White Collar Crimes

June 3, 2009

White Collar Update: M.A. Angeliades, Inc., Three Principles and Others Indicted for $600,000 Larceny

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office just released more information regarding the fraud indictment involving $600,000 in theft. The defendants, M.A. Angeliades, Inc., Merkourios Angeliades, Dimitri Malakidis and Irena Angeliades were indicted on the charges of Grand Larceny, Offering a False Instrument for Filing, Falsifying Business Records, Bribing a Witness, Bribing a Labor Official and Attempted Tampering with Physical Evidence. Additionally, three employees from Local 731, Anthony Graham, Harold Johnson and Eduardo Visone, were each indicted for Falsifying Business Records, Bribing a Labor Official and Bribing a Witness. It is alleged that their conduct resulted stemmed from 2005 through 2007.

It is alleged that M.A. Angeliades, Inc., a general contracting firm, had four separate contracts with New York City and the MTA. Specifically, M.A. Angeliades, Inc. was to provide the labor to rehabilitate eleven subway stations. In doing so, the company was required to pay the prevailing wages for these jobs. Instead, it is alleged that the above named individuals in some capacity appropriated the wages to themselves and instead of the employees. This was hidden from the MTA through many means including creating false payroll reports.

June 3, 2009

Breaking White Collar Crime News: Manhattan DA to Announce Indictment of M.A. Angeliades Inc. – Company Allegedly Underpaid Employees

by Jeremy Saland

The New York white collar criminal defense attorneys at Saland Law PC have learned that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is set to announce the indictment of the principles and three employees of M.A. Angeliades Inc. for underpaying employees. It is alleged that the underpayment of the employees was in the multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars. The company, a construction firm based out of Queens, was a contractor for NYC that did construction work on and in the subway system.

Obviously, as we regularly do, Saland Law PC will keep you informed on the charges, penalties and other interesting facts of this white collar criminal matter as we learn more.

June 2, 2009

Operation Bracelet: Indictment of Brooklyn Jewelry Stores for Failing to Report Taxes

by Jeremy Saland

The Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorneys Office announced the indictment today of Crystal Sparkse and its President, Alexander Shamayan, Golden Art Fine Jewelers and its President, Ghassan Maalouf, and Pavillion Jewelers and its President Saeed Azarfar, for Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree and other crimes. It is alleged that each of these stores under reported their sales tax or had a deficiency of approximately $550,000, $125,000 and $350,000 respectively. It is alleged that undercover officers went to some of the stores to purchase jewelry and they were informed that if they paid in cash no sales tax would be charged.

Former Manhattan prosecutors, the white collar criminal defense attorneys at Saland Law PC have worked on cases involving alleged tax and Grand Larceny crimes as they relate to New York State taxing authorities. In fact in one such case, our client received no jail and was able to civilly litigate whether he owed approximately 3.2 million dollars out of an estimated 5 million dollars prosecutors alleged he had illegally kept.

May 27, 2009

UPDATE: Identity Theft and Check Fraud Ring May Get Bounced into Jail: Hundreds of Victims in Criminal Scheme

by Jeremy Saland

As a follow up to my earlier post, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has announced a 227 count indictment of 18 individuals in an identity theft and check fraud scheme. As I correctly noted in the original post, these defendants are alleged to have perpetrated a scheme involving the crimes of Grand Larceny, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, Identity Theft, Conspiracy, Unlawful Possession of Personal Identification Information and Scheme to Defraud. As a former Manhattan prosecutor who was one of the first assigned to the Identity Theft Unit upon its creation, I know the Identity Theft Unit will vigorously and thoroughly prosecute the alleged offenders. Depending on the individual and their applicable charges, the defendants face up to 25 years in state prison.

The defendants include:

May 27, 2009

Counterfeit Check Ring Bounced: Manhattan DA to Announce Eighteen Indictments in 4 Million Dollar Fraud Scheme

by Jeremy Saland

The white collar criminal defense attorneys and former Manhattan prosecutors at Saland Law PC have learned that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office will announce the indictment today of 18 people, including accused ring leader James Malloy, in an alleged counterfeit check fraud scheme that utilized forged NYPD checks to perpetrate a multi-million dollar theft.

According to media reports, up to 40 people may have been arrested. It is alleged that the scheme operated by having an individual deposit a forged check into a bogus account. A teller, who was in on the scheme, allegedly provided the fraudsters with accurate account and check information to enable the fraudsters to create the fake checks and deposit them. In all, it is alleged that hundreds of checks were drawn off the accounts of about 20 companies.

