NYPD rocked by massive corruption probe

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/01/02/james...-reichberg-guilty-in-nypd-corruption-scandal/

James Grant cleared, Jeremy Reichberg guilty in NYPD corruption scandal
By Kaja Whitehouse and Bruce Golding
January 2, 2019 | 11:12am | Updated January 2, 2019 | 12:09pm

A former NYPD cop was cleared of all charges Wednesday in a hooker-fueled corruption scheme, but his co-defendant — a former fundraiser for Mayor Bill de Blasio — was convicted on four of five counts.

A Manhattan federal jury sided with defense arguments that the evidence against ex-Deputy Inspector James Grant was too thin to find him guilty of accepting bribes in exchange for performing official favors.

But the seven-woman, five-man panel largely sided with prosecutors regarding Jeremy Reichberg, whose onetime pal Jona Rechnitz — also a former de Blasio donor — cooperated with the feds and spent nine days on the witness stand.

The verdicts capped a two-month trial that featured damning evidence of the lavish gifts Reichberg and Rechnitz showered on Grant and around a dozen other cops who weren’t indicted, including former Chief of Department Philip Banks.

Prosecutors alleged that the freebies — including a 2013 trip that Grant, Rechnitz, Reichberg and others took to Las Vegas on a private plane with a hooker dressed as a flight attendant — were payoffs for help obtaining pistol permits, parking placards and other official actions.

The defense maintained that the gifts were merely expressions of friendship that didn’t involve any illegal quid pro quo.

Both defendants were stone-faced as the verdicts were announced, after which Grant tried to console Reichberg by patting him on the back and telling him, “You’re going to be all right.”

Judge Gregory Woods set Reichberg’s sentencing for April 4.

Moments later, Grant and his lawyer emerged from the courtroom with tears in their eyes.

“No one knows. Not even my wife,” Grant said as he headed to the men’s room.

Defense lawyer John Meringolo — whose impassioned closing arguments prompted one juror to respond by repeatedly saying, “Bravo” — expressed gratitude while also blasting prosecutors for bringing the case.

“I want to thank the jury for their service and I’m happy that Jimmy gets to rebuild his life,” Meringolo said.

“I’m just happy for Jimmy and his family. What they put his family through was not nice.“

During closing arguments last month, prosecutor Kimberly Ravener said Reichberg and Rechnitz “paid their way into the center of power at 1 Police Plaza” and “had Jimmy Grant on retainer.”

Prosecutor Martin Bell also mocked Grant and Reichberg’s “friendship” defense by singing the 1978 tune, “Thank You for Being a Friend,” which later served as the theme song for the NBC sitcom “The Golden Girls.”

“This wasn’t a ‘Golden Girls’ friendship. This was bribery, plain and simple,” he insisted.

But Meringolo swayed the panel on Grant, at point gesturing toward his client and telling the jury, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re from here. We know bad cops. That’s not a bad cop!”

The verdicts came shortly after the start of the third day of deliberations and followed complaints last week from two female jurors who said the case had dragged on longer than they were told it would.

One woman said that “the anxiety is really getting to me,” while the other said she couldn’t continue deliberating past Friday because it would interfere with her vacation plans.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/01/02/jurors-say-ex-nypd-cop-james-grant-should-never-have-been-charged/

Jurors say ex-NYPD cop James Grant should never have been charged
By Kaja Whitehouse and Bruce Golding
January 2, 2019 | 3:22pm | Updated January 2, 2019 | 5:21pm

Two jurors who helped acquit ex-NYPD cop James Grant on bribery charges said Wednesday that he never should have been charged — and one said that other high-ranking police officials should have been sitting in the dock instead.

Ives Bonilla, who served as Juror No. 11 in the Manhattan federal case, said ex-NYPD Chief of Department Philip Banks was among those he thought more deserving of prosecution than Grant.

Bonilla — who blurted out “Bravo” following closing arguments by Grant’s lawyer — also said he saw ample evidence of alleged corruption against Floral Park (Long Island) Police Commissioner Stephen McAllister, a former NYPD inspector, and former NYPD Deputy Chief Michael Harrington.

“Harrington, Banks, McAllister — they all should have been here,” said Bonilla, 67, of the Bronx.

Both Banks and McAllister were named by the feds as unindicted co-conspirators in Grant’s case, while Harrington was charged as a co-defendant but struck a no-jail plea bargain earlier this year.

The jury was never informed about Harrington’s admission of guilt.

Another juror, No. 7, said she was surprised that Grant got indicted, based on the evidence prosecutors presented against the former deputy inspector.

“It looked like they were rushing the case,” said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

No. 7 also said she discounted testimony from ex-hooker Gabi Grecko, who was hired to join Grant and others on a 2013 trip to Las Vegas on a private plane — and who the juror said seemed to have been “drugged up” on the witness stand.

“It looked like she was on something,” the woman said.

