Bronx Chamber of Commerce - Network & Grow on 5/16: Bronx Chamber Fair at Yankee Stadium

 

Calling all Bronx businesses and job seekers!

 

Join the Bronx Chamber of Commerce for our Resource Fair on Thursday, May 16, 2024 from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the iconic Yankee Stadium!

 

This event is your one-stop shop for success -- whether you're a small business owner seeking valuable resources or to hire, or an individual looking for new career opportunities, the Bronx Chamber Resource Fair has you covered.

 

Here's what attendees can expect:

Job Seekers

•    Explore opportunities with top Bronx companies who are currently seeking new talent
•    Get a complimentary headshot and resume advice

Small Business Owners & Operators

•    Hiring? Meet attendees seeking new job opportunities
•    A variety of City agencies will be on-site offering essential business development, certification information, & other resources

All will enjoy ample networking with fellow entrepreneurs and professionals, pop-up presentations, panels, and more!

Attendees: Register here today* to secure your spot at this can't-miss event.

*Registration is required to enter the Stadium.

Attendee Registration

Bronx Chamber of Commerce - Casita Maria: South Bronx Culture Festival 2024

 

Save the date for the South Bronx Culture Festival 2024: Born in El Barrio & Raised in the South Bronx.

Join us for a weekend of free performances from May 31 to June 2, 2024 to celebrate Casita Maria’s 90 years of service to the community.

Headliners include: Bronx Banda featuring Arturo O’Farrill, Bobby Sanabria MULTIVERSE Big Band and Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra.

Location: Father Gigante Plaza in front of St. Athanasius Church, 878 Tiffany St in the South Bronx.

Learn more: casitamaria.org / @casitamariabx

DEC Extends Application Deadline for Funding to Support Efforts to Improve Hudson River Tributaries

 

Funding Complements Governor Hochul’s Commitment to Address and Prevent Damage Caused by Major Flooding Events

$200,000 in Grants Available until June 21 for Culverts and Road-Stream Crossings that Improve Aquatic Habitat

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced the application deadline for grants to support tributary restoration through the improvement of culverts and road-stream crossings is being extended to June 21, 2024. The funding is available for communities with road infrastructure that crosses Hudson River estuary tributary streams and is at risk of flooding.

In March, DEC announced $200,000 is available for projects that will help communities restore aquatic organism passage and habitat connectivity, reduce localized flood risks, and improve water quality for communities along Hudson River estuary tributaries. Funding for these projects is provided by the New York State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) and is administered by NEWIPCC in partnership with DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program through a Request for Proposals (RFP).

Eligible road-stream crossing (RSX) must be at a location that is a barrier to habitat for river herring or American eel. RSX include bridges, culverts, arches, and other similar structures that allow water to pass under infrastructure that would otherwise block the natural flow of rivers and streams.

This RFP includes the following project types:

• Type 1: Design Plan to Replace or Retrofit RSX - Deliver final plans, spec sheets, bid documents and prepare materials for a complete environmental permit application to replace or retrofit RSX (e.g., grade controls, baffles, weirs, and other support structures) at a site that is the location of herring or eel habitat, or an aquatic barrier.
• Type 2: RSX Replacement and Retrofit Projects - Replace or retrofit RSX (e.g., grade controls, baffles, weirs, and other support structures) at a site that is the location of herring or eel habitat, or an aquatic barrier.

Proposed projects would take place within the boundary identified by DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program.

The revised Tributary Restoration for Culverts and Road-Stream Crossings RFP and application is available on NEIWPCC’s website.

D.A. Bragg, D.O.I. Commissioner Strauber Announce Indictment Of Daniel Ohebshalom For Harassing Rent-Regulated Tenants

 

D.A.’s Tenant Protection Unit Brings New York’s First-Ever Harassment of Rent-Regulated Tenants Prosecution Under New Law

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. and DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber announced the indictment of DANIEL OHEBSHALOM aka DAN SHALOM (“SHALOM”), along with his companies KEYSTONE MANAGEMENT, INC.; LIBERTY VENTURES, LLC; HIGHPOINT ASSOCIATES XII, LLC; and BELMONT VENTURES, LLC, for harassing rent-regulated tenants with horrific living conditions in order to induce them to vacate their apartments and enable him to sell the buildings for significant profit. SHALOM also filed false documents with city agencies to conceal his ownership of those buildings and evade responsibility for harassing his tenants.

