100PercentBronx

Saturday, May 4, 2024

Two Men Sentenced for Defrauding JetBlue

In federal court in Brooklyn, Julien Levy and Keily Nunez were sentenced by United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen to 20 and 40 months in prison, respectively, for defrauding JetBlue Airways of approximately $10 million. Levy and Nunez pleaded guilty to committing honest services wire fraud in June and July 2023, respectively.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, announced the sentence.

“These defendants shamelessly lined their own pockets by diverting millions of dollars in airline part contracts to entities they controlled,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “This sentence sends a clear message that those who betray the trust of their employers by disrupting marketplaces for their own personal gain will be held to account.”

Mr. Peace thanked Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation for their assistance with the investigation.

“The defendants abused their positions of power to orchestrate a scheme that defrauded JetBlue Airways out of millions of dollars. Levy and Nunez went as far as manipulating the identity of a deceased airline employee to circumvent the company’s policies and procedures with the sole intention of enriching themselves. Today they face the consequences of their unbound greed," said HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ivan J. Arvelo. "I commend HSI New York and our law enforcement and private sector partners for stemming this corruption before it ultimately impacted well-meaning customers.”

Between approximately July 2017 and June 2021, Nunez and another JetBlue employee accepted bribes from Levy in exchange for approving more than $1.5 million in aircraft part invoices between JetBlue and Levy’s company, Summit Aviation Supply LLC. Nunez also accepted bribes in connection with his approval of more than $8.5 million in aircraft part invoices between JetBlue and Alaris Aerospace Systems LLC, a Florida-based aircraft parts seller a co-conspirator controlled. Nunez was previously sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in connection with this role in a separate scheme to defraud the United States Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program of approximately $1.5 million through the submission of false loan applications.

Statement from Speaker Adams on Requesting an Official NYPD Inspector General Investigation of NYPD’s Social Media Policies, Practices, and Operations

On Friday, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams requested that the Department of Investigation’s Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD conduct an official investigation and review of the NYPD’s policies, practices, and operations on their use of social media, pursuant to Local Law 70 of 2013. The NYPD’s recent use official social media accounts have targeted public officials and members of the public in ways that can be construed as intimidating, dangerous, and veering into political activity, in conflict with City laws and policies. After submitting the request, Speaker Adams released the following statement:

“The recent deployment of official NYPD social media accounts to aggressively target public officials and civilians in our city, use dog whistles that can lead to threats and violence, and convey inaccurate information, is dangerous, unethical and unprofessional. New Yorkers rely on agency officials to provide essential information, and these latest activities diverge from the department’s core mission and responsibilities. This recent behavior undermines public confidence in the department at a time when public safety requires stronger trust, and sends a bad message to the rank-and-file officers of our city simply wanting to perform their basic duties. In addition to supporting the investigation of NYPD Chief of Patrol’s Chell’s posts for violating city laws that prohibit the use of city resources for political purposes, I have requested that the Department of Investigation’s Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD urgently conduct an official investigation and review that produces a subsequent report on the NYPD’s policies, practices, and operations related to its use of social media.”

Bronx Man Sentenced To 12 Years In Prison For Shooting

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOSEPH ORENGO JR. was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a shooting on September 7, 2021, on a residential street in the Bronx and conspiracy to distribute narcotics, including fentanyl. ORENGO previously pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti, who imposed the sentence.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “This Office has been steadfast in its commitment to ending the scourge of gun violence on the streets of New York City. The defendant chose to fire multiple rounds on a residential street in the Bronx in broad daylight. He put the safety of New Yorkers at risk and terrorized a public space. This sentence sends a clear message: this must stop. If you fire a gun on the streets of New York City as part of drug dealing, you will go to prison.”

According to statements made in public court proceedings and filings and a video of the attempted shooting:

On September 7, 2021, ORENGO confronted a man on a residential street in the Bronx over a disputed drug debt. As that man drove away, ORENGO fired two shots at him:

Image of the defendant firing two shots at the victim

The shooting occurred at approximately 11:35 a.m., as bystanders were walking down the block.

In addition to his prison term, ORENGO, 29, of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of Homeland Security Investigations and the New York City Police Department.

