Molly Crane-Newman – New York Daily News https://www.nydailynews.com Breaking US news, local New York news coverage, sports, entertainment news, celebrity gossip, autos, videos and photos at nydailynews.com Thu, 07 Mar 2024 01:15:40 +0000 en-US hourly 30 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.nydailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/cropped-DailyNewsCamera-7.webp?w=32 Molly Crane-Newman – New York Daily News https://www.nydailynews.com 32 32 208786248 Manhattan DA drops ‘Hotel California’ lyrics case amid accusations key evidence withheld https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/03/06/manhattan-prosecutors-drop-hotel-california-lyrics-case-don-henley-eagles/ Wed, 06 Mar 2024 16:28:36 +0000 https://www.nydailynews.com/?p=7564149 The Manhattan district attorney’s office suddenly dropped charges Wednesday against three men accused of criminally possessing Eagles frontman Don Henley’s handwritten notes and lyrics to the 1976 album “Hotel California” amid new evidence a judge said the rock star and his lawyers blatantly hid from the defense and prosecutors.

Prosecutors moved to dismiss the case against Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski less than two weeks into their Manhattan Criminal Court trial after gaining access to thousands of pages of previously undisclosed material.

In scathing comments from the bench, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber said the “jarringly late disclosures” showed the 76-year-old Henley, Eagles manager Irving Azoff, and their lawyers sought to “obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging to their position that the lyric sheets were stolen” and prevent a thorough cross-examination.

“It is additionally troubling to this court that [prosecutors] were apparently manipulated. However, such manipulation was the result of passive complicity in allowing this situation to develop,” Farber said.

“Albeit late, I commend the prosecution for refusing to allow itself or the courts to be further manipulated for the benefit of anyone’s personal gain. District Attorney [Alvin] Bragg and the prosecutorial team here, while eating a slice of humble pie, are displaying the highest level of integrity in moving to dismiss the charges. I am impressed.”

Farber dismissed the high-profile case after hearing from Assistant District Attorney Aaron Ginandes, who said Henley’s decision to invoke attorney-client privilege during the trial and waive it after testifying led to the last-minute dump of around 6,000 pages of material. That included emails and “other disclosures,” but the exact nature of what was released was unclear.

Former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi, left, memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski, center, andrare-book dealer Glenn Horowitz, left, take their places on the defendants table in the supreme court, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi, left, memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski, center, andrare-book dealer Glenn Horowitz, left, take their places on the defendants table in the supreme court, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

“These delayed disclosures revealed relevant information that the defense should have had the opportunity to explore in cross-examination of the People’s witnesses,” Ginandes said.

“[The] People concede that dismissal is appropriate in this case.”

Farber said prosecutors should have probed Henley’s reasoning for invoking attorney-client privilege when there “was simply no criminal risk to him.”

“More importantly, they should have recognized that they did not have a complete understanding of their case and that potential material existed upon which the defense could rely on in their defense,” the judge said.

In a statement to the Daily News, an attorney whom Henley retained Tuesday indicated he would file a lawsuit.

“The attorney-client privilege is a foundational guardrail in our justice system and rarely, if ever, should you have to forsake it to prosecute or defend a case,” Daniel Petrocelli said.

“As the victim in this case, Mr. Henley has once again been victimized by this unjust outcome, and he will pursue all his rights in the civil courts.”

Attorney Stacey Richman, second from left, who represented former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi is joined by other defense attorneys as she speaks to reporters, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in New York. New York prosecutors abruptly dropped their criminal case midtrial Wednesday against three men who had been accused of conspiring to possess a cache of hand-drafted lyrics to "Hotel California" and other Eagles hits. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Attorney Stacey Richman, second from left, who represented former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi is joined by other defense attorneys as she speaks to reporters, Wednesday. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The case brought in June 2022 alleged the trio of collectibles experts sought to muddy the chain of custody of the valuable manuscripts — which also included developmental lyrics to the songs “Life in the Fast Lane” and “New Kid in Town” — which Horowitz purchased from Ed Sanders, a writer who worked with the Eagles on a never-published band biography. All had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, possession of stolen property, and related offenses.

Horowitz, a rare book dealer, sold the material to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Inciardi of Brooklyn and Kosinski of Franklin Lakes, N.J., who put them up for auction, prosecutors said.

The defense vehemently disputed the transactions were dishonest, contending Henley had willingly shared the papers with Sanders long before they ended up in the trio’s possession.

“One of the ironies of the case is that Mr. Horowitz and other defendants were accused of not doing a full investigation of Mr. Sanders. But it appears that the failure to do a full investigation lies with the other side,” Horowitz’s lawyer, Jonathan Bach, said.

“It was one-sided information because they didn’t speak to us, and … in the words of the judge, was manipulated and strategic and designed to present a one-sided view.”

Kosinski’s lawyer, Scott Edelman, said jurors had heard no evidence to suggest the would-be biographer stole the papers that wound up with his client, noting Sanders himself hadn’t faced any charges.

“And there was certainly zero evidence that Mr. Kosinski believed that the manuscript was stolen and the evidence established that he put it up for public auction,” Edelman said.

“I commend [prosecutors] in the end for making the right decision. But frankly, from the perspective of my client, Mr. Kosinski, it’s too little and too late.”

Former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi, left, leaves court, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in New York. New York prosecutors abruptly dropped their criminal case midtrial Wednesday against three men who had been accused of conspiring to possess a cache of hand-drafted lyrics to "Hotel California" and other Eagles hits. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi, left, leaves court, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Inciardi’s attorney, Stacey Richman, said she was evaluating the next steps given Judge Farber’s “serious statements” Wednesday morning.