SHALOM and his companies are charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with multiple charges of Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant in the First Degree, Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. [1]

“As alleged, Daniel Ohebshalom took advantage of rent-regulated tenants living in five Manhattan apartment buildings by creating dangerous living conditions in an effort to push them out. New Yorkers deserve to live in their apartments without fearing for their safety,” said District Attorney Bragg. “Landlords have the responsibility to ensure tenants’ safety. We urge anyone who believes they may be a victim of this sort of fraud to contact our Housing and Tenant Protection Unit at 212-335-3300 or Danyhousing@dany.nyc.gov.”

DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said, “This defendant created unlivable and dangerous conditions for the tenants in his rent-regulated apartments, a pattern of neglect that was intended to push them out, according to the charges. DOI is proud to partner with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and to work with its Housing and Protection Unit on this important case.  Together we will not hesitate to pursue criminal charges against landlords who flout the City’s housing and safety codes, leaving tenants in unacceptable circumstances.”

According to court documents and statements made on the record, SHALOM owns five Manhattan properties, including:

•    331 East 14th Street
•    410 West 46 Street
•    412 West 46 Street
•    705 West 170 Street
•    709 West 170 Street

SHALOM allegedly neglected the buildings with the intended goal of systematically driving out the rent-regulated tenants from their homes so that he could sell the buildings for significant profits.

Each of the five buildings for which false documents were filed had unaddressed violations and dangerous conditions. These conditions included a lack of heat and hot water in the winter months; leaks that persisted without repair and ultimately caused ceilings to collapse, including on a young child; and building front doors that lacked locks and other security measures.

SHALOM was warehousing unsecured vacant apartments and failed to provide the buildings with necessary heat, despite repeated warnings from the fuel delivery service that the amount of oil ordered was insufficient to heat the properties.

SHALOM neglected the buildings and lied about their ownership with the intent of driving rent regulated tenants from their homes. He openly discussed with business partners his strategy of “engineering vacancies” of rent regulated apartments. In doing so, he could combine, renovate, and set, higher rents for those units, or empty the building entirely. In either scenario, the building would command a higher price if sold. Consistent with this goal, SHALOM contracted with a real estate firm to sell adjacent buildings at 410 and 412 West 46th Street. In 2015, there was a fire at 412 West 46th Street, and the building had remained uninhabited since then. The buildings were jointly offered for sale at a price of $11.7 million.

SHALOM’s buildings were regularly cited by city agencies for unsafe conditions, requiring that a responsible party file paperwork certifying that the conditions had been corrected. SHALOM obscured his ownership of the properties by refusing to sign paperwork that was required to be filed with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (“HPD”) as a person responsible for the properties. Instead, he used a business associate’s two young employees to sign the documents as responsible persons for the properties. In doing so, SHALOM thwarted HPD’s enforcement efforts, prolonging the neglectful conditions within SHALOM’s buildings. In addition, tenants seeking redress for the numerous habitability issues, relied on the falsely filed documents and named individuals, who in fact, had no connection to the buildings, rather than SHALOM, ensuring the failure of their efforts.

Manhattan D.A.’s Housing & Tenant Protection Unit

In October 2022, District Attorney Bragg launched the Office’s first-ever Housing & Tenant Protection Unit, which targets systemic criminal harassment of tenants and abuse of government programs by landlords and developers. Areas of focus are harassment of rent-regulated tenants, deed fraud, and defrauding of government subsidy programs by landlords and developers. The Unit focuses on long-term investigations into systemic, structures, and organized criminal activity among landlords and developers.

Tips and complaints can be submitted to the Unit’s hotline at 212-335-3300 or email Danyhousing@dany.nyc.gov. The Office is a safe place to report crime regardless of your immigration status.

Assistant D.A.s Chikaelo Ibeabuchi (Chief of the Housing & Tenant Protection Unit), and Hope Korenstein (Deputy Bureau Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau) are handling the prosecution of this case under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Kofi Sansculotte (Bureau Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau) and Jodie Kane (Bureau Chief of the Rackets Bureau and Acting Chief of the Investigation Division). The following people provided assistance with this investigation: the Financial Frauds Bureau’s Lana Wong (Senior Financial Investigator), Sofia Albi (Paralegal), Emily O’Brien (Investigative Analyst), and Victoria Grevenberg (Housing Coordinator); the Forensic Accounting & Financial Investigations Bureau’s Hermeet Kaur (Principal Financial Investigator), Irene Serrapica (Principal Deputy Bureau Chief), and Robert Demarest (Bureau Chief); Investigation Bureau’s Samuel Morales (Investigator), Ethan Ellsworth (Investigator), Genesis Cornielle (Investigator), Daniel Clark-El (Supervising Investigator) and Jonathan Reid (Assistant Chief of the Investigation Bureau); New York City Department of Investigation’s Emily Caswell (Investigator), and Michael Morris (Inspector General, Squad 3).

