If Brooklyn District Leader Lori Maslow can be requested to resign over comments made about China and Chinese foodhttps://nypost.com/2021/01/29/brooklyn-district-leader-resigns-after-backlash-to-anti-china-comments/?fbclid=IwAR3-Dj_bLo99z7YEuSZGopkk7Pj4ZcpmkJpVr-39-HxCEJ7X4yiRVQjGSSU
Why is it that Bronx District Leader Marcos Sierra who Bronx Democratic Party Secretary Assembly Jeffrey Dinowitz said, mad a racially charged statement against a white member of the media not be requested to resign by the Bronx Democratic Party and its leader State Senator Jamaal Bailey.
The statement by 80th A.D. District Leader Marcos Sierra was "So you feel either of those contests can better benefit from an older white cis male running to represent a majority minority district huh?Robert Press".
I now call on Eric Dinowitz the District Leader from the 81st A.D., and candidate for the 11th City Council Special Election who is endorsed by the Bronx Democratic Party and State Senator Jamaal Bailey to demand that 80th A.D. District Leader Marcos Sierra resign or be removed from his district leader position by the Bronx Democratic Party and its leader State Senator Jamaal Bailey for the statement he said to a white member of the media, that your father Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz the Secretary to the Bronx Democratic Party called racially charged.
I also call for 11th City Council candidate Eric Dinowitz to renounce the endorsement of the Bronx Democratic Party and of State Senator Jamaal Bailey unless 80th A.D. District Leader either resign or be removed from his position immediately.
I also call on 80th A.D. Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez to call for her Male District Leader Marcos Sierra to resign or be removed by the Bronx Democratic Party Leader State Senator Jamaal Bailey for the racially charged statement he made to a white member of the media.
All other district leaders and elected officials should also call for 80th A.D. Male District Leader Marcos Sierra to resign or be removed by the the Bronx Democratic Party Leader State Senator Jamaal Bailey for the racially charged statement he made to a white member of the media.
With Bronx Positivity Rate Currently at a Concerning 7.6 Percent, Site Will Be Reserved for Bronx Residents
Development of Site Being Made Possible Through Partnership with New York City, SOMOS Community Care and the New York National Guard
Yankee Stadium Site to Bolster State's Commitment to Ensuring Fairness and Equity in Vaccine Distribution Process
Ten Additional Community Vaccination Kits Deployed to NYCHA Senior Housing Developments, Public Housing Sites in Rochester and Hempstead and Churches and Community Centers in the Bronx and Brooklyn to Vaccinate Over 3,800 People This Weekend
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a mass vaccination site at Yankee Stadium is under development through a partnership between New York State, New York City, SOMOS Community Care, the New York National Guard and the New York Yankees. With the Bronx positivity rate currently at a concerning 7.6 percent, this site will be reserved specifically for Bronx residents. Information concerning the opening of the facility and scheduling process will be released in the coming days.
Additionally, the Governor announced the deployment of ten more community vaccination kits to underserved communities. Specifically, kits are being deployed to four NYCHA Senior Housing Developments, 2 public housing sites in Rochester and Hempstead, and three church and community center locations in the Bronx and Brooklyn. The establishment of the Yankee Stadium site, as well as the deployment of these ten community vaccination kits, bolster New York State's efforts to equitably distribute the COVID-19 vaccine in communities that are underserved by traditional healthcare institutions.
Following this weekend's deployments and as the federal vaccine supply increases, New York will continue to deploy these kits until pop-up sites have been established at all 33 NYCHA Senior Housing Developments which house more than 7,600 seniors. Pop-up locations will also continue to be established at other public housing complexes statewide, as well as at more than 300 churches and cultural centers which have volunteered to house these sites through Governor Cuomo's Vaccine Equity Task Force.
"Bronx COVID positivity remains high and to help get it back under control, we will are partnering with New York City, SOMOS, the New York National Guard and the New York Yankees to establish a mass vaccination site at Yankee Stadium," Governor Cuomo said. "The undeniable fact is that COVID has killed Black and Brown communities at a higher rate than the white community, and the Bronx was not immune. Vaccine equity and protecting the communities that were hit the hardest by COVID remain our top priorities. By opening a mass vaccination site at Yankee Stadium we are sending a clear signal to Bronx residents: it's safe, it's effective, and it's the weapon that will win the war, but we will only be successful if everyone is on board."
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said, "This is exactly what it will take to defeat COVID and drive a recovery for all of us in New York City. I want to thank the Yankees for stepping up to the plate and the teamwork on display here to continue expanding our vaccination infrastructure in neighborhoods across the city. Our Vaccine For All campaign puts equity front and center, and this new site to exclusively serve the Bronx will be a real home run."