When he took the stand as a witness for the prosecution, Henley, who founded the Eagles with his late music partner Glenn Frey and has long advocated for artists’ ownership rights, said he reported the pages stolen upon discovering they were up for auction in 2012, when he purchased four of them for $8,500.

Henley disputed that he intended for Sanders to keep the notes after sharing them for research purposes at his Malibu, Calif., ranch, claiming he told the writer he could review the notes at a breakfast table in an apartment upstairs from the barn.

“It doesn’t matter if I drove a U-Haul truck and dumped them at his front door,” Henley testified.

“He had no right to keep them or to sell them.”

]]>
7564149 2024-03-06T11:28:36+00:00 2024-03-06T20:15:40+00:00
Sen. Bob Menendez hit with new obstruction charges alleging he fed lies to feds before arrest https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/03/05/menendez-superseder-qatar-senate-sdny-gold-bars/ Tue, 05 Mar 2024 21:45:18 +0000 https://www.nydailynews.com/?p=7562647 New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was hit Tuesday with new criminal charges in his Manhattan bribery case that allege he lied to the feds in the leadup to his arrest.

The embattled senator is newly accused of obstruction of justice and plotting to obstruct justice for allegedly claiming through his lawyers that he thought thousands of dollars in bribes given to his wife, Nadine Menendez, were loans.

Feds in the Southern District of New York say that Menendez relayed the bogus information to prosecutors in June and September of last year — right before he was indicted.

He allegedly claimed he’d initially been in the dark about thousands paid to his wife toward a new Mercedes-Benz and another payout of more than $23,000 issued by his co-defendant Wael Hana toward the company holding the mortgage on the couple’s New Jersey home.

“In truth and in fact, and as [Menendez] well knew, [Menendez] had learned of both the mortgage company payment and the car payments prior to 2022, and they were not loans, but bribe payments,” reads the indictment.

Menendez, 70, slammed the new charges as “a flagrant abuse of power” and doubled down on his claims his co-defendants had merely lent money to his wife, not bribed her.

“The government has long known that I learned of and helped repay loans — not bribes — that had been provided to my wife,” he said in a statement. “Not content — or capable — of meeting those facts fairly at trial, the government has now falsely alleged a coverup and obstruction. The latest charge reveals far more about the government than it says about me.”

FILE - Fred Daibes, one of three businessmen named as co-defendants with Sen. Bob Menendez, arrives at federal court, Sept. 27, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
Fred Daibes, one of three businessmen named as co-defendants with Sen. Bob Menendez, arrives at Manhattan Federal Court on Sept. 27 in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Menendez has pleaded not guilty to a host of charges accusing him, among other allegations, of conspiring to act as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government in his powerful role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He’s also accused of abusing his position to advance lucrative Qatari interests in exchange for gold bullion bars, flashy watches and Formula 1 tickets, along with other lavish gifts.

The new charges come days after Jose Uribe — a former Garden State insurance broker charged alongside Menendez, his wife and two others last fall — on Friday pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe the senator in exchange for the powerful Democrat’s help quashing criminal investigations into two associates, honest services wire fraud, tax evasion, obstruction of justice and related charges. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Uribe has agreed to cooperate against the senator and testify at his trial slated to begin May 6.

Details revealed during Uribe’s Friday plea hearing were included in the rewritten indictment filed against Menendez, his wife and businessmen Fred Daibes and Hana in Manhattan Federal Court, including a conversation Uribe allegedly had with the spouse the day he got a subpoena.

Uribe claimed Friday that he met Menendez’s wife at a Marriott Hotel to discuss a cover story in June 2022 after the feds requested information about large sums of cash he gave her.

Nadine Menendez asked “Uribe what he would say if law enforcement asked him about the payments he had made for the Mercedes-Benz Convertible. Uribe responded that he would say those payments had been a loan, and [Nadine Menendez] said that sounded good,” prosecutors wrote in Tuesday’s new filings.

Following his indictment, Menendez stepped down from his role on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but has refused to resign from office. On Monday, a judge shot down his arguments challenging the lawfulness of search warrants executed on his home last year when the feds turned up almost half a million dollars in cash and gold bullion bars.

Lawyers for Nadine Menendez, Daibes and Hana did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.

]]>
7562647 2024-03-05T16:45:18+00:00 2024-03-05T18:30:48+00:00
Ex-Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg pleads guilty to perjury in fraud case https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/03/04/ex-trump-org-cfo-allen-weisselberg-surrenders-in-manhattan-on-new-criminal-charge/ Mon, 04 Mar 2024 14:58:03 +0000 https://www.nydailynews.com/?p=7560097 Donald Trump’s former finance chief Allen Weisselberg copped to new criminal charges in a lower Manhattan courtroom Monday — admitting he told lies to the New York attorney general concerning what he knew about the actual size of Trump’s Fifth Ave. penthouse, and when.

In the latest legal setback for the former president’s loyal longtime moneyman, the already-convicted Weisselberg pleaded guilty to two first-degree perjury counts at a brief Manhattan Criminal Court hearing stemming from his testimony in the AG’s investigation into Trump’s real estate empire.

That case recently culminated in staggering judgments against Trump and his company execs, including Weisselberg, totaling nearly half a billion dollars.

Prosecutors at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office charged the Trump Organization’s retired chief financial officer with five counts and, in a plea deal, allowed him to plead guilty to two. They requested he be given an additional term of five months in jail when he returns to court April 10.

FILE - President-elect Donald Trump, left, his chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, center, and his son Donald Trump Jr., right, attend a news conference at Trump Tower in New York, on Jan. 11, 2017. Weisselberg got out of jail Wednesday, April 19, 2023, but he might not have freed himself from the legal morass surrounding the former president. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Donald Trump, Allen Weisselberg [center], and Donald Trump Jr., Jan. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Weisselberg, who handled the Trump family’s company finances for almost half a century after his hiring as a bookkeeper by Donald Trump’s father, Fred, in the 1970s, ignored a question from the Daily News after the hearing. In a statement, his lawyer Seth Rosenberg said he “looks forward to putting this situation behind him.”