District Attorney Bragg thanked the Department of Investigation for its assistance.

Defendant Information

DANIEL OHEBSHALOM aka DAN SHALOM

Charges:

• Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant in the First Degree, a class E felony, eight counts
• Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony, twenty-nine counts
• Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a class A misdemeanor, three counts

KEYSTONE MANAGEMENT, INC.

Charges:

• Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant in the First Degree, a class E felony, eight counts
• Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony, twenty-nine counts
• Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a class A misdemeanor, three counts

LIBERTY VENTURES, LLC

Charges:

• Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant in the First Degree, a class E felony, two counts
• Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony, six counts

HIGHPOINT ASSOCIATES XII, LLC

Charges:

• Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant in the First Degree, a class E felony, two counts
• Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony, eleven counts

BELMONT VENTURES, LLC

Charges:

• Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant in the First Degree, a class E felony, four counts
• Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony, twelve counts
• Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a class A misdemeanor, three counts

[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.

Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on College Campus Safety

Governor Hochul: “Students have a First Amendment right to speak their mind, protest, whether or not we agree with their political views. But when that protest evolves into violence, vandalism, destruction of property, even harassment, a line has been crossed.

Before I talk about the topic of the day, which is retail theft, I also want to talk about something that is very much on everyone's mind, and that is what happened last night on our college campuses here in the City of New York.

Yesterday, I also addressed New Yorkers about what has been unfolding on our college campuses over the last couple of weeks. I reiterated that students have a First Amendment right to speak their mind, protest, whether or not we agree with their political views. But when that protest evolves into violence, vandalism, destruction of property, even harassment, a line has been crossed.

And in public and in private, we have been urging the protesters to de-escalate the tensions, follow the rules set by their universities, allow a sense of normalcy to return to their campuses. And as I called for de-escalation of their activity, they decided to take a different approach. They escalated the violence and vandalism yesterday – continuing to occupy a building at Columbia, barricading the doors, refusing entry of others who were lawfully entitled to go there, attempting to break into other buildings, causing massive destruction on that campus as well as the City College campus – smashing windows, again vandalizing property.

Let me be clear: there is no circumstance where violence or vandalism is tolerated or acceptable, whether you're on a college campus or walking the streets of New York. Targeting Jewish students for harassment or abuse because of the actions of the Israeli government is also anti-Semitic and wrong, glorifying the acts of Hamas on October 7th is reprehensible, as well as any under any circumstances, racist or Islamophobic rhetoric towards your political opponents is not acceptable.

Universities have always been a place of robust debate. I know, I was once a university student, but free expression has its limits when individuals have a right to be free from harassment – the rest of the campus. They should not be living in fear because you're claiming an exercise of your rights. They should not be afraid of harassment or violence. But that's what was starting to happen on our campuses over the last couple of weeks.

So, we must protect the safety of the entire campus community, including the thousands of students who simply want to finish up, conclude their studies, take their exams, and in some cases, the privilege of walking across the stage to accept their diploma. That's the vast majority of students on college campuses, and their rights are being disrupted, and that is wrong.

That is one of the reasons why university administrators made the difficult decision to call in the NYPD for additional support. I will say this, the NYPD had a plan. They arrived on campus and acted professionally and fairly. It could have been far worse. They managed it in an extremely professional way.\

As I said yesterday, the State of New York has also offered assistance to universities and the City of New York as they address these issues and particularly the universities throughout the state as they prepare for their commencements, which as I said, everyone is entitled to participate in a live commencement ceremony. We'll continue being there to support the students, the faculty, the staff, and support all New Yorkers who deserve to live in safety.

Regional Leader Of Sanctioned Russian Organization Pleads Guilty To Lying To FBI

 

Tomas Ianchauskas, a U.S. Green Card Holder and Regional Leader of the Sanctioned Tsargrad Society, Falsely Denied Participation in Organization and its Predecessor Controlled by Indicted Oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the guilty plea of TOMAS IANCHAUSKAS, a regional leader of a sanctioned Russian Organization known as the Tsargrad Society (the “Society”), for lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) about his participation in the Society and its predecessor during an in-person interview in the U.S.  IANCHAUSKAS pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Coleen McMahon and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, 2024. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “While enjoying the benefits of U.S. permanent residency, Tomas Ianchauskas served as a regional leader of the Tsargrad Society, a sanctioned Russian organization controlled by sanctioned oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev, who was previously indicted by this Office for willfully violating U.S. sanctions laws.  On two separate occasions, Ianchauskas lied to the FBI, falsely claiming that he had no involvement in the Tsargrad Society whatsoever, and no involvement in its predecessor entity the Double Headed Eagle Society for the three prior years.  Together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to hold accountable those who seek to undermine critical sanctions put in place to challenge Russia’s aggression.” 

