News From Congressman Eliot L. Engel

Engel Opening Statement During ACA Repeal Mark-Up

  Congressman Eliot L. Engel, a top member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, offered the following opening statement during today’s mark-up of the Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Below is the statement as prepared for three-minute delivery (Committee Republicans reduced Members' time allotment from three minutes to one minute): 

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

“I had the privilege of sitting on this Committee when we passed the Affordable Care Act. We had an ambitious goal: to afford the American people more affordable, higher quality health care. It was a long road. And I’m sure I’m not the only one of my colleagues to look back on our efforts and ask, ‘How did we do?’

“Well, just looking at my own district, I think the numbers speak for themselves. Just in NY-16, more than 100,000 people have gained coverage through the Marketplace or the Medicaid expansion. In fact, every single Congressional district’s uninsured rate has dropped since the ACA went into effect. That’s true for Democratic and Republican districts alike.

“I had hoped that stakes like these might give pause to Republicans. Or, at the very least, that they’d engage in a process that gave Americans a real opportunity to understand their proposals and what they mean.

“But here we are.

“Republicans had seven years to lay out their promised ‘better way.’ Yet they chose to shield their repeal bill from public view, until just 40 hours before pushing that bill forward. I said ‘I’d hoped’ Republicans wouldn’t do it this way. But really, I didn’t actually believe they’d do it this way.

“Like me, I think Republicans will look back on their work today and ask themselves, ‘How did we do?’ They gave Americans less than two days to evaluate a bill that will radically restructure the Medicaid program…shift trillions of dollars onto states, forcing them to ration care…and rip health coverage away from 30 million people.

“I think my Republican colleagues will also find that the numbers will speak for themselves.

Engel: GOP Not Waiting for CBO Score Shows Their Health Bill Won’t Work

Congressman Eliot L. Engel, a top member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, offered the following statement during today’s mark-up of the Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (as prepared for delivery):

“Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

“Republicans’ decision to charge ahead on this bill, less than two days after its introduction, is an affront to their constituents who are wondering how the bill would affect them. But it’s also an indication that they’re quite content to break one of the White House’s central promises: the promise to, quote, ‘come up with a new plan that's going to be better health care, for more people, at a lesser cost.’

“The mere fact that this markup is taking place shows that our Republican colleagues either aren’t concerned with providing health care for more people at a lesser cost, or they know they can’t do it. Why? Because the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has yet to determine how much this bill would cost, or how many Americans it would cover. Without that analysis, there is absolutely no reason to believe that this bill would achieve those goals. Because if it did, Republicans would have held this markup with a readout from CBO in-hand, ready and willing to show Americans how their repeal bill works for them.  

“Now, I’ve heard suggestions that CBO’s process is too lengthy, and that we can’t possibly wait to see a CBO analysis before moving forward.

Republicans have been promising a better way for seven years.

“I have never heard of a CBO analysis taking that long.

“If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle wish to move forward without knowing what their bill costs, or how many Americans it would cover, that is their prerogative. But perhaps it’s time to be upfront about it: they aren’t waiting for a CBO score, either because they aren’t concerned with giving better health care to more people at a lesser cost, or because they know that this bill can’t do it.

Local Advocates Rally Outside Rep. Engel’s Office to Say “Thank You” for Protecting Women’s Health

A group of local Planned Parenthood advocates rallied outside the Bronx district office of Congressman Eliot Engel on Tuesday to thank the Congressman for his continued efforts to protect and preserve women’s health and reproductive rights in Congress.

“I want to thank the individuals who came to my office yesterday sporting signs of support and encouragement—I am deeply humbled by the gesture” CongressmanEngel said. “The new Administration’s radical agenda has taken direct aim at women’s health, and in these uncertain times its more important than ever that we stand together to ensure our collective voices are heard. I find it ironic that as we celebrate International Women’s Day, during Women’s History Month, we are simultaneously watching the Republicans in Congress try to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which has provided vital care to millions of women across the country. We cannot allow the GOP to undo the progress we have made over the last 8 years and I intend to fight their repeal process tooth and nail in the coming days and weeks.

“There has been a tremendous amount of enthusiasm at the grassroots level since November and it’s pretty inspiring. I don’t think I’ve seen this much political activism in decades. We need to keep this momentum going and I will continue to do all I can to fight for the issues we hold dear down in Washington.”  

