Attorney General Letitia James Announces Settlement With Long Island Developer For Entering Into Sales Contracts At Prices Above Those Disclosed In Offering Plan

Developer Must Forfeit $60,000 and Pay a $15,000 Penalty For Violating the Martin Act 

  Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement with Bayport Meadow Estates, LLC and Demetrius A. Tsunis requiring them to lower sales prices on 4 units a total of $60,000 and imposing a $15,000 penalty for violating the Martin Act by entering into sales contracts at prices above those disclosed in the offering plan. The developer and Mr. Tsunis have also agreed to implement appropriate policies and procedures to ensure that no other units in this condominium or units in any of their other projects are offered at inflated prices. 

“New Yorkers have a right to know the maximum price a developer can ask for a condominium so they can make an informed decision about one of the potentially largest purchases in their lives,” said Attorney General Letitia James. 

Under New York law, a condominium’s offering plan must, among other things, identify the maximum price a developer can ask for a condominium unit.  Disclosing such information is crucial for purchasers, as it allows purchasers to know the maximum legal asking price for a condominium unit and prevents price gouging.  Here, however, the developer entered into several contract in excess of these maximum prices.  

In the settlement, Bayport Meadows Estates and Mr. Tsunis admitted that they violated New York law by marketing and entering into sales contracts at sales prices higher than the maximum legal price for condominium units located in the Bayport Meadow Estates project. 

Under the terms of the settlement, Bayport Meadow Estates and Mr. Tsunis have amended the sales contracts to reduce the sales prices to the maximum legal prices and will pay a penalty of $15,000. 

Council Member Ruben Diaz Sr - My Statement on Sexual Harassment Legislation in the New York City Council

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

By Councilman, Rubén Díaz Sr.

District 18 Bronx County, New York

My Statement on Sexual Harassment Legislation in the New York City Council

You should know that I congratulate my colleagues, New York City Council Members Helen Rosenthal and Ritchie Torres for introducing the much needed legislation for elected officials and managers to report sexual harassment.

I am ready, willing and looking forward to co-sponsoring and supporting this wonderful piece of legislation.

I am Council Member Reverend Rubén Díaz, and this is what you should know.

STATEMENT FROM STATE SENATORS BIAGGI & RIVERA & ASSEMBLYMEMBER YUH-LINE NIOU REGARDING RUBEN DIAZ SR.’S REFUSAL TO REPORT SEXUAL HARASSMENT

  At sensitivity training for New York City Council members, councilmember Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr. stated that he would not “rat” if he saw sexual harassment in the Council’s offices. Rev. Diaz demonstrated total and complete disregard for the safety of people in the workplace.

Since it is the obligation of City Council members and other managers to report sexual harassment, the Council must make it clear that Rev. Diaz or anyone else who refuses to perform this important duty will face substantial discipline.

It would be hypocritical for government to enforce standards in the private sector if we cannot uphold these standards ourselves. Allowing Rev. Diaz to refuse to report workplace harassment would undermine the integrity of the Council, threatens the people who work there, and sets a terrible precedent that reporting is somehow elective rather than a responsibility.

Reverend Diaz's behavior is unacceptable. As a City, we must continue to be clear that there is no room for willful neglect of a City official’s responsibility to maintain the safety of New Yorkers.

We support the bills proposed today by Councilmembers Helen Rosenthal and Ritchie Torres to strengthen the Council’s position on reporting harassment.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. - Bronx Week Grand Finale Concert!

Michael A. Blake - 45 Days?? Thats ridiculous

  I’ve had enough!!!

 

The Trump Administration and Mayor De Blasio are making us wait ANOTHER 45 DAYS before they pick a permanent CEO to lead the New York City Housing Authority. Are you serious??  Have they no sense of decency???

Our brothers and sisters who live in public housing, especially in The Bronx, continue to live in deplorable conditions such as no heat, no hot water, window sills still coated in lead paint, rodents, roaches and many other forms of unsanitary living conditions. We are tired of waiting, and, we demand that people have basic living conditions that will not endanger their health.

I am running for Congress to fight for our people in public housing who need a voice to demand justice and for the resources from the federal government that we deserve. No child, mother or father should ever have to live in these conditions. I will continue to be their voice.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. -- REMINDER: Break the Fast Together

Jeremy Reichberg Sentenced To 48 Months In Prison For Orchestrating NYPD Bribery Scheme And Obstructing Justice

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JEREMY REICHBERG was sentenced to 48 months in prison for bribery, corruption, and obstruction offenses related to his participation in a years-long scheme to bribe numerous high-ranking members of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”).  Specifically, on January 2, 2019, REICHBERG was convicted of conspiracy, honest services fraud, and bribery charges after a two-month trial.  Today’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods.    

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “For years, Jeremy Reichberg forged corrupt relationships with law enforcement through a stream of illegal payments and financial benefits.  In doing so, he eroded public confidence in the lifeblood of the City – an impartial New York City Police Department that treats all citizens equally.  He then attempted to cover it up by hiding evidence of his crimes.  Rather than buying himself special treatment and influence, Reichberg’s efforts have secured him multiple federal convictions and a significant prison sentence.”

In imposing today’s sentence, Judge Woods said:  “Reichberg engaged in an extended scheme . . . [in which] the instruments of government became tools for [Reichberg’s] own personal advancement.  This case was about much more than dollars and cents. . . .  It is important that the public be able to trust that its public officials act without fear or favor rather than spending time and public resources catering to the whims of well-heeled donors.”

