Thursday, December 12, 2019
COUNCILMAN REV. RUBEN DIAZ, ASSEMBLYMAN MARCOS CRESPO AND THE 43rd POLICE PRECINCT ANNOUNCE THEIR CHRISTMAS SHOW
Councilman Rev. Rubén DÃaz, Assemblyman Marcos Crespo President of the Bronx County Democratic Party along with the 43rd Police Precinct, will hold a Christmas Show with music, food, entertainment for seniors, and toys for the first 500 children.
This annual event will be held this Saturday, December 14th, at 1:00 PM in Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club located at 1930 Randall Avenue (corner White Plains Rd.) in Bronx County.
The first 500 children who attend between the ages of 1 and 9 will receive a free toy.
Note: Children must be present to receive a toy.
For more information, contact Leila Martinez at 718-792-1140.
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
MAYOR DE BLASIO DISCUSSES THE CITY’S RESPONSE TO YESTERDAY’S ATTACK IN JERSEY CITY AND ANTI-SEMITISM IN NEW YORK CITY
I want to start by honoring the victims of yesterday’s horrific attack in Jersey City, and we feel their loss deeply here in this city. Moshe Deutsch, the son of Abe Deutsch – a well-known community leader in Williamsburg – was brutally murdered in this attack; Leah Ferencz, also originally from Brooklyn; and from Jersey City, Detective Joseph Seals of the Jersey City Police Department, brutally assassinated in the horrible, horrible attack.
We’re here at a very somber moment, we’re here at a very urgent moment for this city but also for this nation. Everyone is here sharing that same mix of sorrow and anger and urgency. I want to thank all the elected officials, the community leaders, the clergy who are present in common cause. We are all going to be working together, we have been working together for years, we are going to be working together even more intensely in the days to come. I want to thank the Executive Director of our Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, Deborah Lauter, who is leading an effort to work with communities all over the city to get at the root causes of the challenge we face.
You’ll hear from Commissioner Shea in a moment. I also want to thank Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison, Chief of Patrol Fausto Pichardo, and the Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counter Terrorism John Miller, everyone at the NYPD who will be involved in the efforts in the coming days to ensure the safety of our entire city and particularly of the Jewish community in this city.
We feel a lot of pain but we have to understand why this is a moment of urgency. This confirms a sad truth – there is a crisis of anti-Semitism gripping this nation, there is a crisis of anti-Semitism in this city. It has continued to take on a more and more violent form all over this country. Now we have seen this extraordinarily, extreme form of violence reach the doorstep of New York City and we have to take that as a warning sign. We have to understand, as I’ve heard from so many members of the Jewish community, that people are now living in constant fear. Members of the Jewish community have told me they no longer feel comfortable wearing anything that is a symbol of their faith for fear of an attack. That is absolutely unacceptable in a free society that anyone should have to feel that way from any faith, any background.
It’s unacceptable in a city that is meant to be for everyone and prides ourselves in respecting all people. It’s a national problem unquestionably but it is here now and we have to recognize that this is a crisis. There has been an uptick in hate crimes in this city directed against the Jewish community, some acts of vandalism and hateful symbolism, but some physical assaults. Until yesterday we had not seen in the New York metropolitan area for many years the level of violence directed at the Jewish community that we saw in Jersey City. And so we have to understand we’ve entered a new reality. No one is happy about it but we have to be honest about it.
What we saw yesterday was a premeditated violent anti-Semitic hate crime. In other words you can say it was an act of terror because it was premeditated, because it was violent, because it was directed at the Jewish community. There is still a lot we need to know. The investigation is preliminary and we only have some of the picture of what happened in Jersey City but it is enough to tell us that this was an act of hate and an act of terror.
Anti-Semitism – I don’t have to tell anyone here but it’s worth saying for all New Yorkers – anti-Semitism is not a new phenomenon, it is centuries old. I think at one point we hoped it was in decline, we hoped it had gone away, but it never went away. It just lay dormant in this country and in many other countries. And now it is coming out in the open. History teaches us to take these warning signs seriously. And we in New York City have to lead. We have to show our country what a vigorous response looks like and it will have to go farther than anything we’ve done previously.
