Friday, March 12, 2021

Joint Statement from Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman on New York State Leadership

 


Today, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman released the following joint statement calling for Governor Cuomo's resignation.

“This week, the second sexual assault allegation and the sixth harassment allegation was leveled against Governor Cuomo. The fact that this latest report was so recent is alarming, and it raises concerns about the present safety and well-being of the administration’s staff. These allegations have all been consistent and highly-detailed, and there are also credible media reports substantiating their accounts. 

“Unfortunately, the Governor is not only facing the accusation that he engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment and assault. There is also the extensive report from the Attorney General that found the Cuomo administration hid data on COVID-19 nursing home deaths from both the public and the state legislature. 

“As members of the New York delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives, we believe these women, we believe the reporting, we believe the Attorney General, and we believe the fifty-five members of the New York State legislature, including the State Senate Majority Leader, who have concluded that Governor Cuomo can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges.” 

295 Days and Counting

 


Did anyone else come forward to say that Governor Cuomo did anything to them? Why isn't the media doing to him like they did to Donald Trump, and me when I was in trouble? 


Thursday, March 11, 2021

Zurich’s Oldest Private Bank Admits To Helping U.S. Taxpayers Hide Offshore Accounts From IRS

 

Rahn+Bodmer Enters into Deferred Prosecution Agreement for Criminal Misconduct; Agrees to Pay $22 Million

 Audrey Strauss, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Stuart M. Goldberg, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Tax Division, and James C. Lee, Chief of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced the filing of a criminal Information against RAHN+BODMER CO. (“R+B”), a financial institution located in Zurich, Switzerland.  The Information charges R+B with one count of conspiring to help U.S. accountholders evade their U.S. tax obligations, file false federal tax returns, and otherwise defraud the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) by hiding hundreds of millions of dollars in offshore bank accounts at R+B.

Ms. Strauss, Mr. Goldberg, and Mr. Lee also announced a deferred prosecution agreement with R+B (the “Agreement”), under which R+B admits to its unlawful conduct in assisting U.S. accountholders in violating their legal duties.  R+B’s admissions are contained in a detailed Statement of Facts attached to the Agreement.  The Agreement requires R+B to provide ongoing assistance to the Department of Justice and to pay a total of $22 million in restitution, forfeiture, and penalties.  If R+B abides by all of the terms of the Agreement, the Government will defer prosecution on the Information for three years and then seek to dismiss the charge.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said:  “As Rahn+Bodmer now admits, it aided U.S. taxpayers in evading their tax responsibilities to the tune of more than $16 million.  This venerated banking institution knowingly offered banking services that assisted its U.S. customers in evading their tax obligations, and affirmatively schemed to conceal from the IRS the assets and income of U.S. accountholders.  Now Rahn+Bodmer will pay $22 million and commit to helping the Justice Department uncover tax evasion by U.S. customers.”

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg said:  “Under today’s resolution, Rahm+Bodmer is paying $22 million for helping U.S. accountholders evade their taxes, and  has agreed to fully cooperate with investigations into those taxpayers.  With the April 15 tax filing date fast approaching, there is a clear message for those intending not to pay their fair share – nothing remains hidden forever.”

IRS-CI Chief James C. Lee said:  “Through a years-long scheme, the R+B bank hid the assets of U.S. accountholders to shield them from their tax obligations.  Today’s admission and agreement provide a clear path to recovery of funds owed to the U.S. government, and sends a strong signal that offshore accounts are not beyond the reach of special agents with IRS CI.”

According to the Agreement, the accompanying Statement of Facts, and other documents filed today in Manhattan federal court:

From at least in or about 2004 and continuing until at least in or about 2012, R+B conspired with certain of its U.S. accountholders and others to defraud the United States with respect to taxes, file false federal tax returns, and commit tax evasion.  R+B’s bankers assisted U.S. accountholders in concealing their ownership and control of assets and funds held in undeclared R+B accounts, which enabled those U.S. accountholders to evade their U.S. tax obligations.  R+B admitted to holding undeclared accounts on behalf of approximately 340 U.S. taxpayers, who collectively evaded approximately $16.4 million in U.S. taxes between in or about 2004 and in or about 2012.  The assets under management that R+B held for undeclared U.S. accountholders increased from approximately $391 million in 2004 to approximately $550 million in 2007, its peak year for undeclared assets under management.