Bonilla said he decided to hail the summation delivered by Grant’s defense lawyer, John Meringolo, because “it felt like an opera.”

“He moved me. He’s Italian,” Bonilla said.

Bonilla said 10 of the 12 jurors were ready to acquit Grant on the first day of deliberations.

By the next day, Bonilla said, the entire panel was convinced Grant had been duped by co-defendant Jeremy Reichberg — who was convicted on four of five counts — and Reichberg’s former pal Jona Rechnitz, who pleaded guilty in a cooperation deal with the feds.

“He was just a flunky, I think. He was just a pawn,” Bonilla said of Grant.

“Like Meringolo said, he was just a kid from Brooklyn, from the streets of New York. He was razzle-dazzled.”

There was also unanimity early on that Reichberg was guilty of at least some crimes, Bonilla said.

“Everyone seemed convinced that him and Rechnitz were the wheeler-dealers,” he said.

Juror No. 7 said that Rechnitz, who spent nine days on the witness stand, convinced her Reichberg wanted to corrupt Grant and other members of the NYPD.

“Their relationship was based on how far they could get in politics,” she said of the two former fundraisers for Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Banks’ defense lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said Bonilla “is obviously mistaken.”

“The reason Banks was never charged with any crime is because he never did anything for anyone that was in any way improper,” Brafman said.

Lawyers for McAllister and Harrington didn’t return requests for comment.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/02/13/corru...dge-to-let-him-attend-hong-kong-jewelry-show/

Corrupt de Blasio donor begs judge to let him attend Hong Kong jewelry show
By Priscilla DeGregory
February 13, 2019 | 9:44pm | Updated February 13, 2019 | 9:46pm

A Mayor de Blasio donor who is out on $500,000 bail pending his sentencing for bribing cops wants a judge to allow him to travel to Hong Kong for a jewelry show later this month, according to new court documents.

Jona Rechnitz — a government cooperator who testified at two corruption trials — is asking Manhattan federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein to allow him to travel for nine days starting Feb. 25 “to attend an international jewelry show” for business, lawyer Alan Levine wrote in a letter to Hellerstein.

During testimony, Rechnitz said he currently works in real estate and jewelry.

Prosecutors agreed to the request as long as Rechnitz’s wife turns over her passport.

Last month, ex-NYPD Deputy Inspector James Grant was acquitted of charges he took bribes while Rechnitz pal Jeremy Reichberg was convicted of bribing high-ranking cops for favors.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/03/27/de-bl...bribing-nypd-officers-says-star-witness-lied/

De Blasio donor convicted of bribing NYPD officers says star witness lied
By Andrew Denney
March 27, 2019 | 3:55pm | Updated March 27, 2019 | 4:34pm

The Mayor Bill de Blasio donor convicted in January of bribing NYPD officers with gifts that included a $60,000 trip to Las Vegas — complete with a prostitute hired to have mile-high sex with the cops on the flight west — says in a new court filing that the star witness lied on the stand.

Now the judge in the case is postponing Jeremy Reichberg’s April 4 sentencing to sort things out.

In pre-sentencing submissions, lawyers for Reichberg, once a major donor to Mayor de Blasio, allege that Jonah Rechnitz, the “money man” in the bribery scheme who turned government cooperator, inaccurately testified that Reichberg used police connections to “fix” tickets so that recipients could avoid getting points on their licenses or fines and that he leaned on the head of the state court officers union to get friends who paid him a fee out of jury duty.

Reichberg maintains he only hired lawyers to help violators with their tickets, and he never helped to get a ticket fixed. He also says Rechnitz asked him about getting one friend out of jury duty, but that the friend ended up serving on a jury anyway.

Overall, Reichberg argues that his pre-sentencing report, which is based on Rechnitz’s testimony, incorrectly characterizes him as trying to “monetize” his relationships with the police. Reichberg alleges that, while Rechnitz gave lavish gifts to NYPD officers, neither man got much in return.

Federal Judge Gregory Woods issued an order Wednesday stating that the April 4 sentencing may instead be a conference used to address the issues raised in Reichberg’s sentencing papers.

Reichberg faces up to 65 years in prison and prosecutors say he should do at least 10, while the convicted businessman argues that he should do between six months and a year in prison.

Susan Necheles, an attorney representing Reichberg, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reichberg’s sentencing submission states that his attorneys did not challenge inaccurate testimony at trial because it was not relevant to the charges contained in the indictment against him or because evidence that would have challenged the testimony was inadmissible hearsay.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/05/13/cop-c...tion-scandal-sues-city-over-early-retirement/

Cop cleared in NYPD corruption scandal sues city over early retirement
By Andrew Denney
May 13, 2019 | 8:36pm

A former NYPD commander who was cleared of charges in the department’s infamous bribery case has filed a lawsuit alleging that he was wrongly forced to retire early over the scandal.

James Grant filed his suit in Manhattan federal court Monday, just hours after Jeremy Reichberg, who stood trial alongside Grant, was sentenced to four years in prison for orchestrating the massive corruption scandal.