Former Executive Director Of The Ramapo Local Development Corporation Pleads Guilty To Securities Fraud And Conspiracy Charges

   Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that N. AARON TROODLER, the former Executive Director of the Ramapo Local Development Corporation (“RLDC”), pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel to conspiring with Ramapo Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence to commit securities fraud as a result of a scheme to defraud investors in municipal bonds issued by the RLDC and the Town of Ramapo (the “Town”). This case is believed to be the first conviction for federal securities fraud in connection with municipal bond issuances.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As we said at the time of his arrest, N. Aaron Troodler defrauded both the citizens of Ramapo and thousands of investors around the country, helping to sell over $150 million of municipal bonds on fabricated financials. Today, Troodler has admitted to committing securities fraud. This guilty plea, in what we believe to be the first municipal bond-related criminal securities fraud prosecution, is a big step in policing and bringing accountability to the $3.7 trillion municipal bond market.”

According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Information to which TROODLER pled guilty today and the related Indictment of TROODLER’s co-conspirator, Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence:

As of August 2015, the Town had more than $128 million in outstanding bonds that had been issued for various municipal purposes, while the RLDC, a corporation created and owned by the Town under state law, had issued $25 million in bonds to pay for the construction of Provident Bank Park (now Palisades Credit Union Park), a minor league baseball stadium in Ramapo.

The Indictment and Superseding Information charge that St. Lawrence and TROODLER lied to investors in the Town’s and RLDC’s bonds in order to conceal the deteriorating state of the Town’s finances and the inability of the RLDC to make scheduled payments of principal and interest to holders of its bonds from its own money.

While the fraud predated the construction of the stadium, the Town’s financial problems were caused largely by the $58 million total cost of the stadium. The Town paid more than half of that cost, despite the rejection of the Town’s guarantee of bonds to pay for construction of the stadium in a Town-wide referendum in 2010 and St. Lawrence’s public statements that no public money would be used to pay for the stadium.

The defendants lied to investors primarily by making up false assets in the Town’s General Fund. The General Fund is the Town’s primary operating fund. The accumulated difference over time between how much money the Town receives in taxes and fees and how much it spends in a year is the fund’s balance. The fund balance is a cushion that can be spent during difficult financial times. The size of the fund balance relative to the amount of the fund’s revenue and trends in a town’s General Fund balance over time are the primary indicators of the town’s financial health.

The Indictment alleges that St. Lawrence lied to the RLDC’s bond rating service in January 2013 when he told them in a telephone call that the 2012 fund balance would remain unchanged from the 2011 balance. Immediately after that call ended, St. Lawrence told Town employees “to do [an upcoming] refinancing of the short term debt as fast as possible because . . . we’re going to have to all be magicians to get to some of those numbers.”

The Indictment and the Superseding Information also allege that St. Lawrence and TROODLER told investors in the Town’s and RLDC’s bonds that the RLDC was making the payments on its bonds from its operating revenue, meaning money it was making from its ordinary business of running the baseball stadium and selling condominiums at a development it had built. That was important to investors because it led them to believe that the Town would not have to pay off the RLDC’s $25 million bonds. It also made the RLDC’s bonds look less risky. The RLDC actually made those payments from money TROODLER borrowed from the bank or money TROODLER obtained from the Town at St. Lawrence’s direction.

When the RLDC issued $25 million in bonds to build the stadium building itself in 2011, St. Lawrence inflated the size of the Town’s General Fund by including a false $3.6 million receivable in the General Fund. The Town’s financial condition was important to investors in the RLDC’s bonds because the Town guaranteed the payments of principal and interest on the bonds. Without that fake asset, the General Fund’s balance would have been negative in that year.

In addition, St. Lawrence inflated the General Fund with another fake receivable for $3.08 million from 2010 through 2015. It first went on the Town’s books when the RLDC agreed to buy property known as The Hamlets from the Town for $3.08 million. That sale never closed because the land turned out to be a habitat for rattlesnakes. Rather than take the receivable off the Town’s books – and reduce the size of the General Fund balance by $3.08 million, thereby creating a negative balance – St. Lawrence claimed the receivable had to do with the RLDC’s purchase of another property from the Town that had already taken place. To keep it on the books, St. Lawrence then caused the Town Attorney to tell the Town’s auditors over a period of years that the receivable would be paid back within a year, which was required if the receivable was going to stay in the General Fund. Without this fake receivable alone, the Town’s General Fund balance would have been negative for years.

