, the scammer impersonates an arresting police officer, a lawyer, or a doctor, who is calling on behalf of the relative in trouble.
- Urgent and Immediate Need for Money - To create a sense of urgency, the caller may claim to be hospitalized, in jail or stuck in a foreign country. In all cases, the scammers ask that money be sent immediately. Scammers often try to pressure victims into transferring money through a mobile payment app, by wiring money, or by purchasing gift cards or money orders. A new variation of this con has surfaced recently where the scammer pressures victims to put money in an envelope to be picked up at their house by a courier. Several incidents of courier pickups have been reported throughout New York State over the past year.
- Insistence on Secrecy - The caller insists that parents or other family members not be informed. The scammer may claim there is no time to speak to others or that the grandchild will be embarrassed if other family members know about the situation. The scam artists know that once you contact another family member, you will likely discover the scam.
How To Avoid the Ever-Evolving Grandparent Scam:
- Resist the urge to act immediately no matter how dramatic the story
- Don’t engage with the caller or reply to the text. Contact the grandchild or family member directly to confirm the story.
- Don’t give your address, personal information, or cash to anyone who contacts you. Scammers will likely ask you to send them a gift card, wire money, or offer to pick up cash at your home. They prefer these methods because they are difficult to trace.
- Check your social media privacy settings since most social media is public by default, and be careful of what information you put online. Social media is an easy place for scammers to find personal information they can use to prey on the fears of grandparents.
- To learn more about scams targeting older consumers, please see these tips to learn more about how to protect against fraud targeting seniors.
The New York State Division of Consumer Protection provides resources and education materials to consumers on product safety, as well as voluntary mediation services between consumers and businesses. The Consumer Assistance Helpline 1-800-697-1220 is available Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm, excluding State Holidays, and consumer complaints can be filed at any time at www.dos.ny.gov/consumer-
For more consumer protection tips, follow the Division on social media at Twitter: @NYSConsumer and Facebook: www.facebook.com/nysconsumer
Photos: Governor Hochul Announced New York State Landmarks Lit Purple in Honor of Queen Elizabeth II
15 State Landmarks and Bridges Were Illuminated in Purple
Governor Kathy Hochul announced New York State landmarks and bridges were illuminated purple last night in honor of Queen Elizabeth II.
PHOTOS of the landmarks are available on the Governor's Flickr page.
These 15 landmarks and bridges were illuminated in purple:
- One World Trade Center
- Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge
- Kosciuszko Bridge
- The H. Carl McCall SUNY Building
- State Education Building
- Alfred E. Smith State Office Building
- Empire State Plaza
- State Fairgrounds - Main Gate & Expo Center
- The "Franklin D. Roosevelt" Mid-Hudson Bridge
- Grand Central Terminal
- Albany International Airport Gateway
- MTA Long Island Rail Road - East End Gateway at Penn Station
- Fairport Lift Bridge over the Erie Canal
- The Lake Placid Olympic Jumping Complex
- The Lake Placid Olympic Center
Attorney General James’ Office of Special Investigation Releases Report on the Death of Jesse Bonsignore
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation (OSI) today released its report on the death of Jesse Bonsignore of Suffolk County. Following a thorough investigation, which included interviews with responding officers, a civilian at the scene who called 911, as well as review of video, crime scene evidence, photographs, radio transmissions, and ballistics testing, OSI concluded that a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officer who shot Mr. Bonsignore was justified.
On the evening of May 20, 2021, in Manorville, Suffolk County, an individual called 911 to report that there was an unknown man sleeping in the back seat of a car parked outside the individual’s house. The Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) officer who responded saw the man, Jesse Bonsignore, sleeping in the back seat of the parked car as reported, and knocked on the window. Mr. Bonsignore awoke, began screaming, and threatening to kill the officer. The officer directed Mr. Bonsignore to remain in the car and called for backup over the radio, but Mr. Bonsignore got out of the car. Despite the officer’s attempts to assure Mr. Bonsignore that he was not in trouble, he continued to repeat to the officer that he was going to kill him.
The officer noticed a folding knife on Mr. Bonsignore’s waistband, which was later recovered at the scene. The officer then attempted to handcuff Mr. Bonsignore to prevent him from using the knife, at which point Mr. Bonsignore resisted and pushed backward against the officer, causing both to fall to the ground. During the ensuing struggle, Mr. Bonsignore repeatedly attempted to grab his knife before reaching for the officer’s gun holster. The officer tried to restrain Mr. Bonsignore’s arms while pulling his gun from its holster to prevent Mr. Bonsignore from taking control of the gun. The officer reported Mr. Bonsignore then grabbed the wrist of the hand in which the officer was holding the gun, and the officer, fearing for his life, shot Mr. Bonsignore. The individual who first noticed Mr. Bonsignore and called police provided statements and security footage from outside his home to investigators that were consistent with this account.