According to the Superseding Indictment and Complaint filed in this case, and evidence presented at trial:   

The Bribery Scheme

Between 2008 and 2015, REICHBERG and a co-conspirator, Jona Rechnitz, orchestrated a scheme in which REICHBERG and Rechnitz provided numerous high-level New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) officials with financial and other benefits in order to obtain police-related favors in return, as opportunities arose.  REICHBERG and Rechnitz provided an array of gifts to the officers, including travel, home improvements, premium tickets to sporting events, expensive meals, and access to prostitutes, in order to have the officers effectively “on call” to provide police-related favors as REICHBERG and Rechnitz requested.  REICHBERG perpetrated the scheme, among other reasons, to monetize his contacts with the NYPD.  In particular, REICHBERG was an all-purpose “expediter” for individuals in his community, and – as a self-styled “NYPD Liaison” and as state chaplain with the New York State Police (which he was not) – he was paid in order to assist people at large with their problems with the NYPD and other pockets of local government. 

Over the course of the scheme, REICHBERG and Rechnitz corrupted or attempted to corrupt several officers, including the Chief of Department for the NYPD, the highest ranking uniformed officer in the NYPD; his executive officer; a deputy inspector and commanding officer of an Upper East Side precinct; and others.  Among the actions that those officers took at the request of REICHBERG and/or Rechnitz were police escorts for them and their friends, assistance with private disputes and investigations, the exercise of influence in decisions involving arrests and post-arrest treatment of individuals, the issuance of gun permits to civilians; and the deployment of official police vehicles (including police boats and a helicopter).

Obstruction of Justice

The night before he was arrested, REICHBERG called his brother over to his residence. REICHBERG gave his brother several fistfuls of business cards and cell phones and asked him to “hold” them.  The business cards included contacts for numerous officers REICHBERG had cultivated during the conspiracy.  Several of the phones contained text messages with those officers, including contemporaneous communications concerning many of the official acts mentioned above.  The next morning, REICHBERG was arrested and the FBI executed a search warrant at his home.  REICHBERG’s brother attempted to leave the home with the items during the search, but was stopped and searched by an FBI agent, who recovered the items.

REICHBERG, 45, of Brooklyn, New York, was convicted at trial of one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, one substantive count of honest services fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice. 

Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Police Department, Internal Affairs Bureau, and the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office.  

tan U.S. Attorney Settles Civil Fraud Claims Against Medical Device Distributor For Selling Products Not Approved By The Fda

Distributor CareFusion Admits to Buying and Selling Unapproved Devices, Agrees to Pay $3.3 Million

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Jeffrey E. Shuren, M.D., director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), announced today that the U.S. has settled civil fraud claims under the False Claims Act against CAREFUSION CORPORATION (“CAREFUSION”), a medical device distributor based in San Diego, California, for buying and selling medical devices that were not approved or cleared by the FDA.  These unapproved and uncleared devices were then used by medical providers in medical procedures, and the providers submitted claims for reimbursement to federal healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, for those procedures.  As part of the settlement, approved May 7, 2019, by U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, CAREFUSION agreed to pay the Government $3.3 million and admitted to buying and selling medical devices that had not received the requisite approval or clearance from the FDA.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Medical devices that do not have the required FDA approval or clearance cannot be bought and sold for use on patients.  When unapproved devices are used in medical procedures, it presents a public health and safety risk, and federal health insurance programs should not foot the bill.  Medical device distributors must follow FDA rules and this Office will continue to hold them accountable when they don’t.”

Director Jeffrey E. Shuren, M.D. said:  “Americans rely on FDA oversight to ensure that their medical devices are safe and effective.  When companies sell devices without proper authorization, they may be putting patients’ health at risk.  We will continue to investigate and bring to justice companies that attempt to subvert the regulatory functions of the FDA, which are intended to protect the public health.  We commend the efforts of the Department of Justice for their vigorous pursuit of justice in this matter.”

Since 1976, many different kinds of medical devices must, depending on the degree of patient risk, be approved or cleared by the FDA before they can be marketed for use on patients.  There is a grandfather exception for medical devices that were legally in commerce prior to 1976, which are known as “pre-amendment” devices.  To qualify for pre-amendment status, the device’s owner (typically the manufacturer) must, among other things, have marketed the device prior to May 28, 1976. 

In the settlement, CAREFUSION admitted to distributing medical devices for which the device manufacturer (the “Manufacturer”) had not obtained the required approvals or clearances from the FDA and for which the Manufacturer could not demonstrate that the pre-amendment exception applied.  In particular, CAREFUSION admitted that:

• From 2007 to 2014, the Manufacturer sold devices for which the Manufacturer (i) had not obtained approval or clearance from the FDA to market; (ii) was relying on the pre-amendment status exemption to market, but (iii) lacked the required evidence to demonstrate that the devices qualified for the pre-amendment status exemption. 

• During that period, CAREFUSION purchased devices from the Manufacturer that the Manufacturer wrongly claimed qualified for the pre-amendment status exception, and then sold those devices to hospitals and other health care providers.

• Some of those devices were used in procedures for which providers submitted claims for reimbursement to federal health care programs.  

• While the Manufacturer provided CAREFUSION with the evidence on which it was relying to justify its claim that the devices qualified for the pre-amendment status exemption, that evidence was insufficient. 

• After the FDA issued a warning letter to the Manufacturer in 2014 and the Manufacturer issued recall notices for the devices at issue, CAREFUSION ceased selling and distributing the devices. 

 Of the $3.3 million that CAREFUSION agreed to pay under the settlement, $2,821,539.92 will go to the United States and $478,460.08 will go to states adversely affected by CAREFUSION’s conduct through separate settlements with those states.

In connection with this settlement, the United States joined a private whistleblower lawsuit that had previously been filed under seal pursuant to the False Claims Act.  The whistleblower suit remains under seal as the Government continues its investigation.

Mr. Berman thanked the FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for their invaluable assistance in this matter.