So, to the members of the Jewish community of this city, my message is we will keep you safe. We will use the largest and best police force in this nation to protect you but we’re going to have to do a lot more at the community level to engage community members and community leaders of all communities in common cause to root out hate. I’ll say a few more words before turning to Commission Shea regarding the specific actions of the NYPD but I will say very crucially at the outset, that there, at this hour, are no credible and specific threats directed against New York City but that is not sufficiently comforting and that is why we are in a state of high alert.
I directed the NYPD last night to go into that state of high alert and to ensure that hundreds of officers would be assigned to dozens of crucial Jewish community locations around the city. That effort will grow and that effort will be ongoing. Commissioner Shea will go into detail. You will see visible and increased presence throughout the Jewish community for a number of days to come. That’s the first point for people to understand, that presence will be large and consistent over the coming days. It has started already.
Second point is, the NYPD has been building a new unit over the last weeks. We now want to publicly announce this unit. The acronym is R-E-M-E. That stands for Racial and Ethnically Motivated Extremism. The unit is focused on identifying any trends and any signs of racially and ethnically motivated extremism so that it can be acted on before any terror or any bias crime occurs. Commissioner Shea and Deputy Commissioner Miller will go into greater detail. This is a new unit within the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau. As I said it has been built up over the last weeks. It did not happen as a result of this horrible incident yesterday but this is the time to now talk publicly about the role of this unit and what it will do.
It will directly take on the hate groups that are trying to spread in this country and that pose a threat to so many communities. Last point, as I indicated we will be gathering community leaders across all faiths and backgrounds in common cause and with a sense of urgency to find any signs out there of potential acts of hate, to reach deeper into all our communities. Our Office to Prevent Hate Crimes will work on the long term solutions but right now we need to reach more deeply into our communities to find out where immediate threats exist. We will turn to faith leaders, elected officials, community leaders with a particular focus on Brooklyn where very sadly we’ve seen so much of the hate crime activity in this city.
We’ll have more to say on that in the next few days. But one thing I want to remind anyone who ever even ponders committing an act of hate in any way, if anyone out there is even thinking about committing an act of hate, the NYPD has proven that it will find you, it will prosecute you, and you will suffer the consequences. We have to be very clear we seek to move the people of this city in all the right and positive ways but for those who refuse to respect their fellow New Yorkers, there will be very serious consequences. And hate crimes – to make it very simply, once any crime is committed there will be consequences. Once it is proven it is a hate crime, there will be additional time in prison.
To close before turning to the Commissioner, history has shown us over and over again the danger of silence and no community understands this better than the Jewish community. Silence can be fatal. That means all of us have to speak up against hate, it means we all have to guard against the dangerous trends in our society. We cannot let them grow. But it means something more personal as well. It means confronting hate speech in our lives when we hear it, God forbid even from friends or family members. It means reporting anything that suggests the potential for an act of violence and a bias crime. I want to urge all New Yorkers to remember that phrase that we have lived by and has saved so many lives – if you see something, say something. That message has been heard and felt by New Yorkers for years. We remember in Chelsea, just a few years ago, an everyday New Yorker called in her concern about a package on the street and saved countless fellow New Yorkers when it turned out it was a live bomb.
Well, if you hear the kind of speech that suggests someone might be considering an act of violence, if you hear someone musing out loud about committing violence against the Jewish community or any community, we need you to call that in immediately. If you hear something, say something too. Call 9-1-1 or call 8-8-8-NYC-SAFE. Any and all information is needed. Do not hesitate. If you think you’ve heard something important, don’t hesitate, the NYPD needs to know it. That one phone call might save lives. So, everyone, this is all of our business.
This is a crisis and in a crisis we all ban together and we all take responsibility. I want to conclude by saying there are many people hurting today – our brothers and sisters in Jersey City – and I want to thank you, Commissioner, for the extraordinary support the NYPD provided yesterday to Jersey City in their hour of need. My heart goes out to the people of Jersey City, to Mayor Fulop, and all the people he represents. They are going through a lot of pain. The families who have lost their loved ones, the people who were injured.