The New York Yankees said, "The New York Yankees are honored to participate in this partnership with Governor Andrew Cuomo, the State of New York, Mayor Bill De Blasio, the City of New York and SOMOS Community Care to open Yankee Stadium to provide vaccines to the people of the Bronx. The Yankees are committed to doing everything in their power to provide this vitally needed service to fight COVID-19."
SOMOS Community Care Chairman Dr. Ramon Tallaj said, "Not just for the Bronx, but for all of New York, Yankee Stadium stands for community, for home. It is a place where we watch heroes being made. And now, as we prepare to vaccinate our heroes, those living in the borough with the highest COVID positivity rate, it also stands for hope. It is an incredible honor to work with the city & state to vaccinate residents of the Bronx at this local landmark. Through our years of work treating underserved New Yorkers by emphasizing preventive care, and providing testing and vaccinations during this ongoing pandemic, my network has demonstrated the critical need for culturally competent, community-based health -- the importance of receiving critical care from doctors you know and trust, doctors who speak your language, share your stories, and understand your culture. Yankee Stadium offers the same comfort and familiarity as receiving care from a doctor who has treated local families for generations. And with a roll-out hindered by mistrust in hospitals, pharmacies, and the vaccines themselves, we are grateful that Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio recognize the vital need for community doctors like us to design an equitable vaccine program that takes the vaccine into the neighborhood, protecting the low-income, immigrant communities of color who have borne the brunt of COVID-19."
Major General Ray Shields, the Adjutant General of New York said, "The men and women of the New York National Guard having been helping our fellow New Yorkers battle the COVID pandemic since March 2020. We are extremely proud to assist with the State's massive vaccination goals. We currently have more than 2,500 New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen on duty across the State working to stem the pandemic and help get our communities back to normal."
The establishment of these vaccination sites utilizing New York's community vaccination kits was made possible through partnerships with SOMOS, Northwell Health, SUNY Stony Brook and Trillium Health. The ten sites are located at the addresses below:
Brooklyn
Carey Gardens
2315 Surf Avenue
Kingsborough Extension
447 Kingsborough 4th Walk
Brooklyn, NY
Opens Sunday, January 31 - 9AM - 5PM
Cornerstone Baptist Church
574 Madison Street
Brooklyn, NY
Opens Monday, February 1 - 9 AM-5PM
Gods Battalion of Prayer
661 Linden Boulevard
Brooklyn, NY
Opens Monday, February 1 - 9 AM-5PM
Bronx
Hempstead
Kennedy Memorial Park Senior Housing
335 Greenwich Street
Hempstead, NY
Opens Saturday, January 30 - 10AM-2PM
Rochester
Seneca Towers Housing Complex
200 Seth Green Drive
Rochester, NY
Open Saturday, January 30 - 10AM-5PM
This expanded deployment of Community Vaccination Kits furthers Governor Cuomo's goal of ensuring the fair and equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. In late 2020, the Governor announced the launch of New York's Vaccine Equity Task Force chaired by Secretary of State Rossana Rosado, Attorney General Letitia James, National Urban League President & CEO Marc Morial, and Healthfirst President & CEO Pat Wang. Since its establishment, the Task Force has continued work to ensure vulnerable and underserved communities are not left behind by breaking down the barriers to vaccination and ensuring there is equitable distribution of the vaccine across the state.
To facilitate this effort, New York has continued to build kits and work with public housing officials, churches, and community centers to support these efforts and deploy kits to the appropriate locations. Each kit includes step-by-step instructions for how to set up a site, and critical supplies and equipment such as:
Audrey Strauss, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that DAVID HU, a managing partner and the chief investment officer of the New York-based investment advisory firm International Investment Group (“IIG”), pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein to investment adviser fraud, securities fraud, and wire fraud offenses in connection with an over $100 million scheme to defraud IIG’s investment advisory fund clients and investors. Throughout the course of more than 10 years, HU perpetrated the scheme by, among other fraudulent actions, creating fictitious investments and overvaluing investments used to generate funds to pay off earlier investors in a Ponzi-like manner. In connection with his plea agreement, HU has also agreed to forfeit more than $129 million representing proceeds traceable to the commission of the offenses.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Today, David Hu admitted to shirking his fiduciary responsibilities and defrauding IIG funds and investors for more than a decade, causing millions of dollars of losses. Hu mismarked millions of dollars of loan assets, falsified paperwork to create fake loans, sold overvalued and fake loans and used the proceeds from those sales to pay off earlier investors, and falsified paperwork to deceive auditors and avoid scrutiny. He now faces a serious term of imprisonment.”