According to the Complaint previously filed against IANCHAUSKAS, the Information, and other filings:

IANCHAUSKAS is a U.S. green card holder who principally resides in Russia.  By operation of the Ukraine-Related Executive Orders 13660, 13661, 13662, and 14024, IANCHAUSKAS is prohibited from, among other things, making any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services to or for the benefit of sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Valeryevich Malofeyev or certain Malofeyev-controlled designated entities, including the Society, formerly known as the Double Headed Eagle Society (“DHES”).  

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) initially designated Malofeyev in 2014, explaining that he was one of the main sources of financing for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea and has materially assisted, sponsored, and provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods and services to or in support of, the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, a separatist organization in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk.  The Society was designated by OFAC in or about April 2022 for being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, Malofeyev.  As described by OFAC, the Society was formerly known as DHES, a Russia-registered organization which has been accused of involvement in espionage on behalf of Russia.  OFAC further explained that the Society is part of Malofeyev’s “malign influence ecosystem” and “advocates for Russia to return to a monarchical system of government and counts among its core principles revanchist aims like the ‘reunification of the Russian people’ and ‘returning the Russian Empire to its historical borders’ — to include, in the Society’s definition, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States, Moldova, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.”[1]

Following OFAC’s designations, on or about April 6, 2022, this Office indicted Malofeyev on one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) and one count of violation of IEEPA.

On or about January 12, 2022, during an in-person interview with FBI agents in the Southern District of New York, IANCHAUSKAS falsely stated, in substance and in part, that he had no involvement in the Society whatsoever, he had no involvement with DHES for approximately three years, and he never had a leadership position at DHES and never did anything on behalf of DHES.  In truth and in fact, and as IANCHAUSKAS knew, from at least in or about 2020 through in or about 2022, IANCHAUSKAS served as the head of the Penza Regional Branch of DHES, which in or about November 2020 was renamed the Society.  In his leadership capacity, IANCHAUSKAS planned DHES events in Russia and received funding from DHES in or about 2020, among other times.

Subsequent to his interview with the FBI in January 2022, IANCHAUSKAS continued his membership in the Society and provided services to the Society.  In or about April 2023, when inviting individuals to attend an event with Malofeyev in Penza, Russia, IANCHAUSKAS wrote, among other things, “we are his regional department,” and distributed a photograph of Malofeyev with the message, in part and substance, “it is thanks to him and his subordinates that Crimea was joined to Russia and Donbass began to be joined.”  During a second interview with the FBI on December 22, 2023, IANCHAUSKAS reiterated certain false statements, including that he had never been a member of the Society. 

IANCHAUSKAS, 39, a U.S. green card holder principally residing in Russia, pled guilty to one count of making false statements to special agents of the FBI, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. 

The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI.

The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thane Rehn and Vladislav Vainberg are in charge of the prosecution. 

[1] U.S. Department of Treasury, Press Release “U.S. Treasury Designates Facilitators of Russian Sanctions Evasion,” available online https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0731

Scheme to Transfer Money to Iran Results in Guilty Pleas

 

Defendants Plead to Conspiring to Violate U.S. Sanctions Against Iran

Muzzamil Zaidi, 40, and Asim Mujtaba Naqvi, 40, both of Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty for their roles in an illicit scheme to transfer tens of thousands of dollars from the United States to Iran, including for the benefit of Ayatollah Ali Husseini Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to court documents, in December 2018, Zaidi received permission to collect khums – a religious tax on wealth – on behalf of several Imams. Between December 2018 and December 2019, Zaidi and Naqvi collected payments of this tax, as well as donations purportedly to help victims of the ongoing civil war in Yemen, from individuals in the United States.

Zaidi and Naqvi arranged for the funds to be exported from the United States to Iran and to be received by the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran. Zaidi and Naqvi enlisted friends, family members, and other associates to carry the cash out of the United States, in amounts less than $10,000 in order to avoid law enforcement scrutiny. One transfer of dollars to Iran involved a group of 25 travelers going on a religious pilgrimage in Iraq, and the subsequent transport of U.S. dollars hand-carried by those travelers to Iran. Both Zaidi and Naqvi were arrested in Houston on Aug. 18, 2020, as a result of this scheme.

