Saturday, July 30, 2016

A.G. Schneiderman Announces Indictment Of Alleged Ringleaders Of Check Fraud Scheme



  Kevin Lee And Daniel Green Allegedly Cashed Over $100,000 In Fraudulent Checks As Part Of A Scheme To Defraud Account Holders And Local Credit Unions

Defendants Face A Maximum Of 10 To 20 Years In State Prison If Convicted
   Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the arraignment today of Kevin Lee (aka Kev Escobar) and Daniel Green (aka Lance Gambino) on a 19-count indictment charging them with issuing over $100,000 in fraudulent checks written in the name of a fictitious business as part of a scheme to defraud vulnerable account holders and small financial institutions.  Lee and Green are accused of convincing vulnerable individuals, many of whom were contacted over Facebook and other social media outlets, to deposit forged checks into their personal checking accounts. Lee and Green then allegedly drained the accounts of the available balances before the checks were returned and the financial institutions discovered them to be worthless.  The defendants are charged in Onondaga County Supreme Court with Grand Larceny, Forgery, and Identity Theft, among other charges. The defendants face a maximum of 10 to 20 years in state prison.
“These defendants allegedly attempted to line their own pockets by preying on vulnerable New Yorkers who were looking for an extra financial boost,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “My office has zero tolerance for those who commit identity theft and seek to exploit local financial institutions that ordinary consumers rely on for stability.”
State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II said,  “These suspects are accused of using a devious scheme to victimize vulnerable people for their own gain. I commend the Attorney General and our Special Investigations Unit in Syracuse for their work on this case. It’s because of our strong partnership that we were able to bring charges and seek to hold these two suspects accountable for their alleged crimes.”
According to statements made by prosecutors in court today, Lee created phony bank accounts in the name of Jones Maintenance, a fictitious business in which Lee claimed to have an interest.  Thereafter, Lee and Green, relying heavily on Facebook and other social media outlets, allegedly targeted numerous financially vulnerable individuals—college students, young single parents, and other indigent, disadvantaged, and unwary young adults—to whom they issued forged checks in the name of that company. In exchange for depositing these forged checks in their accounts, the account owners were promised a portion of the check as a fee. After the checks were deposited and the funds cleared and became available, the defendants allegedly withdrew the money for their own personal use. In some instances, the defendants are accused of assuming the identities of the account holders, accessing their accounts, and withdrawing funds through ATM transactions using personal information the account holders had been required to provide for asserted security purposes.  As a result, the targeted financial institutions targeted were forced to devote resources to compensate account holders for the phony checks and fraudulently withdrawn funds.
Also according to prosecutors, between December of 2015 to May of 2016 alone, Lee and Green issued over $100,000 in fraudulent checks pursuant to this alleged scheme, primarily targeting small, local or regional credit unions and banks.
The Attorney General’s indictment charges Kevin Lee  with three counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (a class D felony), three counts of Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (a class E felony), one count of Grand Larceny in the Fourth degree (a class E felony), six counts of Forgery or Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree (class D felonies), one count of Identity Theft in the First Degree (a class D felony), one count of Identity Theft in the Second Degree (a class E felony), one count of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree (a class E felony), and one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree (a class E felony). Daniel Green is charged with two counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, one count of Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, two counts of Forgery in the Second Degree and one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree.
Lee, 26, of Clay, and Green, 20, of Syracuse, were arraigned today in Onondaga County Court before the Honorable Judge Aloi; Lee is currently being held without bail, and Green is currently being held on $150,000 bond over $75,000 cash bail.
The charges against the defendants are allegations and they are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The Office of the Attorney General is continuing to investigate the alleged operation of this check cashing ring in other counties across the state, including Westchester, Rensselaer, Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga, Oneida, Broome, and Oswego counties.
The Office of the Attorney General thanks the New York State Police Special Investigations Unit – Syracuse and the Financial Crimes Unit for their invaluable assistance on this case.
The charges against the defendant are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj - 6th Annual Summer Streets 2016


The Bainbridge Avenue 204th Street Merchants Association with NYS Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj
and NYC Councilman Andrew Cohen
present the


6th Annual Summer Streets Festival!
Date: July 31st and August 7th
Time: 12pm-6pm
Location: East 204th Street
 between Bainbridge & Decatur Avenue

Come join us at this spectacular event!

Bronx Tourism Council - BRONX SALSAFEST




Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
presents

at Orchard Beach
Every Saturday beginning at 1pm


AUG 7
Tipica 73

AUG 14
Mambo Legends

AUG 21
Nelson Gonzalez Band

AUG 28
Los Hermanos Moreno

Bronx Chamber of Commerce invites you to join us at our SummerFest Membership Recognition Mixer




Pokémon NO! Disturbing investigation finds pokémon popping up at high-level sex offenders’ residences across the city



  Senators Klein & Savino call for new legislation to protect children from threats new augmented reality games pose

State Senators Jeff Klein and Diane Savino on Friday released an alarming investigative report, “Protecting Our Children: How Pokémon GO and Augmented Reality Games Expose Children to Sex Offenders.”