But to all New Yorkers, remember today, members of our Jewish community are in pain right now. They are feeling beleaguered and attacked. They just saw something horrific happen on our doorstep. Offer your understanding and support whether you’re a member of the Jewish community or a member of another community. Offer your support today. And to our police officers, they have lost a brother. And one thing that I know from working closely with law enforcement, it doesn’t matter which part of law enforcement or which state our officers come from, whenever an officer is killed all other members of law enforcement feel that pain. So, offer your condolences and support to the members of the NYPD today. With that, I’ll turn to Commissioner Dermot Shea.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea: Good morning. Let me start by saying that every member of the New York City Police Department today, as the Mayor said, mourns our colleagues in Jersey City in the wake of this absolute tragedy, and we stand together as one. By all accounts, Detective Joe Seals, a husband, a married father of five children, was a stellar police officer. Highly skilled at doing his job, getting guns off the street, making the streets of Jersey City safer for all residents, a man truly dedicated to the people he served. And our hearts also go out of course to the families of everyone killed or injured in this prolonged senseless act of violence.
While authorities in Jersey have the lead in this investigation, obviously, I can tell you that from the start the NYPD offered and sent almost immediately specialized resources to Jersey City as this initial job came over as an active shooter. And that occurred shortly after the first reports came in. Some of those resources included members of the Intelligence Bureau, our Aviation Unit – and you can think of the hazard with the weather conditions yesterday – our Emergency Service Unit, men and women that trained with their partners in Jersey City well before this incident.
So this is not a story in a distant newspaper or far off land. These are people that they know and respect prior, too. Almost immediately, here as this was unfolding here in New York, we deployed our Critical Response Units throughout the city to various Jewish locations and that instant response was amplified, as the Mayor said, throughout the night and continues to this point in time initially out of an abundance of caution as the situation unfolded but then with more purpose as the details began to emerge.
Those Counter Terrorism Bureau deployments were maintained overnight. They have been expanded today and they will be in place until we feel it is safe to remove them. But I will tell you that we stand committed to keep members of the Jewish community and all New Yorkers safe from any act of hate. In fact this morning I visited one of our police officers stationed outside on the largest synagogues in the world, Temple Emanu-El, right off Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Members of our Community Affairs Bureau are engaged as well. We’ll be in touch with leaders of the Jewish community throughout the day today as they do every day. I’ll reiterate now what we’ve been saying since yesterday.
There is no known nexus at this time between the attack in Jersey City and New York and that as the investigation moves forward we will continue to be in direct contact with authorities in Jersey City and our federal law enforcement partners including the FBI. I will urge everyone however to keep going about your business as usual without fear, that is how we defeat terror, but to always remain vigilant and aware of your surroundings at all times. If there is anything, no matter how slight that you see or hear that makes you uncomfortable in any way, anything that doesn’t look or seem right, tell a police officer, call 9-1-1, call 1-8-8-8-NYC-SAFE. Thank you everyone for this and I say that we denounce this act of senseless violence.
Team AOC - The DCCC Blacklist
Just months ago, the official campaign arm of House Democrats (the DCCC) announced that they would blacklist anyone who worked on a primary challenger’s campaign. That’s made it much harder for progressive challengers to get the resources, staff, and tools they need to win.
It’s clear that we need our own support system on the progressive side of the party. That’s why we’ve worked so hard to raise nearly $300,000 for progressive candidates and causes this cycle. But we need to do a lot more, and in order to do so we need to grow this movement.
The DCCC is enforcing their anti-incumbent rules by requiring a “loyalty” pledge from the partners they work with. But what is that loyalty to? The values of the Democratic Party? Absolutely not.
It is only loyalty to incumbents — full stop. The DCCC has stamped down on progressive challengers while embracing partners and candidates that openly work with pro-gun, anti-choice, or corporate-friendly groups.
We cannot allow the DCCC to slam the door on candidates who challenge the status quo. That’s why we’re building the biggest possible support system for progressive candidates in 2020.