The 76-year-old  Weisselberg served almost 100 days in jail last year after pleading guilty to criminal tax fraud charges brought by the Manhattan DA related to his work at the Trump Organization. That was separate from both the new perjury case and the AG’s civil fraud lawsuit, in which Trump, his sons Eric and Don Jr., Weisselberg, and former Trump Organization Controller Jeffrey McConney were recently found liable for falsely inflating Trump’s net worth by billions and ordered to pay New York State at least $464 million, including interest.

Trump is on the hook for most of the mammoth judgment, which he must secure with the court by March 25 as he appeals despite his efforts to shave it down.

As part of his financially crushing Feb. 16 ruling, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron barred Weisselberg from ever handling a New York company’s finances again and ordered him to pay back half of the $2 million severance he received from the Trump Organization on his way into jail.

“The Trump Organization keeps Weisselberg on a short leash, and it shows,” Engoron wrote, describing the former chief financial officer as “a critical player in nearly every instance of fraud” who shouldn’t be compensated for covering up misdeeds.

Judge Arthur Engoron attends the closing arguments in the Trump Organization civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. (Shannon Stapleton/Pool Photo via AP)
Shannon Stapleton/AP
Judge Arthur Engoron attends the closing arguments in the Trump Organization civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. (Shannon Stapleton/Pool Photo via AP)

Weisselberg’s testimony at the fraud trial was stopped when the AG’s lawyers notified Engoron of potential omissions. On Monday, he admitted to Criminal Court Judge Laurie Peterson that he lied during the trial and multiple other junctures during the AG’s yearslong Trump probe. His plea stemmed from a deposition on July 17, 2020, concerning the value of the Trump Tower triplex, which evidence showed was falsely recorded as three times its size in business deals — ballooning its value by more than $200 million.

During the deposition, Weisselberg claimed that his deputy, McConney, was responsible for the bogus square footage recorded between 2012 and 2017. He said he didn’t become aware of it until a May 2017 investigation published in Forbes that revealed the triplex was a third of the size Trump claimed.

However, emails between Forbes reporters and Trump Organization employees, including Weisselberg, directly contradicted his testimony, according to Assistant District Attorney Gary Fishman. A recording of Trump and Forbes reporters at the triplex in 2015, when Trump said the triplex was 33,000 square feet in front of Weisselberg, further belied his claim that he’d never heard Trump describe the triplex’s size.

Weisselberg also admitted without pleading guilty that in May 2023, after the AG had filed the case, he lied in a deposition about his role in tallying asset values.

“I didn’t delve into the numbers,” Weisselberg testified at the time. “I relied on their numbers and whatever analysis they did.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 04: Former Trump Organization Finance Chief Allen Weisselberg appears for a hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court on March 04, 2024 in New York City. Weisselberg is expected to plead guilty to perjury charges after reaching an agreement with Manhattan prosecutors. He will admit to lying to investigators from the Attorney General's office when they were investigating former President Donald Trump for fraud. A judge ruled against the former president and handed down a penalty of more than $450 million with interest. Weisselberg is not expected to implicate his former boss. (Photo by Curtis Means-Pool/Getty Images) ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG, CM - OUTS * NM, PH, VA if sourced by CT, LA or MoD **
Former Trump Organization Finance Chief Allen Weisselberg appears for a hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court on March 04, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Curtis Means-Pool/Getty Images)

In fact, Weisselberg was “significantly involved in determining what methodology and numbers were used to value properties,” according to Monday’s complaint, which says testimony by other Trump Organization employees and his sworn depositions in 2020 and 2008 directly contradicted his claims.

When he took the stand in October, Weisselberg claimed he “never focused on the triplex, to be honest with you.” Prosecutors said that contradicted more emails among Trump Organization staffers and old notes taken by Forbes reporters.

“It is a crime to lie in depositions and at trial – plain and simple,” a Bragg spokeswoman said in a statement. “Allen Weisselberg took an oath to be truthful, and then committed perjury both at depositions during the New York State attorney general’s investigation and proceeding, as well as at their recent trial.”

Weisselberg’s plea agreement saved him from a potentially hefty prison term by allowing him to plead guilty to crimes that occurred before his 2022 conviction on 15 tax fraud counts for reaping off-the-books benefits at work. Pleading guilty to perjuring himself at the 2023 trial could have classified him as a repeat felony offender in violation of his parole.

Unlike under his plea deal in the tax fraud case, which required he testify against the company at its trial, there is nothing in Weisselberg’s Monday agreement indicating he must testify at Trump’s criminal trial beginning March 25 in the Stormy Daniels hush money case. The ex-chief financial officer received partial immunity to testify about the scheme in a 2018 federal grand jury investigation that led to ex-Trump fixer Michael Cohen’s conviction.

]]>
7560097 2024-03-04T09:58:03+00:00 2024-03-04T17:38:36+00:00
Co-defendant of Sen. Bob Menendez pleads guilty in bribery scheme, agrees to cooperate with feds https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/03/01/co-defendant-of-sen-bob-menendez-pleads-guilty-in-bribery-scheme/ Fri, 01 Mar 2024 18:26:43 +0000 https://www.nydailynews.com/?p=7554482 A New Jersey businessman charged alongside Sen. Bob Menendez in his sweeping Manhattan bribery case copped to a litany of charges Friday and is cooperating against the embattled pol.

At an undisclosed proceeding in Manhattan federal court, Jose Uribe withdrew his previous not-guilty plea, admitting to conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services wire fraud, obstruction of justice, tax evasion and related conspiracy counts.