In May 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) searched Town Hall in connection with this investigation. Less than 10 days later, St. Lawrence inflated another receivable in the General Fund – this one for money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) to reimburse the Town for expenses from Hurricanes Irene and Sandy. St. Lawrence claimed that the Town was going to receive $3.145 million from FEMA when the Town hadn’t even submitted those claims to FEMA yet. Without St. Lawrence’s inflation of this receivable alone, the projected General Fund balance for 2012 would have been negative when the Town sold bonds in May 2013.

Finally, the Indictment alleges that St. Lawrence also inflated the General Fund balance by making more than $12 million in transfers from the Town’s Ambulance Fund to the General Fund from 2009 to 2014. The group of properties in Ramapo that pays into the Ambulance Fund is different from the group of properties that pays into the General Fund. Under state law, transfers between funds with different tax bases can only be loans. St. Lawrence told the auditors that the two funds had the same tax base to justify the transfers.

TROODLER, 42, of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, pled guilty to one count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

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

TROODLER is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Seibel on September 18, 2017, at 3:30 p.m.

The charges against Christopher St. Lawrence contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the FBI and the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office. He also thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for their assistance in the investigation.

Long Island Business-Owner Sentenced For Diverting Over $1.6 Million From His Companies And Evading Taxes

   Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOSEPH CICCARELLA was sentenced last Friday to 18 months in prison for evading taxes on over $1.6 million that he siphoned from construction-related companies he owned to use for personal purposes. Through the scheme, CICCARELLA evaded over $280,000 in personal income taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). CICCARELLA pled guilty on November 3, 2016, before United States District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who imposed today’s sentence.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Joseph Ciccarella used his companies and third party vendors as a means to funnel over $1.6 million for his own use without paying his proper share of taxes on that money. Ciccarella would issue checks from his companies claiming they were corporate expenses when in fact they were sham checks that would simply be cashed and be returned to him for his use. For his tax fraud scheme, Ciccrealla will now face 18 months in federal prison. We thank the IRS Criminal Investigation for the terrific work on this case.”

According to the allegations in the Information to which CICCARELLA pled guilty, other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, and statements made in court proceedings:

CICCARELLA was the owner of two New York companies involved in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning business – BSI Consulting (“BSI”) and KMS Mechanical (“KMS”). During the period 2009-2012, CICCARELLA drew numerous checks on the bank accounts of BSI and KMS and made them payable to third party corporate entities, even though those third party companies performed no services for, and provided no goods to, CICCARELLA’s companies. Instead, CICCARELLA had entered into a corrupt arrangement with the owners of the payee companies that the checks he drew on the accounts of BSI and KMS would be cashed at check cashers in the New York metropolitan area and the cash returned to CICCARELLA, less a fee CICCARELLA paid to the third parties for cashing the checks.

Between 2009 and 2012, CICCARELLA siphoned over $1.6 million from BSI and KMS in this fashion, which monies he caused to be falsely listed on the books and tax returns of those companies as “cost of goods sold.” CICCARELLA did not pay taxes on the funds he siphoned from his companies even though he used those funds for personal purposes, such as to provide funding for a separate set of companies he owned, as well as to pay for personal expenses.

In addition to his prison term, CICCARELLA, 54, of Glen Head, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. CICCARELLA had previously paid the $284,000 in restitution that was due the IRS.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the IRS, Criminal Investigations.

A.G. Schneiderman Announces Indictment Of Queens Woman Charged With Stealing The Identities Of Three Nursing Home Residents

Channel Francis Allegedly Added Her Identifying Information To The Credit Card Accounts Of Multiple Nursing Home Residents And Used Their Credit To Purchase Items Including Handbags And Electronics 

   Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the indictment and arraignment of Channel Francis, 40, of Rosedale, on charges related to her fraudulent use of credit cards in the names of three elderly residents of the Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation in Queens.

“It is unconscionable for someone to exploit vulnerable and elderly nursing home residents for personal financial gain,” said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. “Those who seek to defraud New Yorkers will be held accountable.”

In papers unsealed today in New York State Supreme Court, Queens County, prosecutors allege that the defendant stole the identities of the three nursing home residents.  In the fall of 2013, family members of three elderly residents of Parker Jewish reported unauthorized purchases on their loved one’s credit cards.  After reporting the fraudulent purchases to the credit card companies, the New York City Police Department, and the New York State Department of Health, the case was referred to the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU).