Under New York’s justification law, a person may use deadly physical force to defend against the imminent use of deadly physical force by another. When the defense of justification is raised at trial, the prosecutor must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt. In this case, Mr. Bonsignore repeatedly reached for his knife, attempted to take the officer’s firearm, and more than once threatened to kill the officer. Based on the law and the evidence, OSI determined that criminal charges could not be pursued against the officer.
The SCPD officer who shot Mr. Bonsignore was not equipped with a body-worn camera (BWC), and his patrol car did not have a dashboard camera. As a result of a corroborating eyewitness account and security camera footage, the facts of this case are clear. However, OSI recommends SCPD equip all officers with BWCs without delay.
Horse Doping Seller Sentenced To 42 Months In Manhattan Federal Court
Lisa Giannelli Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that defendant LISA GIANNELLI, received a sentence of 42 months in prison for her role in an approximately 20-year scheme to sell and distribute to racehorse trainers and others in the racehorse industry “untestable” performance enhancing drugs (“PEDs”) for use in professional horseracing. GIANNELLI was one of over 30 defendants charged in four separate cases in March 2020, each arising from this Office’s multi-year investigation of the abuse of racehorses through the use of performance enhancing drugs.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “For years, Giannelli catered to corrupt racehorse trainers by selling illegal performance-enhancing drugs designed to deceive the very people who could put a stop to these crimes. Today’s sentence sends a message that those who engage in fraud and animal abuse will be held to account.”
According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment, prior charging instruments, other filings in this case, and as established by the evidence at trial:[1]
GIANNELLI was charged in United States v. Navarro, 20 Cr. 160 (MKV), a case arising from an investigation of widespread schemes by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED distributors, and others to manufacture, distribute, and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses competing at all levels of professional horseracing. By evading PED prohibitions and deceiving drug regulators and horse racing officials, participants in these schemes sought to improve race performance and obtain prize money from racetracks throughout the United States and other countries, including in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, and the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), all to the detriment and risk of the health and well-being of the racehorses. Trainers who participated in the schemes stood to profit from the success of racehorses under their control by earning a share of their horses’ winnings and by improving their horses’ racing records, thereby yielding higher trainer fees and increasing the number of racehorses under their control. Indicted veterinarians profited from the sale and administration of these medically unnecessary, misbranded, and adulterated substances. GIANNELLI, a seller of customized PEDs designed specifically to evade anti-doping controls, personally earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales commissions from her sale and distribution of PEDs to trainers around the United States.
GIANNELLI marketed these drugs as “untestable” under typical anti-doping drug screens and extolled the virtues of these illegal drugs by describing their potency and untestability. In the course of over fifteen years during which GIANNELLI operated under the auspices of the company, Equestology, GIANNELLI deliberately lied to state investigators to cover up her crimes and sold vials with no or incomplete labels, with no hint as to the provenance of those unsafe and prohibited drugs.
The drugs GIANNELLI sold included intravenous and intramuscular injectables that she sold to laypeople for injection into the horses under their purported “care,” many of which were seized at premises throughout the country at the time of the original indictments in this case, including barns located in New York. Those included “blood building” drugs (for example, “BB3” and other Epogen-mimetic substances), vasodilators (for example, “VO2Max”), and bags filled with scores of “bleeder pills,” each designed to covertly increase performance in affected horses.
GIANNELLI, 55, of Felton, Delaware, was previously convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit misbranding and drug adulteration in connection with her work for Equestology. In addition to her prison sentence, GIANNELLI was ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $900,000, reflecting the value of the adulterated and misbranded drugs GIANNELLI and her co-conspirators sold as part of his fraudulent doping schemes.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI New York Office’s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force and its support of the Bureau’s Integrity in Sports and Gaming Initiative. Mr. Williams also thanked the Food and Drug Administration and Customs and Border Protection for their assistance and expertise. This case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Mortazavi and Benjamin A. Gianforti are in charge of the prosecution.
[1] As to GIANELLI’s co-defendants, these facts, including the entirety of the texts of the Indictments and the descriptions of the Indictments set forth herein, constitute only allegations and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.