The former insurance broker, who also worked in the trucking business, acknowledged he fronted thousands towards a sports car for the senator’s wife and codefendant, Nadine Menendez, in exchange for the powerful New Jersey Democrat’s help pressuring state investigators to resolve criminal probes into his associates favorably.

Uribe agreed to cooperate against Menendez and his co-defendants, who are headed to trial in May, according to a copy of his plea agreement obtained by the Daily News. His lawyer, Dan Fetterman, declined to comment.

FILE - Jose Uribe leaves federal court, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in New York. The New Jersey businessman has pleaded guilty to trying to bribe U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez. Uribe entered the plea in Manhattan federal court on Friday.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
Jose Uribe leaves federal court, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Menendez has pleaded not guilty to a host of charges, including conspiring to act as a foreign agent for Egypt by secretly pulling strings for the Middle Eastern nation from his influential perch as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Similarly, he abused his position to advance Qatari government interests in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in lavish gifts — including gold bullion bars, flashy watches and Formula 1 tickets — prosecutors say.

Uribe, 56, of Clifton, N.J., is one of three businessmen charged in the scheme last September and has been out on a $1 million bond since first appearing in court. He’s now set to be a key witness against the Menendezes and the other businessmen, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, when they go on trial before Judge Sidney Stein on May 6. All deny the allegations.

In his Friday plea, Uribe admitted to conspiring to bribe the senator with extravagant gifts in exchange for reaping the benefits of his vast influence for six years starting in 2018. Specifically, he admitted that in May 2019, he directed a Bronx-based associate to make payments on a Mercedes-Benz C-300 convertible worth more than $60,000 for Menendez’s wife to elicit the senator’s help meddling in the criminal investigations into his associates.

“The deal is to kill and stop all investigation,” Uribe wrote in an April 2018 text to Hana, quoted in court papers.

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife, Nadine, arrive at Manhattan Federal Court in New York on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News)
Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife, Nadine, arrive at Manhattan Federal Court in New York on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News)

In April 2019, Menendez’s wife told Uribe in a text, “You are a miracle worker who makes dreams come true I will always remember that,” a day before he met her in a parking lot with $15,000 cash that she used to make a down payment on the new car, according to charging papers filed last October.

The gift replaced a Mercedes that Nadine Menendez crashed in an accident killing 49-year-old New Jersey man Richard Koop the year before in Bogota. Menendez’s then-girlfriend, who didn’t face any charges, told cops Koop walked into the path of her car and was permitted to leave the scene without submitting to a drug or alcohol test, according to reporting in The Record.

“Congratulations mon amour de la vie [love of my life], we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes,” she is quoted as texting her husband after securing the vehicle.

A luxury vehicle authorities said was owned by Sen. Robert Menendez.
A luxury vehicle authorities say was owned by Sen. Bob Menendez. (United States Attorney General’s Office)

In 2022 and 2023, Uribe caused his attorney to lie to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, according to filings, claiming that payments on the luxury convertible were loans. He also admitted to dodging taxes between 2016 and 2021.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Uribe will make good with tax authorities by at least two weeks before he’s sentenced June 14 and will forfeit $246,000 stemming from a fraudulently obtained loan. In exchange for his cooperation and trial testimony, the feds will recommend he receive a more lenient prison term than the 95 years the charges carry, court docs detail. A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, Nicholas Biase, declined to comment.

Reps for Menendez, 70, who vehemently denies wrongdoing, did not respond to requests for comment. After his indictment, he stepped down from his chairman role but has refused to resign from the Senate despite loud calls from his colleagues, including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

“The government’s latest charge flies in the face of my long record of standing up for human rights and democracy in Egypt and in challenging leaders of that country, including President [Abdel Fattah] El-Sisi on these issues,” Menendez said in October.

“I have been, throughout my life, loyal to only one country — the United States of America, the land my family chose to live in democracy and freedom.”

]]>
7554482 2024-03-01T13:26:43+00:00 2024-03-01T16:50:57+00:00
Guilty plea in scheme to supply US-made military tech to Russia https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/02/29/maxim-marchenko-guilty-plea-in-scheme-to-supply-us-made-military-tech-to-russia/ Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:47:45 +0000 https://www.nydailynews.com/?p=7551784 A Russian national has pleaded guilty in New York to charges that he secretly supplied Russia with massive quantities of American-made military technology after the war on Ukraine started.

Maxim Marchenko, 51, copped Thursday to one count of money laundering and one count of smuggling goods at a hearing in White Plains federal court, admitting he arranged to sneak the military-grade electronics out of the U.S. via Hong Kong through a complex web of shell companies to hide their true destination from distributors. He also agreed to forfeit more than $1.3 million.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said the tech Marchenko siphoned to Russia could be used to fashion rifle scopes, night-vision goggles, thermal optics and other sensitive weapons systems.

Marchenko set up his confessed scheme after the products became prohibited for sale to Russia in 2022. That year, the U.S. and other Western nations expanded sanctions against Russia in response to its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

“For many years before then, it was entirely permissible for these components to be sent to Russia,” Marchenko’s lawyer, Kerry Lawrence said.

“He has a lifetime of honest hard work and is looking forward to getting back to Russia as soon as possible,” the attorney added.

The feds arrested Marchenko in September 2023, hitting him with a litany of charges for the elaborate scheme they said he carried out with two unnamed co-conspirators between May 2022 and last August. Authorities say his primary role was maintaining the shell companies in Hong Kong.

Court docs detail how the trio misled American distributors by saying the purchases were intended for medical research in Hong Kong, China and other nations — not including Russia — so government agencies they were required to report the transactions to would be none the wiser.

