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Monday, March 28, 2022
News From Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson - Resources and Updates
Construction Company and Owner Indicted for Manslaughter in Death of 5-Year-Old Girl Struck by Pillars Following Wall Collapse
Defendant Allegedly Built Dangerously Flawed Stone Fence in Violation of Numerous Provisions of the NYC Building Code
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber and New York City Department of Buildings Acting Commissioner Constadino “Gus” Sirakis, P.E., today announced that the owner of a Nassau County construction company has been indicted on manslaughter and other charges after a wall he built collapsed on a child, killing her.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “The wall that this defendant allegedly built was a disaster waiting to happen. He allegedly failed to obtain the proper permits and failed to reinforce and secure the structure as required by law. As a direct consequence of his alleged recklessness, the wall collapsed and caused the senseless death of a precious 5-year-old child. My heart is with the victim’s family, and we will now seek to hold this defendant accountable.”
Commissioner Strauber said, “The New York City Building Code exists to ensure the safety of construction in the city. Mr. Anwar and his company allegedly violated numerous Code requirements when they built a stone wall without proper anchors or permits. Their obviously dangerous conduct had tragic consequences; as charged, the wall collapsed, causing the death of a 5-year-old girl. We thank the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and the city’s Department of Buildings for their partnership in this important investigation and we will continue to work with them to hold accountable those who flout their responsibilities with respect to construction safety.”
Acting Commissioner Sirakis said, “Performing construction work without the necessary permits can have devastating consequences. This indictment sends a strong message to the construction industry that this City will not tolerate bad actors who cut corners and jeopardize the safety of our fellow New Yorkers. I would like to personally thank our partners at the District Attorney’s Office and at the Department of Investigation for bringing criminal charges in this important case.
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Nadeem Anwar, 46, of Valley Stream and his company, City Wide Construction and Renovations, Inc., also of Valley Stream. They were arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an indictment in which they are charged with seconddegree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree reckless endangerment, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, and second-degree falsifying business records. Anwar was released without bail and ordered to return to court on May 11, 2022.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on August 29, 2019, at approximately 8:23 p.m., Alysson Pinto-Chaumana, 5, was with her mother and several friends while they were visiting a friend at 444 Harman Street, a three-story building in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
The group was outside waiting near the front door on an enclosed patio next to a 68” tall wall that fenced in the patio and had a base of heavy stone pillars topped with stone horizontal plates. Suddenly, the pillars and a horizontal plate fell inward onto Alysson, crushing her skull and causing her death
An investigation into the collapse determined that the defendant, a licensed contractor, who was hired to renovate the façade of the property and build the wall in September 2018 allegedly committed numerous violations of the New York City Building Code. Although he was licensed as a contractor in Nassau County, he was not authorized to file for work permits with the NYC Department of Buildings and had another contractor file the application for the work on the façade, but not for building the wall.
The defendant allegedly did not acquire a DOB permit to build a stone wall at 444 Harman Street, which was required, nor did he have a licensed engineer or architect conduct a post-construction analysis of the wall’s stability as required. A row of stone pillars must have at least one pillar every 48 inches with a steel reinforcing bar anchoring that pillar to the base. All of the pillars must also be secured to the base with an engineer-grade adhesive. The horizontal plates must be secured to the pillars with engineer-grade adhesive.
A DOB engineer who responded to the collapse allegedly observed there were no steel reinforcing bars in any of the pillars. Furthermore, he determined that there was no engineer-grade adhesive securing any of the wall’s component parts. Therefore, he determined, the wall was highly unstable and held together mostly by its own weight and gravity, an egregious violation of multiple provisions of the Building Code. The engineer described the conditions as “imminently perilous to life.”
The case was investigated by New York City Department of Buildings Director of Forensic Engineering Unit, Marco Frias, PE and New York City Department of Investigation Chief Investigator James McElligott and Confidential Investigator Eliza Kopelman, under the supervision of Senior Inspector General Gregory Cho, Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Dominic Zarrella and First Deputy Commissioner Daniel G. Cort.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
Money Launderer For $3.5 Million Vehicle Sale Scam Extradited From Lithuania
Second Defendant Connected to Scheme Recently Pled Guilty to Bank Fraud Offense
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Ricky Patel, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), announced today that STANISLAV TUNKEVIC, of Lithuania, was extradited to the United States on bank fraud and money laundering offenses arising from a scheme to launder money derived from an online vehicle sale scam that took in at least $3.5 million from defrauded consumers. VLADISLAV NECEAEV, of Brooklyn, New York, recently pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in connection with the same scheme.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “This case is another reminder that while the Internet has often been a force for the public good, it has also been used by criminals to swindle the unwary. But online fraudsters who hide behind the anonymity of the Internet still need co-conspirators like Tunkevic and Neceaev, who are willing to launder the loot. This Office is committed to rooting out both the online scammers and their enablers.”