BTC-e Operator Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy

Exchange Moved Over $9B Worth of Transactions; Defendant Caused Criminal Losses in Excess of $100M

A Russian national pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering related to his role in operating the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e from 2011 to 2017.

According to court documents, Alexander Vinnik, 44, was one of the operators of BTC-e, which was one of the world’s largest virtual currency exchanges. From its inception in or around 2011 until it was shut down by law enforcement in or around July 2017 contemporaneous with Vinnik’s arrest, BTC-e processed over $9 billion-worth of transactions and served over one million users worldwide, including numerous customers in the United States.

“This result shows how the Justice Department, working with international partners, reaches across the globe to combat cryptocrime,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “This guilty plea reflects the Department’s ongoing commitment to use all tools to fight money laundering, police crypto markets, and recover restitution for victims.”

BTC-e was one of the primary ways by which cyber criminals around the world transferred, laundered, and stored the criminal proceeds of their illegal activities. BTC-e received criminal proceeds of numerous computer intrusions and hacking incidents, ransomware attacks, identity theft schemes, corrupt public officials, and narcotics distribution rings. Vinnik operated BTC-e with the intent to promote these unlawful activities and was responsible for a loss amount of at least $121 million.

Despite doing substantial business in the United States, BTC-e was not registered as a money services business with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), as federal law requires. BTC-e had no anti-money laundering (AML) and/or “know-your-customer” (KYC) processes and policies in place, as federal law also requires. BTC-e collected virtually no customer data at all, which made the exchange attractive to those who desired to conceal criminal proceeds from law enforcement.

BTC-e relied on shell companies and affiliate entities that were similarly unregistered with FinCEN and lacked basic anti-money laundering and KYC policies to electronically transfer fiat currency in and out of BTC-e. Vinnik set up numerous such shell companies and financial accounts across the globe to allow BTC-e to conduct its business.

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

In 2017, FinCEN announced that it assessed an approximately $110 million civil money penalty against BTC-e for willfully violating U.S. AML laws, and a $12 million civil penalty against Vinnik for his role in the violations.

The FBI; IRS Criminal Investigation’s Cyber Crime Unit and Oakland Field Office; U.S. Secret Service Criminal Investigative Division; and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are investigating the case. The lengthy investigation was supported by numerous former prosecutors and investigators from multiple agencies.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance in securing the extradition of Vinnik. The Justice Department thanks the Government of Greece for its cooperation in securing Vinnik’s transfer to the United States.

THREE TEENAGE BOYS INDICTED FOR KILLING BYSTANDER AND WOUNDING FOUR PEOPLE IN SUBWAY SHOOTING

Defendants Are 14, 15 and 16 Years Old; They Fired at Least 19 Shots on Crowded Platform During Gang Shootout

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that three Bronx teenagers have been indicted for second-degree Murder and additional charges for allegedly engaging in a shootout between their rival gangs at the Mount Eden Avenue subway station, killing a man and injuring four other people.

District Attorney Clark said, “Once again we are talking about boys getting their hands on guns and destroying lives. The defendants allegedly fired their weapons during rush hour, on a busy platform, killing a man and seriously hurting four other people. They have also ruined their futures. This carnage must stop, and we all need to step up and make a difference before youths decide to pick up a gun.”

District Attorney Clark said the defendants, Langel Jones, 16, a 15-year-old boy and a 14- year-old boy, all of the Bronx, were indicted on second-degree Murder, and variously charged with Attempted Murder in the second-degree, first degree Assault, second degree Assault, Attempted Assault first and second degree, Reckless Endangerment in the first and second degree, and second-degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon. They have all been arraigned before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Gayle Roberts and remanded. Jones’ case was adjourned to June 11, 2024, and the others are due back in court on June 6, 2024, and July 30, 2024.

According to the investigation, on February 12, 2024, at approximately 4:35 p.m., at the Mount Eden subway station on the 4-train platform, the defendants acting in concert with each other allegedly fired at least 19 shots during the course of a shootout between the Davidson Avenue Boys Mac Ballers and the Burnside Money Getters. All three defendants allegedly possessed a gun and fired it during the shootout, resulting in the death of Beltran Sanchez, 35, who was shot in the chest. Four other straphangers suffered wounds ranging from being shot in the face, arm, foot, and hand. One of the juvenile defendants also suffered a gunshot wound.