The dual-use technology they smuggled — OLED micro-displays — can be used for veterinary imaging, digital cameras and video games, but can also “contribute to the military potential of other nations or be detrimental to United States foreign policy or national security,” according to FBI records in Marchenko’s case.

The feds say Marchenko and his associates funneled at least $1.6 million to the U.S. and arranged to smuggle many microelectronics to Russia via a Hong Kong-based freight forwarding service.

Marchenko is expected to be sentenced on Jun. 6.

]]>
7551784 2024-02-29T19:47:45+00:00 2024-02-29T19:47:45+00:00
Trump’s motion to delay paying E. Jean Carroll $83M should be denied: lawyers https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/02/29/trumps-motion-to-delay-paying-e-jean-carroll-should-be-denied-lawyers/ Thu, 29 Feb 2024 21:04:39 +0000 https://www.nydailynews.com/?p=7551779 Donald Trump’s motion seeking to delay paying E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million amounts to “the court filing equivalent of a paper napkin” and should be flatly denied, the writer’s legal team argued Thursday.

“He doesn’t even acknowledge the risks that now accompany his financial situation, from a half-billion-dollar judgment obtained by the New York Attorney General to the 91 felony charges that might end his career as a businessman permanently,” Carroll lawyer Roberta Kaplan wrote in court filings.

“He simply asks the Court to ‘trust me’ and offers, in a case with an $83.3 million judgment against him, the court filing equivalent of a paper napkin; signed by the least trustworthy of borrowers.”

Trump lawyer Alina Habba last week asked Manhattan Federal Court Judge Lewis Kaplan to temporarily halt collection of the mammoth sum a jury decided he owed Carroll in January for defaming her or authorize him to deposit a fraction of it in a court-controlled account pending the outcome of his post-trial arguments.

The request was similar to an appeals court motion regarding his civil fraud case that failed Wednesday. Trump has until March 25 to secure more than $454 million as he appeals the financially crushing ruling.

In early February, Kaplan rejected Trump’s motion for a mistrial, giving him about a month to pay Carroll or secure the money with the courts to ensure she gets paid if he fails to get the judgment overturned.

On Sunday, the judge noted the former president’s request to delay payment “without posting any security” was coming at the eleventh hour and said he would wait for Carroll’s side to respond before ruling.

In total, Trump owes Carroll $88.3 million. Last May, another jury determined he sexually abused her in the 1990s and defamed her after his presidency and should pay $5 million in damages, which Trump deposited with the court on time. He is appealing that verdict.

Soon after Carroll’s first trial, Judge Kaplan decided Trump also defamed her when he was president, the basis of her first lawsuit of two, leaving jurors at the second trial to decide only how much more he owed.

In Trump’s request, Habba told Kaplan she was confident Trump’s post-trial arguments would “substantially reduce, if not eliminate, the amount of the judgment” to $22.2 million or, adding in a footnote, $36.6 million.

“[Under] this district’s common practice of requiring a bond of 110 percent of the judgment, President Trump faces the prospect of posting a bond of $91.63 million … which will come with very substantial, non-recoverable financial costs. These costs plainly constitute irreparable injury,” Habba wrote.

Former President Donald Trump receives applause during the Black Conservative Federation Gala on February 23, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

In their scathing opposition filed Thursday, Carroll’s lawyers said the request was based on “no evidence at all,” contained “back-of-the-envelope calculations,” and was reliant on precedent issued “as teenagers say today, in the ‘last century.’”

“There is not a single exhibit, declaration, or affidavit — literally, no evidence at all — attached to his motion. He offers no proof of what assets he possesses, what they are worth, where they are located, whether they are liquid or illiquid, whether they are unencumbered by debt, or whether they could be used to satisfy the judgment,” Carroll’s attorney wrote.

“[By] the time the post-trial motions [or the appeal] are fully resolved, Trump may be in a very different position. He could then be President of the United States; he could then be a convicted criminal serving time behind bars; or, given his advanced age, Carroll may be forced to reckon with his estate.”

Carroll’s lawyers said Trump’s financial history outside his legal battles was further proof he couldn’t be trusted. They noted his years-long effort to keep his taxes private when he was president and how he filed for bankruptcy six times between 1990 and 2009.

The GOP front runner’s New York lawsuits have cost him more than half a billion dollars in 2024 alone, and he’s waking up $112,000 deeper in debt each day, with the interest growing on the judgment in the AG case. It’s as yet unclear how he plans to settle his soaring debts. Trump has repeatedly said his real estate and brand are worth billions and claimed he had access to $400 million in cash last year.

In addition to his civil woes, the GOP front-runner faces 91 felonies in four states stemming from his alleged efforts to interfere in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections and mishandling of classified documents. He denies all charges.

]]>
7551779 2024-02-29T16:04:39+00:00 2024-02-29T22:02:59+00:00
FBI raids Bronx homes of Mayor Adams aide Winnie Greco https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/02/29/fbi-probes-bronx-home-of-top-adams-aide/ Thu, 29 Feb 2024 18:42:24 +0000 https://www.nydailynews.com/?p=7551903 FBI agents on Thursday raided two Bronx homes owned by Winnie Greco, a top aide to Mayor Adams, multiple sources confirmed to the Daily News.

Greco, Adams’ director of Asian affairs, has for months been the subject of a city Department of Investigation probe examining whether she attempted to milk perks out of her government job. It wasn’t immediately clear if Thursday’s FBI raids, which targeted two homes that Greco owns on Gillespie Avenue in Pelham Bay, are related to the DOI investigation.

A law enforcement source described the Thursday action as “court-authorized law enforcement activity.”

According to the news outlet The City, FBI agents also Thursday raided offices of the New World Mall in Queens, where Greco helped host a series of fundraisers for Adams’ 2021 campaign that generated tens of thousands of dollars in contributions, some of which have raised straw donor concerns.