In solidarity,
Team AOC
Team AOC
Free Legal Workshop: Forming Your Business & Tax Considerations
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LIVE. WORK. SHOP. THRIVE.
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| Join us. The Holidays are around the corner, make sure you go into the new year with expert advice on how to form your business! In partnership with the Bronx Chamber of Commerce and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, join us for a free legal workshop hosted here at the HUB. The workshop will consist of a free legal presentation on how to choose the right structure for your small business, followed by brief one-on-one sessions with a lawyer! If you have a general legal question regarding your business' taxes or legal structure, you won't want to miss out on this opportunity for a free one-on-one session with an experienced lawyer! |
15 Defendants Charged In Manhattan Federal Court For $18 Million Fraud Scheme
Geoffrey S. Berman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Dermot Shea, the Commissioner of the Police Department for the City of New York (“NYPD”), Philip R. Bartlett, the Inspector-in-Charge of the New York Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), Patrick Freaney, the Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the United States Secret Service (“USSS”), and Peter C. Fitzhugh, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), announced the unsealing today of a criminal Complaint charging 15 defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. Four defendants were arrested today in the District of Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the Eastern District of Virginia, and were to be presented today in those districts’ federal courts. One defendant is in state custody and will be presented at a later date. Ten defendants remain at large.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As alleged, these defendants conspired to steal millions of dollars by stealing identities, opening fictitious bank accounts, and depositing stolen checks – or conning victims to wire funds – into those accounts. All told, as alleged, the scheme netted more than $18 million and victimized numerous individuals and businesses. Thanks to the combined efforts of our law enforcement partners, the game is up.”
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said: “This case shows that as criminals move into the areas of cyber-related frauds, law enforcement is following. I want to thank the members of the NYPD’s Financial Crimes Task Force, working alongside our federal partners and prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office, in the Southern District, for their success today in this important investigation.”
USPIS Inspector-in-Charge Philip R. Bartlett said: “This Case is an excellent example of interagency cooperation and collaboration. Those who choose to break the law will be swiftly brought to justice to answer for their crimes.”
USSS Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Patrick Freaney said: “The success of this investigation illustrates the commitment of the U.S. Secret Service in working with our law enforcement partners to confront the continued threat of cyber enabled financial crimes. The Secret Service remains dedicated in actively pursuing those whose actions threaten the financial security of individuals, businesses, and the financial infrastructure of the United States.”
HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh said: “As alleged in the criminal complaint, these 15 defendants used an elaborate bank and wire fraud scheme to steal over $18 million from victim. HSI New York will continue to work tirelessly to investigate criminals who target our citizens. Through our law enforcement partnerships, to include the NYPD, USPIS and USSS as well as the prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, HSI will work to help maintain the integrity of our financial systems.”
As alleged in the criminal Complaint:[1]
OLADAYO OLADOKUN, FAROUK KUKOYI, BALDWIN OSUJI, HENRY OGBUOKIRI, JOSHUA HICKS, ANTHONY LEE NELSON, DERRICK BANKS, IBRAHIIMA DOUKOURE, JAMAR SKEETE, PAUL YAW OSEI JR., KOWAN POOLE, DARREL WILLIAMS, DARYL BARTLEY, GARNET STEVEN MURRAY-SESAY, a/k/a “Steven Garnet Murray-Sesay,” and ANDREW HEAVEN participated in an $18 million fraud scheme consisting of three key phases. First, members of the conspiracy opened more than 60 business bank accounts using the real personal identifying information, including names and social security numbers, of identity theft victims. Second, members of the conspiracy deposited money into these bank accounts that they obtained by defrauding victims. Third, members of the conspiracy accessed the fraud proceeds by transferring the proceeds into other bank accounts or by withdrawing cash.
Members of the conspiracy typically defrauded their victims in one of two ways. In some instances, members of the conspiracy deposited stolen or forged checks. For example, members of the conspiracy obtained three checks that had been mailed by a national sports league from New York, New York, and deposited those stolen checks into bank accounts that were opened in the names of the intended recipients. In other instances, members of the conspiracy deceived victims into making electronic transfers. For example, a member of the conspiracy posing as a victim’s financial adviser caused the victim to wire money from a bank branch in New York, New York, to a bank account controlled by members of the conspiracy.
