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Friday, September 16, 2022
State Comptroller DiNapoli Releases Audits
President Of Sham United Nations Affiliate Sentenced To 42 Months In Prison For Cryptocurrency Scheme
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ASA SAINT CLAIR, a/k/a “Asa Williams,” a/k/a “Asa Sinclair,” was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for devising a fraudulent investment scheme in which he tricked at least 60 victims into providing loans to his organization, the World Sports Alliance, tied to a purported digital coin offering called IGObit. SAINT CLAIR falsely represented to investors that the World Sports Alliance was a close affiliate of the United Nations and that they would receive guaranteed returns on their investment, but instead diverted the investors’ funds for his personal expenses and benefit. SAINT CLAIR was found guilty of wire fraud in March 2022, following a two-week jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge P. Kevin Castel, who imposed today’s sentence.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Asa Saint Clair deceived everyday investors by taking advantage of their desire to invest in a better world while also getting a guaranteed financial return. Saint Clair promised his victims all this and more if they invested in IGObit, a digital currency he claimed the World Sports Alliance was developing in support of its work with the UN to promote sports and peace in developing countries. These promises were false, and Saint Clair’s victims lost the entirety of their hard-earned money. Today’s sentence holds Saint Clair accountable for brazenly lying to investors while lining his own pockets.”
According to the evidence presented at trial, SAINT CLAIR solicited investors for the launch of IGObit through promised investment returns, representations that the World Sports Alliance, a purported intergovernmental organization, was a close affiliate and partner with the United Nations, and representations about the World Sport Alliance’s development projects around the world. World Sports Alliance did not in fact have any relationship with the United Nations and did not, and had not, participated in any international development projects.
SAINT CLAIR also represented to investors that their money would be used for the development of IGObit, when he in fact diverted those funds to other entities controlled by him and members of his family, as well as to pay his personal expenses, including dinners at Manhattan restaurants, travel, and online shopping.
SAINT CLAIR defrauded more than 60 victims of more than $600,000 dollars.
SAINT CLAIR, 50, of Washington, was convicted of one count of wire fraud. In addition to the prison term, SAINT CLAIR was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay forfeiture of $618,417 and restitution of $613,417.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of Homeland Security Investigations.
LOCAL LEADERS ACROSS COUNTRY JOIN NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE TO CALL FOR COMMUNITY INVESTMENT TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE
As New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released a new report today detailing the underlying root causes of gun violence in communities across New York City, highlighting the correlation between systemic underinvestment in neighborhoods and higher rates of shootings, municipal leaders from across the country joined him in calling for holistic solutions to combat this increase in violence locally and nationwide.
The Public Advocate’s new report, Reimagining Gun Violence Prevention and Public Safety For New York City, highlights the correlation between a number of factors and a spike in shootings, including job and housing security, mental health supports, education, and healthcare access. It makes the case that zip codes which have been neglected and under-resourced in these areas have seen subsequently disproportionate gun violence. This is a pattern that officials from municipalities which include Chicago, Durham, Newark, Oakland, Portland, and Rochester say is replicated in their own communities.
The solutions to that violence, they then argue, must stem from the cause. Equitable investment from local, state, and federal government in areas such as economic development, quality affordable housing, and educational opportunity would have a significant impact on violence reduction in these areas. Producing public safety, the report argues and the officials reinforced, is not solely the responsibility of law enforcement, nor can law enforcement meet that impossible obligation. A community-driven approach, from investing in public services to providing community-based violence prevention programs, is vital to reversing decades of damage.
“In crafting our new report, we saw that again and again, the same patterns of underinvestment, overpolicing, and increases in gun violence persisted in localities across the country,” said New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “Many of us have spent years highlighting these disparities and root causes, calling for investment and action to combat them and save lives– and we were too often ignored. I’m proud to bring together a chorus of voices from bold leaders across the country to call for community-centered solutions to correct for decades of damage, reimagine public safety, and create truly safe communities in the cities we serve.”
Joining the Public Advocate for a virtual press conference to discuss this issue were Councilmember Stanley Martin of Rochester, Alderman Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez of Chicago, City Commissioner Joanne Hardesty of Portland, Councilmember Jillian Johnson of Durham, Councilmember Sheng Thao of Oakland, and Director Office Of Violence Prevention Dr. Lakeesha Eure of Newark.