May 20, 2009

White Collar Defense Update: Eleven Stockbrokers, Three Traders and Two Principal Owners of Joseph Stevens & Company, Inc. Indicted for Fraud

by Jeremy Saland

As a follow up to an earlier post, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has announced that 17 individuals who worked at a now defunct securities firm have been indicted by a New York County Grand Jury for allegedly operating a racketeering scheme that scammed over six million dollars in unlawful commissions. The Manhattan Grand Jury indicted the defendants on the charges of Enterprise Corruption, Grand Larceny, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, Securities Fraud and Falsifying Business Records. As a former Manhattan prosecutor who has supervised prosecutions of numerous multi-million dollar fraud schemes including a two million dollar “pump and dump” scheme with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as a NY white collar criminal defense attorney who has represented individuals accused of multi-million dollar fraud crimes, I can say with confidence that these defendants and their criminal defense attorneys have a long road ahead of them.

The The Grand Jury indicted 17 defendants. Among them are Joseph Stevens & Company, Inc., Joseph Sorbara, Steven Mrakowiz, Craig Shapiro, John, Moraitis, Massimo Martinucci, Peter Orthos, Alan Ferraro, Charles Raspa, Scott Tierney, John Micciola, Steven Scarcella, Michael Tripodi, Douglas Costabile, James Rathgeber, Matthew Menies and Haradjin Mucovic. Because each of the defendants are charged with the top count crime of Enterprise Corruption, they all face a minimum of one to three years if convicted and a maximum of eight and one third to twenty five years in prison.

May 20, 2009

Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau to Announce 17 Defendant Indictment: Fraud Investigation Nets Securities Specialists and Brokers

by Jeremy Saland

According to published reports, 17 brokers and securities specialists are to be arraigned today in Manhattan Supreme Court after a Grand Jury indicted each of them in a scheme defrauding hundreds of investors out of over $150 million dollars. As a NY white collar defense attorney who has represented defendants charged with multi-million dollar fraud schemes and as a former Manhattan prosecutor who supervised the prosecution of a “pump and dump” involving over two million dollars in theft, I know first hand how the assistant district attorneys likely investigated this case and will prosecute the alleged offenders. At a minimum, those defendants who are charged with the actual theft or acting in concert to perpetrate a Grand Larceny in an amount of one million dollars or more will be facing one to three years in prison, but as much as eight and one third to twenty five years. However these defendant’s decide to proceed, they better act quickly or it has the potential to get significantly worse.

As I receive more information I will share it with you. Check back for an update.

May 12, 2009

Larceny By False Promise: Another Theory of Grand Larceny & Petit Larceny as it Relates to Your Criminal Defense

by Jeremy Saland

I previously discussed the various theories that top White Collar NY criminal defense attorneys may confront when representing their clients in a Grand Larceny or Petit Larceny Case. As previously noted, the theories could include Larceny by trespassory taking, trick or even extortion. In this entry, I will address a different theory of Larceny. That theory is Larceny by false promise.

According to NY Penal Law 155.05(2)(d), a “person obtains property by false promise when, pursuant to a scheme to defraud, he obtains property of another by means of a representation, express or implied, that he or a third person will in the future engage in particular conduct, and when he does not intend to engage in such conduct or, as the case may be, does not believe that the third person intends to engage in such conduct.”

April 27, 2009

NY Criminal Defense Firm Saland Law PC Legal Analysts for CBS Evening News Madoff Coverage

by Jeremy Saland

The New York white collar criminal defense firm of Saland Law PC has once again been sought out for our experience and knowledge as criminal defense attorneys and former Manhattan prosecutors. On Friday, April 24, 2009, the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric interviewed Elizabeth Crotty in reference to the Bernie Madoff case. Specifically, the interview addressed the different ways to defend and represent Frank DiPascali, Bernie Madoff’s “lieutenant” and CFO.

Whether we have been sought for our legal insight by CNNSI.Com in reference to the Plaxico Burres gun possession case, the AP, Times-Ledger, AM NY or the CBS Evening News, we at Saland Law PC always practice what we preach. That is, we know that the key to your criminal defense stems from our attorneys’ advocacy and the partnership shared with our clients.

April 14, 2009

Aggregating Grand Larceny and Your Criminal Defense: Adding Up Larcenies Amongst Multiple Victims

by Jeremy Saland

As a NY White Collar criminal defense attorney and a former Manhattan assistant district attorney, I have prosecuted or defended Grand Larcenies well into the millions of dollars. One issue that often reared and rears it’s head as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer was whether or not in a Grand Larceny prosecution involving numerous victims, the multiple thefts could be combined to increase the level of the offense. In other words, can the prosecutors aggregate the total loss and theft from all the victims and add it up as one count of Grand Larceny as opposed to multiple lesser larceny charges?

Generally, New York courts have ruled that aggregation is acceptable “[as] long as the larceny is held to be pursuant to a single intent, and one complete, illegal scheme, [and] it matters not the length of the period over which the takings continued.” People v. Cox, 286 N.Y. 137, 142, 36 N.E.2d 84 (1941). This principle, however, has generally been applied to multiple larcenies involving the same individual.