In furtherance of the scheme to help U.S. taxpayers hide assets from the IRS and evade taxes, R+B undertook the following actions, among others:

  • R+B opened “numbered” or “pseudonym” accounts for U.S. accountholders in order to reduce the risk that U.S. tax authorities would learn their identities.
     
  • R+B opened and maintained accounts for U.S. accountholders in the names of non-U.S. corporations, foundations, trusts, or other legal entities, thereby helping U.S. taxpayers conceal their beneficial ownership of the accounts.
     
  • R+B agreed to hold bank statements and other account-related mail in Switzerland, rather than send them to the U.S. accountholders in the United States, which helped ensure that documents reflecting the existence of the accounts remained outside the United States and beyond the reach of U.S. tax authorities.
     
  • After Liechtenstein and the United States signed a Tax Information Exchange Treaty in December 2008, R+B transferred the undeclared assets of certain U.S. taxpayers from accounts held in the names of sham foundations organized under the laws of Liechtenstein to new accounts held in the names of new sham foundations organized under the laws of Panama, in an effort to further conceal the accounts from U.S. tax authorities.
     
  • R+B allowed U.S. accountholders and third-party asset managers to make withdrawals by check from undeclared accounts in amounts of less than $10,000, in an apparent attempt to conceal transactions from U.S. authorities.
     
  • On occasion, R+B opened accounts for U.S. taxpayers who were exiting UBS AG and other Swiss banks, and allowed these U.S. taxpayers to continue to conceal their undeclared assets at R+B.  R+B additionally opened “escrow” accounts on behalf of a Swiss attorney to facilitate the transfer of undeclared assets of U.S. accountholders that had been converted to gold and other precious metals held in a vault at UBS.
     
  • R+B helped U.S. accountholders to repatriate funds to the United States in a manner designed to ensure that U.S. tax authorities did not discover the undeclared accounts, including by transferring the funds of one U.S. accountholder in increments of approximately $100,000 to another Swiss bank before the U.S. accountholder routed the funds to a diamond dealer in Manhattan, where the U.S. accountholder ultimately received them.
     
  • R+B, through its bankers, made regular visits to the United States to solicit, open, and service undeclared accounts of U.S taxpayers.

Under today’s resolution, R+B is required to cooperate fully with the Department of Justice and affirmatively disclose new information it may later uncover regarding U.S.-related accounts.  R+B is also required to disclose information consistent with the Department’s Swiss Bank Program relating to accounts closed between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2019.   

As part of the resolution, R+B will pay a total of $22 million, which has three parts.  First, R+B has agreed to pay $4.9 million in restitution to the IRS, which represents the estimated unpaid taxes resulting from R+B’s participation in the conspiracy.  Second, R+B has agreed to forfeit $9.7 million to the United States, which represents the approximate gross fees that R+B earned on its undeclared U.S.-related accounts between 2004 and 2012.  Finally, R+B has agreed to pay a penalty of $7.4 million.  The penalty takes into consideration that R+B conducted a thorough internal investigation and provided a substantial volume of documents to the Department, as well as implemented remedial measures to protect against the use of its services for tax evasion in the future.

Ms. Strauss and Mr. Goldberg praised the outstanding work of IRS-CI.  Ms. Strauss also thanked the Department of Justice’s Tax Division for their partnership on this case.

Attorney General James Responds to Legislature’s Action to Investigate Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Governor Cuomo

 

 New York Attorney General Letitia James today released the following statement confirming that the independent investigation her office is overseeing into allegations of sexual harassment against Governor Andrew Cuomo will continue regardless of today’s actions by the New York state legislature:

“Today’s action by the New York state legislature will have no bearing on our independent investigation into these allegations against Governor Cuomo. Our investigation will continue.”

Earlier this week, Attorney General James announced the appointment of former Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon H. Kim and employment discrimination attorney Anne L. Clark as the two attorneys leading the independent investigation into Governor Cuomo.