The local leaders’ call comes during the week of the anniversary of ‘94 federal crime bill, which greatly expanded the federal death penalty, funded a hundred thousand new police officers, offered almost ten billion in funding for prisons, and fundamentally transformed the American criminal justice system. Instead of addressing systemic inequities or supporting communities with rising crime, the bill’s emphasis on lengthy and punitive prison sentences trapped unprecedented numbers of Americans in more jails for longer, tearing apart families and communities. Nearly three decades later, the impacts are clear, as is the need to take immediate, far-reaching action to undo this damage and uplift neighborhoods.
“I am very grateful for the work done by Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams and his office around bringing real, community-led response to violent crime and gun violence. The City of Oakland is facing an unprecedented increase in violent crime and that peaked during the pandemic when our groundbreaking Ceasefire program was cut. After the City Council restored this program in 2021, we began to see shootings decline again. This is why we want to invest more into programs like Ceasefire, our groundbreaking MACRO program – which sends non police personal to incidents like mental health and homeless calls, our Department of Violence Prevention, Youth Summer Jobs programs, and more. This report spells out what many members of the community and violence prevention experts already know—the key to solving gun violence is to invest in our communities, invest in victims of violent crime, invest in our youth, and ensure everyone has good housing, good jobs, good pay, and a fair shot at life.” - Sheng Thao, District 4 Councilmember and Oakland City Council President Pro Tempore
“The gun violence we are facing across the country requires an all-hands-on deck situation where government needs to dig deep, think creatively, and directly engage impacted community members to develop shared solutions that improve community safety and invest in the root causes of this crisis. I’m thankful to Public Advocate Jumaane Williams for illustrating the correlation between decades of underinvestment, the erosion of our social safety net, and the related rise in gun violence. Reversing this trend will be key to creating safer communities in cities across the country.” - Jo Ann Hardesty, Portland City Commissioner
NJ MAN SENTENCED FOR VICIOUS MACHETE ATTACK ON GIRLFRIEND
Victim Required Facial and Hand Reconstructive Surgeries
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a New Jersey man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision after pleading guilty to striking his girlfriend across the face, hand, and neck with a machete.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant hacked at the 20-year-old woman with a machete in an attempt to kill her. He inflicted life-altering injuries requiring reconstructive surgeries. Despite physical and emotional trauma, this young woman bravely worked with our Office to bring the defendant to justice.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Hector de la Cruz, 29, was sentenced today by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Marsha Michael to 12 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision after pleading guilty to second-degree Attempted Murder on July 26, 2022.
According to the investigation, at approximately 9:00 p.m. on February 21, 2020 inside the lobby of 2685 Grand Concourse, the defendant approached Lisbeth Acosta-Ramirez, 20, with a machete and attempted to cause her death by striking her on the right side of her face, her right hand, and the back of her neck, causing deep bleeding lacerations. Acosta-Ramirez was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital and underwent reconstructive and life-saving surgery.
District Attorney Clark thanked 52nd Precinct Officers who responded, particularly Police Officer Anthony Laquidara and Police Officer Rolando DeLeon, for their assistance.
VCJC News & Notes 9/16/22
Van Cortlandt Jewish Center
News and Notes
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Governor Hochul Announces MTA Systemwide Ridership Record
Subways, Buses, Commuter Railroads and Paratransit Carried 5.6 Million New Yorkers on Wednesday September 14
Subways Carried 3.7 Million New Yorkers on Wednesday, Highest Since Early 2020, Surpassing Record Set Last Week
Buses Set 2022 Ridership Record with Preliminary Count of More Than 1.5 Million Riders on Tuesday
Metro-North Railroad Set Ridership Record for Second Consecutive Day, Carrying More Than 181,600 Riders; LIRR Records Second Highest Ridership Day of 2022
Records Come Same Week as OMNY Reaches a Half Billion Taps
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority set a systemwide ridership record Wednesday, September 14, carrying more than 5.6 million riders. The subway and buses carried more than 5.2 million riders on Wednesday, both setting records. Subway ridership surpassed the previous record set on September 8, carrying 3,734,742 on Wednesday, a 28.5 percent increase from the comparable day in 2021. Bus ridership hit the 1.5 million-mark with a preliminary total of 1,523,000 riders, which is expected to rise by approximately 15 percent when the rider count is complete.
"Our record ridership numbers are the latest indicator that New York's recovery is back on track, and we will continue pushing forward to build a better and stronger New York," Governor Hochul said. "Riders are swiping, tapping, and riding their way to New York's economic recovery, and we look forward to keeping this momentum going."