HSI Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Ricky Patel said: “As alleged, Tunkevic and Neceaev laundered money for a group of fraudsters that preyed on innocent victims who were simply looking to buy a used car online; an act so common that it allowed the group of crooks to pocket millions off this elaborate scheme from unsuspecting customers. With the use of Tunkevic and Neceaev’s money laundering services, their criminal partners used fictitious websites to lure victims to fraudulent dealerships, all to profit off the backs of hard-working people looking to make a legitimate purchase. HSI New York’s El Dorado Task Force coordinated efforts with HSI’s Attaché office in the Hague to assist with this extradition and will work tirelessly to identify and prosecute all co-conspirators that perpetuated this consumer fraud and money laundering scheme.”
As alleged in the Complaint and the Indictments,[1] and based on statements made in court:
From at least March 2019 through approximately March 2021, STANISLAV TUNKEVIC and VLADISLAV NECEAEV were members of a money laundering crew operating from Brooklyn that was coordinated by NECEAEV’s mother and co-defendant, Natalia Korzha. Members of that crew, including TUNKEVIC and NECEAEV, opened numerous bank accounts in the name of shell companies for the purpose of laundering money stolen from consumers who were trying to buy vehicles online, in exchange for a cut of the victims’ money. Other members of the conspiracy, pretending to represent car dealerships, advertised vehicles that they did not own and were not authorized to sell on fake websites with domain names that sounded like legitimate car dealerships, or through online marketplaces like Craigslist and eBay. Victims who responded to those advertisements and negotiated a purchase price were instructed by the purported sellers to wire payment to accounts that TUNKEVIC, NECEAEV, and other co-conspirators opened. Once the payments cleared, the account owners, including TUNKEVIC and NECEAEV, quickly withdrew the funds before the victims realized they had been defrauded. The victims never received the vehicles they thought they had bought or any refunds from the fake sellers. In total, dozens of victims were defrauded of a total of at least $3.5 million.
TUNKEVIC was presented today in Manhattan federal court before United States Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave.
NECEAEV pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud on March 14, 2022, before Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger.
STANISLAV TUNKEVIC, 47, of Lithuania, was extradited to the United States on March 25, 2022. TUNKEVIC is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
VLADISLAV NECEAEV, 28, of Brooklyn, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud on March 14, 2022.
The offense of conspiracy to commit bank fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1,000,000. The crime of conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.
The maximum 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.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of Homeland Security Investigations. He also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs of the Department’s Criminal Division, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania, and the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau for their assistance in this investigation.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the Indictments, and the description of the Complaint and Indictments set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described herein should be treated as an allegation as to the charged defendants.
Statement From Governor Kathy Hochul on President Biden’s Proposed fy2023 Budget
"President Biden's FY2023 proposed budget includes bold, strategic investments that will continue to fuel New York's economic comeback and lift up future generations of New Yorkers. His budget blueprint supports our middle class by lowering family energy costs and investing in quality child care; expands domestic manufacturing to create more good paying jobs; strengthens the nation's public health system and preparedness; and increases investments for transformative infrastructure projects, including $400 million for the Second Avenue Subway extension and $100 million to advance the firStatest phases of construction for the Gateway Hudson Tunnel.
"Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration and ongoing commitment from the New York Congressional delegation, New York has rightfully received needed federal support through crucial pandemic relief as well as long-overdue infrastructure funding, helping these projects move forward in a meaningful way. As we rebuild from the pandemic, infrastructure projects that support transportation equity and economic development are more important than ever before which is why I have championed projects like the Second Avenue Subway extension and visited the shovel-worthy site myself. I am determined to keep working with our federal partners to take these projects across the finish line.
"I thank the Biden-Harris Administration for requesting additional funding for critical investments, and I urge Congress to advance the policies and priorities in the President's proposed budget so we can continue to build our way out of this pandemic and strengthen our economy through this once in a generation opportunity."
Statement from New York City Commissioners on Health Coverage for All
Commissioner Manuel Castro of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, Commissioner Ashwin Vasan, M.D., PhD from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Mitchell Katz, M.D., President and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals today released the following statement in response to immigration-related changes to Essential Plan eligibility in the NYS Budget:
“We applaud the inclusion of changes to Essential Plan eligibility related to immigration status in the New York State Assembly and Senate budget bills.”
“Over the past two years, immigrant New Yorkers have put their health on the line as they worked as essential workers during the height of the pandemic. The changes to the Essential Plan eligibility will allow low-income New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status, to access the health insurance they need to improve their personal, physical, and mental wellbeing.”
“As City agencies tasked with promoting the health and wellbeing of all New Yorkers, including immigrants, we urge the Governor and the Legislature to include these changes in the final New York State budget and continue to lead the nation in recognizing healthcare as a human right.”
MAYOR ADAMS’ STATEMENT ON SIGNING OF FLORIDA’S “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL INTO LAW
New York City Mayor Eric Adams today released the following statement after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the state Legislature’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prohibits classroom sexual orientation and gender identity education in elementary schools:
“The extremist culture war targeting our LGBTQ+ community is hateful and harmful. Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill is the latest shameful measure.
“We’re the city of Stonewall. We fight for our LGBTQ+ neighbors, especially our children.
“To the families living in fear of this state-sponsored discrimination: You're welcome in New York City. Our arms and hearts are wide open, embracing every child of every identity. Always.”