The transfer of money was illegal because the United States has imposed economic sanctions on Iran since 1995. Every year since 1984, the U.S. State Department has named Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism. And on June 24, 2019, the President imposed additional sanctions on the Supreme Leader of Iran that prohibit the provision of funds to, or for the benefit of, the Supreme Leader of Iran.

Zaidi and Naqvi both pleaded guilty to conspiracy and violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) before U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who scheduled sentencing for Zaidi on Aug. 13 and for Naqvi on Oct. 1.

The FBI Washington Field Office and the FBI Houston Counterterrorism team are investigating the case. FBI Field Offices in Dallas, Chicago, and Detroit provided valuable assistance.

Attorney General James and U.S. Attorney Freedman Recover $6.3 Million from Albany Attorney and Financial Advisor Who Looted Family Trusts

 

Former Guilderland Town Justice Richard Sherwood and Financial Advisor Thomas Lagan Took Advantage of Elderly Sisters and Stole Millions of Dollars Intended for Charity

New York Attorney General Letitia James and United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York Carla B. Freedman today announced that they have secured nearly $6.3 million for individuals who were defrauded by attorney Richard J. Sherwood of Guilderland, New York and financial advisor Thomas K. Lagan of Cooperstown, New York. Sherwood and Lagan took advantage of their positions as trustees of three sisters’ estates to steal approximately $11.8 million that was intended to benefit charitable organizations throughout the Capital Region. Sherwood and Lagan were both found guilty of Grand Larceny and sentenced to prison in 2019. 

“New Yorkers should be able to trust that their financial advisors and attorneys are looking out for their best interests—not stealing their hard-earned money,” said Attorney General James. “Sherwood and Lagan defrauded a well-meaning family, and in the process, cheated local nonprofit organizations out of funds intended to support their missions. Thank you to U.S. Attorney Freedman for her partnership in rooting out fraud and stopping individuals who abuse the system.”

“This substantial recovery is the result of our efforts to make sure that crime does not pay,” said U.S. Attorney Freedman. “We will continue to use every appropriate avenue to enforce restitution judgments against Sherwood and Lagan in an effort to return as much money as possible to the victims of their fraudulent scheme.”

Sherwood and Lagan provided estate planning and related legal and financial services to Niskayuna, New York philanthropists Warren and Pauline Bruggeman, and Pauline’s sister, Anne Urban of Watervliet, New York. Under the advisement of Sherwood and Lagan, the Bruggemans signed wills directing all their assets—aside from trusts for Anne and Pauline’s other sister, Julia Rentz—to churches, civic organizations, a local hospital, and a university scholarship fund. 

After the Bruggemans passed, Sherwood and Lagan led Anne to create a trust that, unbeknownst to her, made Sherwood and Lagan the beneficiaries of the sisters’ estates upon her death. When Anne passed away, Sherwood and Lagan, as trustees of the estates, continued to steal funds for themselves and concealed their theft by directing funds through a sham trust they created called the Empire Capital Trust. They would then transfer the money from the Empire Capital Trust to themselves. 

After Sherwood and Lagan went to prison for this theft, the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Charities Bureau petitioned the court to reinstate Anne’s original trust to ensure the funds would go to the charitable organizations she initially designated as beneficiaries, instead of Sherwood and Lagan. Lagan attempted to stop this while serving his prison sentence but failed, and the funds will be distributed to Anne’s intended organizations.

In total, Sherwood and Lagan stole $11,831,653 from the family. Nearly $6.3 million has now been recovered and returned to the victims, including St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, Ukrainian-American Cultural Center, Inc., Ellis Hospital Foundation, Inc., and the Bruggeman ’46 Scholarship Fund at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The United States Attorney’s Office’s (USAO) Asset Recovery Unit is continuing work to recover the remainder of the restitution owed.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Conger and Melissa Rothbart represent the United States on the asset forfeiture and restitution matters in this case, with assistance from the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section.

Attorney General James thanks the New York State Police Special Investigations Unit, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the New York State Office of Taxation and Finance for their valuable assistance in this investigation.

For OAG, the complex trusts and estates litigation to prevent distribution of funds to Lagan was handled by Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Allison of the Charities Bureau, under the supervision of Bureau Chief James Sheehan. The OAG appeal was handled by Assistant Solicitor General Kate Nepveu of the Division of Appeals and Opinions, led by Solicitor General Barbara Underwood. The underlying criminal case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Christopher Baynes and former Assistant Attorney General Matthew Peluso of the Public Integrity Bureau, under the supervision of former Bureau Chief Travis Hill and Bureau Chief Gerard Murphy.