The commuter railroads continued to show ridership growth. For the second consecutive day Metro-North Railroad set a ridership record, carrying more than 181,600 riders Wednesday, the highest since at least March 2020. The Long Island Rail Road carried over 200,000 riders on a weekday for the second time since March 2020 on Wednesday, carrying more than 202,700 riders. The preliminary total comes second to the record LIRR set last week on September 7.
Access-A-Ride also reached a milestone of 28,000 scheduled trips on Wednesday, the highest since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Since schools reopened last week, Access-A-Ride trips have averaged 86 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, "I have heard people writing New York's obituary for almost my whole career, and I can tell you that we at the MTA are going to prove them wrong. These ridership numbers are on the higher end of our latest projections and show mass transit is moving in the right direction, and we're not stopping. While some form of work from home will surely continue, the surge in ridership that we are seeing says that back to the office is a meaningful trend."
Subway Rider Debbie who recorded the 500 millionth tap said, "I really appreciate being able to take the subway, being able to get to work and back home safely. And the convenience of using OMNY."
OMNY, or One Metro New York, debuted to the public in 2019 as a pilot phase at 19 subway stations and on Staten Island buses. The rollout of the contactless system was completed in December of 2020, with all 472 subway stations and the entirety of the MTA's 5,800 bus fleet is now equipped with approximately 15,000 OMNY readers.
The Authority launched the OMNY fare-capping pilot on subways and buses earlier this year. The fare-capping pilot includes a "Lucky 13" feature where, starting with the 13th ride of each week, every additional ride on subways or buses is free for the rest of that week.
On the commuter rail, both LIRR and Metro-North continue to offer fare discount packages, and recently rolled out a new TrainTime app. TrainTime combined ticket purchasing with real-time train tracking, and capacity tracking, and has been well received by customers. Since its launch TrainTime has had 295,000 new downloads, 1.2 million users and over 1.75 million tickets have been purchased.
Six Mexican Nationals Sentenced For International Sex Trafficking Offenses
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that EFRAIN GRANADOS-CORONA, a/k/a “Chavito,” a/k/a “Cepillo,” was sentenced to 212 months in prison in connection with trafficking three victims. Five additional defendants in this case were previously sentenced to terms of imprisonment. JULIO SAINZ-FLORES, a/k/a “Rogelio,” was sentenced on January 10, 2020, to 135 months in prison; PEDRO ROJAS-ROMERO was sentenced on December 2, 2021, to 137 months in prison; ALAN ROMERO-GRANADOS, a/k/a “El Flaco,” was sentenced on February 24, 2022, to 84 months in prison; JUAN ROMERO-GRANADOS, a/k/a “Chegoya,” a/k/a “El Guero,” was sentenced on May 3, 2022, to 108 months in prison; and EMILIO ROJAS-ROMERO was sentenced on June 9, 2022, to 136 months in prison.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “These defendants used brute force, threats of violence, and false promises to lure dozens of minors and adult victims in Mexico and the United States, traffic them into commercial sex, and collect millions of dollars in illegal proceeds. The devastation inflicted on the defendants’ victims is beyond measure. These sentencings send a clear message: those who prey on women and children to sell them into sexual slavery will be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment to which each defendant pleaded guilty, public court filings, and statements made in court:
EFRAIN GRANADOS-CORONA, JULIO SAINZ-FLORES, JUAN ROMERO-GRANADOS, ALAN ROMERO-GRANADOS, PEDRO ROJAS-ROMERO, and EMILIO ROJAS-ROMERO, the defendants, were members of an international sex trafficking organization (the “STO”). Many of the members of the STO are related by blood, marriage, and community.
Between at least in or about 2000 and 2016, members of the STO (the “Traffickers”) used false promises, physical and sexual violence, threats, lies, and coercion to force and coerce adult and minor women (the “Victims”) to work in prostitution in both Mexico and the United States.
In most cases, a Trafficker enticed a Victim – frequently a minor – in Mexico. The Trafficker then used multiple means to isolate the Victim from her family. In some cases, the Trafficker used romantic promises to induce the Victim to leave her family and live with the Trafficker. In other cases, the Trafficker raped the Victim, making it difficult for her to return to her family due to the associated stigma of the rape. Once a Victim was separated from her family, the Trafficker frequently monitored her communications, kept her locked in an apartment, left her without food, and engaged in physical or sexual violence against the Victim.