An Adams administration official confirmed after the raids that Greco has been placed on leave, but wouldn’t say whether she’s still drawing a salary while away from her post. The official said the mayor’s office hasn’t been contacted by either the FBI or federal prosecutors about the matter.

Greco did not return phone calls or text messages.

The raids on Gillespie Avenue were first reported by News12 The Bronx. Video posted on X by freelance journalist Oliya Scootercaster showed FBI agents exiting one of Greco’s homes carrying boxes and bags that they loaded into awaiting SUVs.

A next-door neighbor told The News that the FBI agents first arrived at 6 a.m. Thursday.

“They have been in and out of the house. The whole road crossing was blocked,” said the neighbor.

Mayor Eric Adams and Director of Asian Affairs Winnie Greco are pictured at the 21st Autumn Moon Festival and 12th China Day Festival on Sunday, October 1, 2023. (Violet Mendelsund / Mayoral Photography Office)
Mayor Eric Adams and Director of Asian Affairs Winnie Greco are pictured at the 21st Autumn Moon Festival and 12th China Day Festival on Sunday, October 1, 2023. (Violet Mendelsund / Mayoral Photography Office)

Last year, The City first reported Greco was being probed by the city Department of Investigation based on a referral from the mayor’s office, but a DOI spokesperson would not divulge what that investigation’s focus was at the time. A spokesperson for DOI also declined comment Thursday.

The DOI probe came on the heels of The City’s reporting that Greco, who has worked for Adams since he was Brooklyn borough president, asked a volunteer for the mayor’s 2021 campaign to renovate her Bronx home for free before getting a job in the Adams administration.

That outlet also reported that after that campaign volunteer was hired by the city, Greco continued to demand he perform work on her home while on the city’s time.  Additionally, the outlet reported Greco had sought a $10,000 contribution to a nonprofit she founded from a businessman in exchange for admission to a Chinese-themed government event at Gracie Mansion hosted by Adams.

FBI agents raded the Bronx home of Mayor Eric Adams' Director of Asian Affairs Winnie Greco on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Sheetal Banchariya for New York Daily News)
FBI agents carried out “court-authorized law enforcement activity” at the Bronx home of Mayor Eric Adams’ Director of Asian Affairs Winnie Greco on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Sheetal Banchariya for New York Daily News)

When asked about the feds’ activity at Greco’s addresses, Adams spokesman Fabien Levy said that “our administration will always follow the law.”

“We always expect all our employees to adhere to the strictest ethical guidelines. As we have repeatedly said, we don’t comment on matters that are under review, but will fully cooperate with any review underway,” Levy added. “The mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Director of Asian Affairs Winnie Greco are pictured at a celebration recognizing the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival at Gracie Mansion on Friday, September 9, 2022. (Michael Appleton / Mayoral Photography Office)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Director of Asian Affairs Winnie Greco are pictured at a celebration recognizing the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival at Gracie Mansion on Friday, September 9, 2022. (Michael Appleton / Mayoral Photography Office)

Property records show Greco bought one of the raided homes for $850,000 just this past Oct. 16. She holds a $680,000 mortgage on the property, records show.

Greco earns $100,000 annually in her city job, according to payroll records.

In paperwork for the $680,000 mortgage, Greco identified herself as residing at a second one-family home just across the street. That’s the second property that was targeted by the feds Thursday.

Property records show Greco owns the second property with Nickolas Greco, her husband.

It’s unclear which of the two buildings Greco permanently resides in.

Mayor Eric Adams' Director of Asian Affairs, Winnie Greco, is pictured at a Lunar New Year Celebration at Gracie Mansion on Tuesday, February 8, 2022. (Michael Appleton / Mayoral Photography Office)
Mayor Eric Adams’ Director of Asian Affairs, Winnie Greco, is pictured at a Lunar New Year Celebration at Gracie Mansion on Tuesday, February 8, 2022. (Michael Appleton / Mayoral Photography Office)

The feds’ interest in Greco comes as the mayor himself faces a federal probe into his ties to Turkey. As part of that investigation, the FBI raided the homes of Brianna Suggs, a top fundraiser for Adams, and City Hall staffer Rana Abbasova. The FBI also seized the mayor’s electronic devices as part of their investigation.

It’s unclear if the raid in the Bronx is tied to that probe into foreign involvement in local politics.

Records show Greco likely has her own connections to a foreign government.

It first emerged last year that Greco served as a consultant to multiple local Chinese interest groups that receive funding from Beijing’s Communist government. And in a previously unknown wrinkle, Greco also identified herself in a 2014 letter reviewed by The News as the CEO of the New York Sino Agricultural Organization, a Chinese investment group.

Under Greco’s leadership, the Sino organization was in talks in the mid-2010s with the upstate municipality of Warwick about purchasing the shuttered Mid-Orange Correctional Facility in hopes of turning it into an “agricultural education center,” according to a lawsuit filed in Orange County Supreme Court in 2021.

In 2013, Warwick Town Supervisor Mike Sweeton told the Times Herald-Record that the Chinese government was actually behind the bid to buy the old prison. Citing Sweeton, the local newspaper reported at the time that China’s government was hoping to turn the closed prison into “an agricultural university or a vocational school, where they can learn about American agricultural technology.”

Sino’s bid to buy the old prison ultimately never came to fruition.

]]>
7551903 2024-02-29T13:42:24+00:00 2024-02-29T19:38:59+00:00
Trump must pay $454M while appealing fraud judgment: appeals court https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/02/28/trump-must-pay-464-million-while-appealing-fraud-judgment/ Wed, 28 Feb 2024 21:02:46 +0000 https://www.nydailynews.com/?p=7549804 Donald Trump must fork over upwards of $454 million as he appeals the devastating judgment in his fraud case, a New York appeals court judge ruled Wednesday — hours after the former president asked to pay a quarter of it to save him from selling off his prized properties.