Prosecutors allege that the defendant used the elderly victims’ credit to purchase luxury items such as iPads, computers, high definition televisions, and designer handbags, among other items.  Video surveillance recorded the defendant using credit cards inside of multiple stores at times that credit card records reflect the use of the victims’ credit cards.  The defendant also used an e-mail address which contained her name when making internet purchases, and she had items shipped to her home. Francis was able to receive the information from an employee who worked at nursing home. 

A Grand Jury sitting in Queens County returned an indictment against Francis charging her with three counts of Identity Theft in the First Degree, a class D felony, and two counts of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class E felony.  The defendant pled not guilty when arraigned before Justice Barry Kron of the New York State Supreme Court, Queens County.  If convicted, Francis could face up to twenty-one years in state prison. 

The Attorney General encourages New Yorkers to check credit card and bank statements carefully for any unauthorized activity. Consult the Attorney General’s full tips to protect against Identity theft.

The Attorney General would like to thank the New York State Department of Health, the New York City Police Department, the Queens County District Attorney’s Office, and Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation for their assistance and cooperation in this investigation. 

The charges filed in this case are merely accusations.  The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. 

Congressman Adriano Espaillat Statement on GOP ACA Repeal Bill

   Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) issued the following statement today in opposition to the Republican proposed bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 

“I stand in strong opposition to the Republican proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act as this is a rushed bill that was written behind closed doors,” said Rep. Espaillat.

“Procedurally, we have not seen a CBO score of this bill, nor have we held hearings on its impact.  The effect this bill will have on health care costs for families or the quality of coverage families will receive are completely unknown.

“This bill guts federal requirements for essential health benefits, shatters working Americans’ access to insurance-covered abortions, creates age-based subsidies, repeals all of the ACA taxes, and destroys Medicaid expansion.  Nearly 11 million people nationwide will lose their health insurance coverage because of this reckless dismantling of Medicaid, and 156,400 residents in my district will lose coverage with the repeal of Medicaid expansion.

“This bill is an absolute nightmare, and I implore my colleagues to stand with me to protect the healthcare for millions of Americans.”

BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER

Defendant Fired Several Times at Two Men; Kept Shooting As Victim Lay Wounded

  Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that a Bronx man has been sentenced to two consecutive prison terms totaling twenty years for firing multiple gunshots at two Bronx men, causing significant injuries. 

  District Attorney Clark said “The defendant nearly ended the life of two young men and callously stood over the injured body of one in order to get a closer shot. For this senseless crime, he will serve two decades behind bars.” 

  District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Kelvin Busgith, 21, of 1769 Eastburn Avenue, was sentenced on March 3, 2017 by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Ralph Fabrizio to 14 years for Attempted Murder. The time will run consecutive to a six year sentence for firstdegree Assault and will be followed by five years post-release supervision. Busgith was convicted by a jury on February 3, 2017 after a month-long trial. He was also sentenced to five years for second-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, which will run concurrently. 

  According to trial testimony, on the evening of April 22, 2014, Busgith fired at Steffon Persad, 26, and Yogesh Lokhai, 27, while chasing them down Eastburn Avenue. After hitting Lokhai in the leg, Busgith stood over his fallen body and fired three more shots. He also shot Persad in the shoulder. Both victims survived their wounds.

Statement from NYC Comptroller Scott M. Stringer on Reports of Federal Cuts to the New York City Housing Authority

   “And so it begins. We all have long known that leadership in Washington seeks to shred the social safety net by slashing funding for those who need it most. Last year, we put out a report laying out those potential federal cuts to our city. Now, it’s happening — and it’s starting with NYCHA. The White House is actively targeting our most vulnerable citizens. It’s wrong.

“NYCHA houses five percent of the city, including tens of thousands of children. It mitigates our affordability challenges, and if future cuts happen, it could exacerbate an already record homeless crisis. That means that if we want to protect the safety net down the road, and if we want to prepare for whatever comes ahead, we must take steps to save now.”

​In November, Comptroller Stringer released a report outlining the impacts of potential Federal aid cuts. That analysis can be found here.

STATEMENT FROM MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO ON HOUSE REPUBLICANS’ EFFORTS TO REPEAL THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

   

  "Repealing the Affordable Care Act, which has brought quality health care and financial stability to tens of millions of people, would be a disaster for New Yorkers. While the Affordable Care Act asks wealthy Americans to pitch in to make sure everyone has access to health care, the Republican bill does the opposite. The rich get a tax cut and working families pay more for less care. Now that they're finally being honest about their plan, it's time to build a grassroots movement to stop it."