Traffickers often told Victims that the Traffickers owed a significant debt and that the Victim needed to work in commercial sex to assist in repaying the debt. Traffickers typically began forcing the Victims to work in commercial sex in Mexico. Victims were often required to see at least 20 to 40 customers per day. Traffickers monitored the number of clients each Victim saw by surveilling the Victims, communicating with brothel workers, and by counting the number of condoms provided to each Victim. Traffickers typically required the Victims to turn over all of the commercial sex proceeds to the Traffickers.
After a Victim worked in commercial sex in Mexico for some time, Traffickers typically arranged for the Victim to be smuggled into the United States. Members of the STO assisted one another in making smuggling arrangements. In many cases, multiple Traffickers and multiple Victims were smuggled into the United States together. In other cases, one Trafficker remained in Mexico while arranging for a Victim to be smuggled together with another Trafficker and other Victims.
Once in the United States, the members of the STO generally maintained their Victims at one of several shared apartments in New York City. Victims living in the same apartment were frequently forbidden from communicating with one another. Once in the United States, Traffickers continued to use physical and sexual violence, threats, lies, and coercion to force the Victims to work in commercial sex.
In most cases, the Trafficker or another member of the STO provided Victims with contact information with which to find work engaging in commercial sex acts. The Victims typically worked weeklong shifts either in a brothel or in a “delivery service.” In a delivery service, the Victims were delivered to customers’ homes by “drivers.” These brothels and delivery services were located both within New York and in surrounding states, including, but not limited to, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Generally, each customer paid $30 to $35 for 15 minutes of sex with a Victim. Of that, half of the money typically went to the driver (in the case of a delivery service) or to the brothel. The other half went to the Victim, who was then typically forced to give all of those proceeds to the Trafficker. When a Trafficker was unavailable, a Victim would be forced to give the proceeds to another member of the STO.
The Traffickers then frequently sent, or had their Victims send, some of the commercial proceeds to Traffickers’ family members and associates in Mexico by wire transfer. Such transfers provided financial assistance to the Traffickers’ families and provided financial support to the Traffickers themselves if they returned to Mexico.
EFRAIN GRANADOS-CORONA, 45, of Mexico, pled guilty to sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison. In addition to the prison terms, EFRAIN GRANADOS-CORONA was ordered to pay $2,004,450 in restitution.
JULIO SAINZ-FLORES, 37, of Mexico, pled guilty to sex trafficking of a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
JUAN ROMERO-GRANADOS, 33, ALAN ROMERO-GRANADOS, 28, PEDRO ROJAS-ROMERO, 40, and EMILIO ROJAS-ROMERO, 37, all of Mexico, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. In addition to the prison terms, JUAN ROMERO-GRANADOS was ordered to pay $147,600 in restitution.
The maximum and minimum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Thursday, September 15, 2022
PAROLEE INDICTED FOR ONE-PUNCH ASSAULT OUTSIDE RESTAURANT Victim Suffered Brain Injury, Was Left in Coma
Defendant Charged With Second-Degree Assault
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx parolee has been indicted on second-degree Assault for sucker-punching a man, leaving him in a coma.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant, a parolee, allegedly struck a man once, and he fell, suffering terrible injuries. An investigation led to the defendant being charged with second degree Assault. Fortunately, the victim is progressing in his recovery. I have met with him and his family and we are providing crime victims services to them as well.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Bui Van Phu, 55, last of Creston Avenue, was arraigned today on second-degree Assault before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas. Bail was set at $100,000 cash/$300,000 bond/$500,000 partially secured bond and the defendant is due back in court on December 15, 2022.
According to the investigation, the victim, Jesus Cortes, 52, was standing near a group of people outside a restaurant located on 163 East 188th Street at approximately 10:32 p.m. on August 12, 2022, when the defendant allegedly walked up to him, then went behind him and struck Cortes in the head with a closed fist. The victim fell to the ground. He was taken to a local hospital and went into a coma. The victim suffered from a broken eye socket, fracture on his left cheek, a skull fracture, and other injuries. The victim has since awakened from the coma.
After the incident, the defendant, who is on lifetime parole for a sexual abuse case and criminal possession of a firearm case, was arrested on August 17, 2022. Van Phu was remanded for violating his parole on August 23, 2022.
District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detective Julissa Flores of the 46th Precinct.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.