According to the allegations contained in the Information and based on statements made in Manhattan federal court:
Background of IIG
HU and a co-conspirator (“CC-1”) founded IIG in 1994. HU was a managing partner and the chief investment officer of IIG. IIG, an SEC-registered investment adviser, provided investment management and advisory services, including for three private funds that it operated: (1) the IIG Trade Opportunities Fund N.V. (“TOF”); (2) the IIG Global Trade Finance Fund, Ltd. (“GTFF”); and (3) the IIG Structured Trade Finance Fund, Ltd. (“STFF”). IIG also advised the Venezuela Recovery Fund (“VRF”), a fund that managed the remaining assets of a failed Venezuelan bank (VRF, together with TOF, GTFF, and STFF, the “IIG Funds”). In March 2018, IIG reported to the SEC that it had approximately $373 million in assets under management.
IIG advertised itself as specializing in global trade financing, particularly in providing trade finance loans to small and medium-sized businesses. IIG’s principal investment advisory strategy, including with respect to the IIG Funds, was investing in trade finance loans that it also originated. Trade finance loans are used by small and medium-sized companies, typically exporters and importers, to facilitate international trade. IIG’s purported expertise was in trade finance loans to borrowers located in Central or South America, and in a variety of industries, with a stated focus on “soft commodities,” such as coffee, agriculture, fishing, and other food products. IIG’s trade finance loans were purportedly secured by collateral, such as the underlying traded goods, assets held by the borrowers, or expected payments by third parties.
Investments in TOF, STFF, and GTFF were marketed by IIG to institutional investors, such as pension funds, hedge funds, and insurers. In offering memoranda and communications with investors, IIG advertised strict risk controls, such as promises to use diligence to carefully select borrowers or issuers with trusted management and marketable assets, and portfolio concentration limits based on borrower, developing country, and industry.
IIG purported to value the trade finance loans in the IIG Funds on a regular basis. IIG and, in turn, HU, received a performance fee with respect to the IIG Funds, as well as a management fee, which was calculated as a percentage of the assets under management held in the Funds.
The Scheme
From approximately 2007 to 2019, HU conspired to defraud investors in IIG-managed funds by: (i) overvaluing distressed loans held by the IIG Funds, (ii) falsifying paperwork to create a series of fake loans that were classified, fraudulently, as positively performing loans, and to otherwise hide losses, (iii) selling overvalued and fake loans to a collateralized loan obligation trust and new private funds established and advised by IIG, and (iv) using the proceeds from those fraudulent sales to generate liquidity required to pay off earlier investors in a Ponzi-like manner.
The scheme HU participated in involved, among other things:
DAVID HU, 63, of West Orange, New Jersey, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit investment adviser fraud, securities fraud, and wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Sentencing before Judge Hellerstein has been scheduled for June 17, 2021, at 9:00 a.m.
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.
Ms. Strauss praised the investigative work of the FBI and also thanked the SEC for its assistance.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Drew Skinner, Negar Tekeei, and Alex Rossmiller are in charge of the prosecution.
New York Attorney General Letitia James released the following statement in regards to recent activity related to the Robinhood application and the trading of GameStop stock:
“We are aware of concerns raised regarding activity on the Robinhood app, including trading related to the GameStop stock. We are reviewing this matter.
“Granting the CCRB unfettered access to body camera footage and disciplinary records is a welcome and long overdue change.
“However, this is a half-measure. As long as the Police Commissioner maintains final say on discipline, so-called civilian oversight will remain toothless. The Police Commissioner has overturned CCRB disciplinary recommendations in more than 70% of serious infractions in the last two decades, and only one CCRB investigation has resulted in the termination of an officer between January 2014 and May 2020.
“As I have called for, the City must end the Police Commissioner’s authority to treat CCRB investigations and recommendations as advisory — and instead grant the CCRB power to make final disciplinary decisions.
“The NYPD Office of Trials should be removed from Police Department jurisdiction and its judges should no longer be appointed by the Commissioner. The powers of the CCRB’s Administrative Prosecution Unit should be codified into law, the findings of all investigations should be fully transparent to the public, and the NYPD’s new disciplinary matrix must be amended so that the “presumptive penalty” for serious offenses is termination.
“We need to shake up, commit resources to, and actually empower the CCRB if we want real accountability.”