Assemblymember Nathalia Fernandez - Women HERstory Month Events

 

 

Join me at the following Women's HERstory Month events:

Small Business Pop-Up

Date: Saturday March 13th 

Time: 11:00am

Location: Maestros Catering Hall, 1703 Bronxdale Ave

 

NYPL Family Storytime

Date: Wedsneday March 24th 

Time: 11:00am - 11:30am 

Location: Register Here

 

M/WBE Certification Webinar

Date: Wedsneday March 24th 

Time: 6:00pm - 7:30pm 

Location: Register Here

Sincerely, 

Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez 

Governor Cuomo Announces More than 6 Million Total Doses Administered Across New York State

 

More than 20% of New Yorkers Have Received a First Dose 

10.4% of New Yorkers Fully Vaccinated

More than 1 Million Doses Administered at New York State-Run Mass Vaccination Sites   

Vaccine Dashboard Will Update Daily to Provide Updates on the State's Vaccine Program; Go to ny.gov/vaccinetracker 

 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced more than 6 million total COVID vaccine doses have been administered across New York State. More than 20 percent of New Yorkers have received a first dose, and 10.4 percent of New Yorkers are fully vaccinated. 144,946 doses have been administered across New York's vast distribution network in the last 24 hours, and more than 1.12 million doses have been administered over the past seven days. Across New York State's network of mass vaccination sites, more than 1 million doses have been administered to date. The week 13 allocation from the federal government is in the process of being delivered to providers for administration.      

"The vaccine is the weapon that will win the war, and with more and more New Yorkers getting vaccinated every day, we are gradually weakening the beast," Governor Cuomo said. "Our partners in the White House have committed to delivering us a steady supply, and our high-capacity distribution network enables us to get over a million shots administered on a weekly basis. Even as we reach new milestones, we are still in a footrace to make sure the vaccination rate remains ahead of the infection rate, but we have a successful formula in place and we will continue working around the clock until New York becomes the first COVID-free state in the nation."  

New York's vast distribution network and large population of eligible individuals still far exceed the supply coming from the federal government. Due to limited supply, New Yorkers are encouraged to remain patient and are advised not to show up at vaccination sites without an appointment.          

The 'Am I Eligible' screening tool has been updated for individuals with comorbidities and underlying conditions with new appointments released on a rolling basis over the next weeks. New Yorkers can use the following to show they are eligible:    

·     Doctor's letter, or

·     Medical information evidencing comorbidity, or

·     Signed certification   

Vaccination program numbers below are for doses distributed and delivered to New York for the state's vaccination program, and do not include those reserved for the federal government's Long Term Care Facility program. A breakdown of the data based on numbers reported to New York State as of 11AM today is as follows.        

STATEWIDE BREAKDOWN

Total doses administered - 6,086,018 

Total doses administered over past 24 hours - 144,946 

Total doses administered over past 7 days - 1,126,783 

Percent of New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose - 20.4%

Percent of New Yorkers with completed vaccine series - 10.4%   

Governor Cuomo Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress During COVID-19 Pandemic March 11, 2021

 

Hospitalizations Drop to 4,735—Lowest Since December 6

ICU Patients Drop to 955—Lowest Since December 8; 665 Intubated

Statewide Positivity Drops to 2.77%—Lowest Since November 21

80 COVID-19 Deaths in New York State Yesterday

 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitalizations dropped to 4,735, the lowest since December 6. The number of patients in ICUs dropped to 955, the lowest since December 8. Yesterday's positivity rate dropped to 2.77 percent, the lowest since November 21. 

"COVID-19 remains a serious issue in New Yorkers' daily lives, and it's important to stay vigilant and practice safe behaviors even as we see improving numbers and rising vaccinations," Governor Cuomo said. "Our expansive network of vaccine distribution sites is serving more New Yorkers as supply increases and as we expand eligibility, but there's a long way to go before we get to the light at the end of the tunnel. New Yorkers should wear masks, wash their hands and stay socially distanced to slow the spread and save lives as we work to defeat the COVID beast together."

Today's data is summarized briefly below:  

  • Test Results Reported - 243,153
  • Total Positive - 6,747
  • Percent Positive - 2.77%
  • 7-Day Average Percent Positive - 3.11%
  • Patient Hospitalization - 4,735 (-63)
  • Net Change Patient Hospitalization Past Week - -442
  • Patients Newly Admitted - 580 
  • Hospital Counties - 53
  • Number ICU - 955 (-44)
  • Number ICU with Intubation - 665 (-21)
  • Total Discharges - 151,906 (+552)
  • Deaths - 80 
  • Total Deaths - 39,311