The wildly popular game, downloaded over 30 million times within the first two weeks of its release, takes players on a hunt for pokémon using real-life maps and locations. Gamers must pause at Pokéstops, located throughout the city,  to collect items necessary to play the game and at Gyms where they meet up with other players in real-life to battle their collection of creatures.

The investigation found:

  • Pokémon materialized in front of Level 2 or 3 sex offenders’ homes 57% of the time.

  • Pokéstops or Gyms were located within a half-block of convicted pedophiles’ residences 59% of the time.

  • A Pokémon-related item appeared near a high-level sex offenders’ residences 73% of the time.

“While children believe they are out to catch a pokémon, what might really be lurking could be a predator instead of a Pikachu. We want our children to have safe fun, but it makes no sense at all to give dangerous sexual predators a virtual road map to where our children congregate. We must update our law that already prohibits high level predators from using social media and we must make sure that gamers scrub these addresses from this game and future ones,” said Senator Klein.

“It’s dangerous to let our children linger in front of a sex offender’s home to play a game, and it’s absurd that a high-level predator should be allowed to have this map at his or her fingertips in the first place. We devised simple solutions in light of this alarming investigation to keep our laws up-to-date as technology advances,” said Senator Savino.

In light of the alarming findings, Senator Klein will introduce legislation to prohibit certain Level 2 and 3 sex offenders from playing augmented reality games. Many high-level sex offenders are already prohibited from using social media.

In another piece of legislation, Senator Klein will require game developers to regularly scour the Department of Criminal Justice website to obtain sex offender addresses and remove all in-game objectives within 100-feet of their residencies.

The investigation focused on 100 Level 2 and 3 sex offenders who committed crimes against children or who were convicted of possessing child pornography. All of the individuals are still on parole or probation and are prohibited from living within 1,000 feet of a school.

In each borough, a total of 57 pokemon were caught directly in front of these high-level pedophiles’ homes.
   
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Worse, Pokéstops and Gyms populated surrounding areas a majority of the time.

Pokéstops are essential to playing, since players pick up items needed for the game. They are stationed at historical sites, businesses or on local artworks. “Lures” can be placed on them to attract pokémon, opening up another avenue of danger for children. A sexual predator can easily earn a lure module by playing the game or can purchase them with real world money.

Gyms prompt real world encounters. They are places where players must physically congregate to battle their pokémon, again leaving children vulnerable to predators who have access to a map of these sites, many of whom live very closeby.

Of 100 high-level sex offenders examined in this investigation, 59% of the time the predator lived within a half-block of a Pokéstop and/or Gym.

city map.jpg

KEY: Pokéball = Pokéstop/Gym,  Blue marker = Sex offender.

8/10/16- NCB's Annual Back to School Healthfest!



Join us on Wednesday August 10th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Kossuth Avenue (between 208th & 210th streets) to celebrate our Annual “Back to School” Healthfest.

·         Free Health Screenings
·         Health Education Booths
·         Medication Counseling
·         Health Insurance Eligibility Screening
·         Children’s ID Fingerprinting & Immunization                 Card Review
·         Games
·         Free Giveaways
·         Raffle Prizes and More!

Sponsored by the Friends of NCB Auxiliary and MetroPlus

News From Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda








Thursday, July 28, 2016

Community Board 6 District Manager's Last District Service Cabinet Meeting



  Longtime Community Board 6 District Manager Ivine Galarza is seated at the conference table in the board office for her last District Service Cabinet meeting with local area representatives of city agencies. To Ms. Galarza'a right is the commanding officer of the 48th Police Precinct Captain Tim McCormick, and to her left is the new Community Board 6 district manager Mr. John Sanchez. 

  I had received a couple of phone calls from individuals who applied for the district manager position, and went to meet the new district manager. I was fortunate to be able to see my friend Ivine Galarza who had been the district manager of board 6 for the past 21 years. We had a very lovely chat, similar to the one I had with Ken Kearns who is the outgoing District Manager of Community Board 10. Ivine asked me why I was not on Community Board 8 anymore, and I said that she would have to ask Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. that question. I asked Ivine why she was retiring, and she said that while she would of loved to continue on as the district manager, but that 21 years was a long period of time in today's era of community boards to be the district manager. We spoke about many other items, and then she introduced me to the new district manager Mr. John Sanchez.

  In my role of being a political reporter I was familiar with Mr. Sanchez who had been on the staff of Assemblyman Michael Blake, whose assembly district covers parts of the community board 6 area. I joked with District manager Sanchez about Assemblyman Blake wanting to become a congressman, and I said that he might make a fine assemblyman should that happen. Having been a community board member for the past six years, and my boards Budget Committee Chair, I know firsthand of the recent changes instituted by the current mayor's office. Last year was the first year of a 48 page on line submission form for budget priorities, and this coming year was going to be no different, especially to a rookie district manager. 

  It seems that as Ms. Galarza and I talked, today we may not see a district manager with more than ten years on the job, as they are appointed by the members of the community board. It also seems that due to term limits of elected officials who appoint community board members more frequent turnover of board members may also happen. For now Community Board 6 appears to be in good hands, and Mr. Sanchez has Ivine Galarza's phone number in an easy to reach spot, just in case he needs some good advice.