To date, law enforcement has identified more than 100 fraudulent transactions in furtherance of the scheme, totaling more than $18 million.
All defendants – OLADOKUN, 46, KUKOYI, 33, OSUJI, 31, OGBUOKIRI, 32, HICKS, 24, NELSON, 28, BANKS, 27, DOUKOURE, 61, SKEETE, 36, OSEI, 32, POOLE, 29, WILLIAMS, 62, BARTLEY, 58, MURRAY-SESAY, 35, and HEAVEN, 49 – are charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Seven defendants – OGBUOKIRI, HICKS, BANKS, POOLE, WILLIAMS, BARTLEY, and MURRAY-SESAY – are also charged with aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two 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 defendants will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding work of the Financial Crimes Task Force of the NYPD and the USSS, the Mail Theft Team of the USPIS, and the Dark Web and Crypto Currency Group of HSI. Mr. Berman also thanked the Washington Field Office of the USSS for its assistance in the apprehension of the defendants.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth herein are only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Donald J. Trump Pays Court-Ordered $2 Million For Illegally Using Trump Foundation Funds
Trump Ordered to Pay Eight Separate Charities $250,000 Each
Remaining $1.8 Million in Trump Foundation Bank Account Disbursed Among Charities
New York Attorney General Letitia James today released the following statement after Donald J. Trump was forced to pay more than $2 million in court-ordered damages to eight different charities for illegally misusing charitable funds at the Trump Foundation for political purposes:
“Not only has the Trump Foundation shut down for its misconduct, but the president has been forced to pay $2 million for misusing charitable funds for his own political gain. Charities are not a means to an end, which is why these damages speak to the president’s abuse of power and represent a victory for not-for-profits that follow the law. Funds have finally gone where they deserve — to eight credible charities. My office will continue to fight for accountability because no one is above the law — not a businessman, not a candidate for office, and not even the president of the United States.”
As part of a resolution of the lawsuit announced on November 7th, Trump was ordered to pay $2 million, or $250,000, a piece to eight different charities. Those charities are Army Emergency Relief, the Children’s Aid Society, Citymeals-on-Wheels, Give an Hour, Martha’s Table, the United Negro College Fund, the United Way of National Capital Area, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Additionally, Trump was forced to reimburse his namesake foundation $11,525 for sports paraphernalia and champagne purchased at a charity gala, which was added to $1,797,598.30 already in the foundation’s bank account. The combined $1,809,123.30 was split evenly and recently transferred to the eight agreed upon charities. Each charity ended up receiving a total of $476,140.41.
Additionally, as part of the settlement, Trump was required to agree to 19 admissions, acknowledging his personal misuse of funds at the Trump Foundation, and agreed to restrictions on future charitable service and ongoing reporting to the Office of the Attorney General, in the event he creates a new charity. The settlement also included mandatory training requirements for Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump, which the three children have already undergone. Finally, the settlement required the Trump Foundation to shutter its doors last December and dissolve under court supervision.
AG James' Statement On ExxonMobil Ruling
New York Attorney General Letitia James released the following statement after a ruling was rendered in the case of People of the State of New York v. ExxonMobil Corporation:
“As Rex Tillerson admitted at trial, all investors are entitled to the truth. For the first time in history, ExxonMobil was compelled to answer publicly for their internal decisions that misled investors. The oil giant never took seriously the severe economic impact that climate change regulations would have on the company, contrary to what they were telling the public. Throughout this case, we laid out how Exxon made materially false, misleading, and confusing representations to the American people about the company’s response to climate change regulations. Exxon’s inability to tell the truth further underscores the lies that have been sold to the American public for decades. Despite this decision, we will continue to fight to ensure companies are held responsible for actions that undermine and jeopardize the financial health and safety of Americans across our country, and we will continue to fight to end climate change.”