Justice Anil Singh of the mid-level First Department Court of Appeals denied Trump’s request to halt payment but temporarily put other portions of the ruling on ice, including a three-year ban on Trump running a business in his native New York or applying for loans there for three years.

The judge also temporarily lifted a two-year industry ban against Eric and Don Jr. and a permanent ban against former Trump Organization execs Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney.

Trump and his crew have until around March 25 to settle up with cash or bond — the day his first criminal trial kicks off in Manhattan Supreme Court in the Stormy Daniels hush money case, in which he’s pleaded not guilty to 34 felonies. Every day he doesn’t pay his share of the judgment, Trump owes around $112,000 more in interest.

Singh’s order will remain in effect until he and his colleagues consider further arguments.

Earlier Wednesday, the GOP front runner asked the court to halt enforcement of Judge Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 judgment  while he tries to get it tossed, which typically requires a defendant to put up all the cash they owe within 30 days or post a bond.

Attorneys for Trump and his company executives argued they couldn’t put down the total amount while being barred from taking out loans. They said Trump would deposit a $100 million bond, arguing it would be sufficient paired with ongoing oversight by a court-appointed monitor.

Requiring Trump to satisfy the judgment in full as he appeals, his lawyers argued, would lead to “irreparable harm” and likely force him to sell off properties without any guarantee he’d get them back if he wins.

“Simply put, Appellants would be unable to recover the value of that which was taken by the court and the Attorney General during the pendency of the appeal,” they wrote.

Trump’s lawyers, who filed their notices of appeal on Monday, described the penalties handed down by Engoron as “draconian” measures impeding “a global real estate empire in the conduct of lawful business.”

State Attorney General Tish James’ office opposed the request. In addition to court docs filed Wednesday, the two sides hashed out their arguments in a last-minute hearing before Singh on Wednesday afternoon.

The AG’s office said Trump and company shouldn’t get anything shaved off the sum and noted they hadn’t indicated any effort to secure a bond.

“There is substantial risk that defendants will attempt to evade enforcement of the judgment (or make enforcement more difficult) following appeal,” Assistant Solicitor General Dennis Fan argued in filings Wednesday, alleging that Trump Organization entities based in New York had been relocated to Florida since Engoron’s decision.

“As the court recognized earlier in this case, there is unfortunately a distinct need to ‘ensure that defendants do not dissipate their assets or transfer them out of this jurisdiction.’”

Following an almost three-month trial, Engoron determined Trump and his top executives at the Trump Organization were liable for multiple fraud claims in James’ September 2022 case, finding they intentionally lied about his net worth for years to secure better terms in business deals. Engoron ordered them to collectively pay the AG around $464 million, including interest — mainly affecting Trump.

Fan said the AG’s office was further worried about Trump’s other debts — noting he still has to pay writer E. Jean Carroll, whom a jury in January determined he owed $83.3 million for defaming her, on top of $5 million he was ordered to pay her last year for a 1990s sexual assault.

James has said she won’t hesitate to send the sheriff to collect Trump’s namesake assets if he fails to pay his debts.

Earlier Wednesday, a court officer discovered an envelope addressed to Engoron filled with white powder at the 60 Centre St. courthouse.

Courts spokesman Al Baker said Engoron didn’t come into contact with the powder determined to be nonhazardous and that an investigation was ongoing.

]]>
7549804 2024-02-28T16:02:46+00:00 2024-02-28T20:12:11+00:00
Trump fraud trial judge Arthur Engoron targeted with white powder scare at NYC courthouse https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/02/28/trump-fraud-trial-judge-arthur-engoron-targeted-with-white-powder-scare-at-nyc-courthouse/ Wed, 28 Feb 2024 18:10:34 +0000 https://www.nydailynews.com/?p=7548937 Judge Arthur Engoron was targeted with a bogus white powder scare Wednesday at a lower Manhattan courthouse — as Donald Trump asked an appeals court to halt his devastating ruling and require the former president to put down just a quarter of the money he owes New York state.

The powder was discovered inside a standard business-sized envelope addressed to Engoron inside the operations office at the 60 Centre St. courthouse around 9:30 a.m., according to a person familiar with the matter, prompting emergency services to isolate two people. No injuries were reported.

A court officer opened the letter and white powder spilled onto his pants, according to the NYPD. A courts spokesman declined to comment.

The threat marks the second against Engoron in recent weeks. His Long Island home was targeted with a bogus bomb threat on the day of closing arguments at Trump’s fraud trial in January.

Judge Arthur Engoron at the Trump Organization civil fraud trial in New York State Supreme Court in New York City on Jan. 11, 2024. (SHANNON STAPLETON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Judge Arthur Engoron attends the closing arguments in the Trump Organization civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan on January 11, 2024. (Photo by SHANNON STAPLETON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Engoron on Feb. 16 found Trump, his sons, Eric and Don Jr., and former finance executives at the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney, liable for multiple fraud claims in state Attorney General Tish James’ September 2022 case and ordered they pay more than $464 million in fines, including interest. Trump is personally on the hook for most of it, with his share increasing by $112,000 daily.