District Attorney Clark also thanked NYPD Detectives Mark Buono, Robert Riley, Sean Kelly, Christopher Layton, Jose Mercedes, Carolyn Daley, of the 44 Precinct Detective Squad, and NYPD Police Officers Vincent Fortino, Michael Meneses, Xavier Perez, Nicholas Santomero, and Hanna Cottignies, of the 44 Precinct, NYPD Detectives Faton Alickaj, Brianna Constantino, Arelis Collazo of the Bronx Homicide Squad, NYPD Detective Lahman Sanders of the Regional Fugitive Task Force, and all responding members of the NYPD’s 44 Precinct and Transit District 11 for their work on the investigation.

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.

Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on Women’s Reproductive Health

Governor Hochul and leaders pose for a photo.

Governor Kathy Hochul updated New Yorkers on women’s reproductive health.

I do want to note, we're talking about women's health care, and our celebration here in New York, it's a little bit bittersweet because we know what we're doing here in the State of New York to protect women during pregnancy, new babies, making sure they're healthy, but also making sure that women have options, that reproductive choices are their own.

So, what is happening here is so different than what we're seeing across the nation. In the last 24 hours, we saw what happened in the State of Florida after a draconian abortion ban in a state that was one of the few refugees for people to go to who needed abortion services. And now that is basically gone. Six weeks, I’ll just crudely say, it's a joke. Most women do not know they're pregnant after six weeks. I certainly did not.

So, it's basically saying women have no rights to an abortion in the State of Florida. And this is not just for women who want to make decisions about when they want to time their families, but also women who may be desirous of a new baby and a healthy baby and circumstances of a change in a devastating way. Sometimes the cribs are already bought and the baby's room is painted and the showers are done and something takes a terrible turn of events. And we're also limiting women's options there as well. So, physicians in Florida are sounding the alarm that literally women's lives will be at risk.

On the other hand, we saw in Arizona a couple of outlier, brave Republicans, who crossed the line and voted with the Democrats to protect reproductive rights because as we know, the Republican-controlled State Court resurrected an abortion ban that was on the books since, yes, the Civil War. So, we're really hopeful, and the Governor of Arizona is a good friend of mine, and I know she'll do the right thing. So, at least there's a little bit of respite for the people in that state.

And then you also pay attention to the national news. Can't make this up, but Donald Trump said he supports prosecuting women who have an abortion. Yes, he said that. He won't rule out a national abortion ban, and he won't rule out banning IVF, which for so many families in this country is the only option they have to start a family that they want to have.

But we are in New York. We'll continue to stand tall, always be that safe harbor for women, and women in the State of New York know that as long as I'm their Governor, I will fight every battle that comes our way to ensure that these rights are protected here.

DEC Now Accepting Public Comments on Threatened and Endangered Species Regulations

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Comments Accepted until July 16

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced the start of a public comment period for threatened and endangered species draft regulations. While no specific substantial changes to existing threatened and endangered species protections are included in the rulemaking, DEC is accepting comments until July 16, 2024.

The proposed rulemaking reinstates regulatory language that was vacated as a result of a recent court ruling. The proposal would re-issue the entirety of the endangered and threatened species regulations as they existed prior to the 2022 court decision and provide for a public comment period and public hearing to restore the regulations to their previous form. There are no substantial changes to the regulations being made through this effort, beyond updating the dates to the most recent publication of federal regulations that are referenced within the regulations.

Comments will be accepted through close of business on July 16, 2024 and must be submitted in writing to wildliferegs@dec.ny.gov (subject: “Repromulgation”) or to: NYSDEC, Attn: Dan Rosenblatt, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754.

DEC is holding two virtual public hearing sessions on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. The draft regulations and details for the hearing and comment period are available on DEC's website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/propregulations.html#public.

Additional information on New York’s Endangered Species Regulations is available on the DEC website at https://dec.ny.gov/nature/animals-fish-plants/biodiversity-species-conservation/endangered-species/regulations.