Among other restrictions, the judge also barred Trump from doing business in New York for three years and ruled that his family real estate empire must operate under a two-tiered monitoring system for the same amount of time.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump and his lawyer Christopher Kise attend the closing arguments in the Trump Organization civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court on January 11, 2024 in New York City. Trump won't make his own closing arguments after his lawyers objected to Judge Arthur Engoron's insistence that Trump stay within the bounds of "relevant, material facts that are in evidence" of the case. Prosecutors allege that Trump and his two sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump conspired to inflate his net worth on financial statements provided to banks and insurers to secure loans. New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued seeking $370 million in damages. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton-Pool/Getty Images) ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG, CM - OUTS * NM, PH, VA if sourced by CT, LA or MoD **
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and his lawyer Christopher Kise attend the closing arguments in the Trump Organization civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court on January 11, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton-Pool/Getty Images)

Trump asked a mid-level appeals court for a stay early Wednesday — which would pause the ruling being enforced — and said he would put down a $100 million bond as he appeals it, less than a quarter of the amount owed.

“The exorbitant and punitive amount of the Judgment coupled with an unlawful and unconstitutional blanket prohibition on lending transactions would make it impossible to secure and post a complete bond,” Trump lawyers Alina Habba and Cliff Robert wrote.

“Appellants nonetheless plan to secure and post a bond in the amount of $100 million.”

The AG’s office opposed the request.

This developing story will be updated. 

 

]]>
7548937 2024-02-28T13:10:34+00:00 2024-02-28T15:46:00+00:00
‘Bling Bishop’ Lamor Whitehead asked God to ‘take vengeance’ on victim’s son: testimony https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/02/27/bling-bishop-lamor-whitehead-asked-god-to-take-vengeance-on-victims-son-tesimony/ Wed, 28 Feb 2024 00:18:58 +0000 https://www.nydailynews.com/?p=7547277 Brooklyn preacher Lamor Whitehead asked God to smite one of his parishioners while refusing to return his mother’s life savings, jurors heard in witness testimony at the “bling bishop’s” Manhattan fraud trial on Tuesday.

“I know he was berating Rasheed in [a] text and he was basically asking God to exact vengeance on him,” Pauline Anderson said in Manhattan Federal Court on the second day of Whitehead’s trial.

Anderson said the threats came more than six months after Whitehead convinced her and her son, Rasheed Anderson, to empty her retirement savings in late 2020 — promising he’d use the funds to buy her a fixer-upper home — and then disappeared with the cash.

Federal prosecutors say Whitehead, a flamboyant figure and friend of Mayor Adams, ripped off Pauline Anderson, drew up fake bank documents, tried to extort a businessman and lied to the FBI, charges he denies.

Anderson, who’s separately suing the pastor, said that she got involved with Whitehead when her son informed her of services at his church, Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministry in Canarsie, Brooklyn, helping congregants improve their credit scores. She said Whitehead presided over Rasheed’s wedding and introduced him to contacts who helped him secure his own home.

After several back-and-forths and a failed loan application, Anderson testified that the pastor convinced her to trust him with a decade’s worth retirement savings from her career as a nurse so he could invest the funds in his company and use proceeds to buy her a home and renovate it. The 58-year-old said he promised to pay her $100 a month to live off after convincing her to liquidate her savings with no other income. Prosecutors presented a copy of a cashier’s check for $90,015 with Whitehead’s signature on the back, which Anderson said she asked her son to give him at Sunday Mass.

ADAMS WHITEHEAD
Eric Adams, left and Lamor Whitehead
Eric Adams, left and Lamor Whitehead

“I felt he was honestly advising me. I felt that he was truthful and that I would actually benefit from it,” an emotional Anderson said, later adding, “I trusted him. He said he had real estate experience. He was a man of God — he prayed for me in earnest. I believe in God, so I believed he would honestly help me to get this house.”

As months passed by and Anderson still had no new home, she said she faced the prospect of homelessness alongside her elderly mom when the landlord of her apartment put it on the market. Soon after, she said she started to worry when her son told her that he and the bishop had a falling out.

Jurors saw text messages of Anderson reaching out to Whitehead in May 2021 seeking to get the money back herself. At that point, the pastor promised he was “a man of integrity and you will not lose,” vaguely claiming the money had already been invested and that he couldn’t get it back for her for at least a year — or give her any of his own cash while running to succeed Adams as Brooklyn borough president.

“After my campaign, I’ll see what I can do,” Whitehead, whose political aspirations went nowhere, texted Anderson, saying he would “flip a few properties” to get her back the cash by August or September, text messages showed.

Anderson said the money never came and Whitehead rarely put anything — including a contract — in writing. The pastor eventually dropped the niceties, threatening her son and the invoking the wrath of God.

The feds say Anderson is one of several people the fashion-loving Whitehead conned to pad his wallet — and his closet — and that he was “willing to lie, cheat and steal to keep up his appearance of wealth.”

He’s also accused of attempting to bully a Bronx auto body shop owner out of $5,000 and lying to him about lucrative City Hall connections to get $500,000 more; submitting fake bank records purporting to show he had millions in an account that held $6 when seeking a $250,000 loan to finance his palatial New Jersey mansion; and lying to the FBI.

Whitehead, arrested in December 2022, has pleaded not guilty to wire fraud, attempted extortion and lying to the FBI. Among other arguments, he alleges that Anderson’s son was the one who ripped her off and that Bronx businessman Brandon Belmonte slandered him to save himself in another case.

The 47-year-old pastor made headlines in 2022 when he publicly tried to broker the surrender of Q Train shooter Andrew Abdullah and was robbed at gunpoint of $1 million of jewelry while delivering a live-streamed sermon.

A self-described “mentee” of Adams, Whitehead’s relationship with the pol dates back to when Adams was Brooklyn BP.

Adams, whose campaign fundraising is the subject of a separate federal investigation, has not been accused of wrongdoing. Asked about the Whitehead case, he’s pointed out that prosecutors say Whithead knew he could not deliver on promises of favors from City Hall.

]]>
7547277 2024-02-27T19:18:58+00:00 2024-02-28T10:51:04+00:00