Grant was acquitted in the case in January.

Also Monday, four other NYPD officers who were tied to the scandal filed suit in Manhattan federal court alleging that they were thrown under the bus to protect former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and Mayor de Blasio. They were booted from their jobs but never charged.

In Grant’s suit, the former 19th Precinct commander similarly alleges that Bratton and Lawrence Byrne, the department’s former deputy commissioner for legal matters who retired last year, made Grant a “scapegoat” while other NYPD brass were able to avoid serious charges from the scandal.

Specifically, Grant said it was revealed at trial that Phillip Banks, the NYPD’s former second-in-command; and Michael Endall, the former commanding officer for the NYPD’s scandal-ridden License Division, were tied to the bribery scheme and were allowed to stay on the job for months or years — and then retire “without repercussion.

“Unlike those officials, Mr. Grant and other innocent officers were forced out of the department without due process,” Grant’s suit states.

He claims that he was forced to give up two years’ worth of unpaid overtime that he built up through his 23 years with the department.

A spokesman for the city’s Law Department said it will “review the suit and respond accordingly.”

In an e-mail, a NYPD spokeswoman said there was nothing wrong with the department’s handling of Grant’s retirement.

“The NYPD believes this retirement was handled properly, ” said Sgt. Jessica McRorie.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/05/13/corrupt-execs-cop-plea-over-illegal-donations-to-de-blasio-campaign/

Corrupt execs cop plea over illegal donations to de Blasio campaign
By Rebecca Rosenberg
May 13, 2019 | 8:20pm

Two corrupt brothers whose engineering firm was awarded millions of dollars in city contracts pleaded guilty Monday to illegally funneling cash to Mayor de Blasio’s 2013 election campaign.

Husam Ahmad, the CEO of HAKS and part-owner of SIMCO, copped to one count of first-degree bribery in the scheme, which also included an allegedly corrupt DEP official. Ahmad is expected to be sentenced to two to six years behind bars July 8.

Court papers say his plea agreement will also end a Brooklyn federal investigation into him but do not elaborate on the nature of that probe.

In a separate Manhattan Supreme Court hearing, his brother, HAKS Chief Financial officer Shahid Akhtar, copped to two counts of offering a false instrument for filing in exchange for one to three years in prison.

As part of the deal, the brothers have to step down from the company and sell their interests.

HAKS, which was also charged in the bribery scheme, agreed to pay a $3 million fine over the next three years and cooperate with investigators. If the company complies, the indictment against it will be dismissed.

Prosecutors say Ahmad and Akhtar hosted three fundraisers at HAKS headquarters to court favor with then-mayoral candidates de Blasio, Joe Lhota and Bill Thompson —- with the expectation they’d later be awarded lucrative contracts.

They directed their staffers to donate to specific candidates, then reimbursed them with end-of-year bonuses, circumventing campaign contribution limits.

HAKS and SIMCO ended up scoring $36 million in city contracts, including projects related to Superstorm Sandy repairs, the Second Avenue Subway and the reconstruction of the Kosciuszko Bridge.

Ahmad and Akhtar also allegedly paid millions in bribes to a DEP official who steered valuable contracts their way, undermining the public bidding process.

The crooked CEO was appointed to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York in 2014 but was kicked off in February of 2018 when the criminal allegations first came to light.

The non-profit raises money for causes connected to City Hall.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/05/13/nypd-...-take-fall-to-protect-de-blasio-bratton-suit/

NYPD brass tied to scandal were forced to take fall to protect de Blasio, Bratton: suit
By Yaron Steinbuch
May 13, 2019 | 2:28pm | Updated May 13, 2019 | 3:25pm

(From left) Andrew Capul, Peter DeBlasio and David Colon Paul Martinka; Brigitte Stelzer; NYPD


Four former high-ranking NYPD cops who were forced to retire amid a bribery scandal filed a federal lawsuit Monday alleging they were denied due process to protect Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.

The plaintiffs — ex-Inspector Peter DeBlasio, who is no relation to the mayor, and former Deputy Chiefs Andrew Capul, David Colon and Eric Rodriguez — have already been collectively awarded more than $1 million for vacation and overtime days they were owed before being forced to resign.

They had been linked to the bribery scandal involving two top donors to the mayor, Jona Rechnitz and Jeremy Reichberg, but none of the cops were ever criminally charged.

DeBlasio, Capul, Colon and Rodriguez filed their lawsuit in Manhattan federal court on the same day Reichberg was sentenced to 48 months behind bars for his part in the massive bribery scheme in which NYPD officers were showered with lavish gifts that included a private junket to Las Vegas.

“The NYPD believes these retirements were handled properly,” Detective Denise Moroney, a police spokeswoman, told The Post in an email.

Freddi Goldstein, a City Hall rep, said in a statement: “The mayor is not involved with NYPD personnel decisions at this level. Any belief to the contrary is wrong.”

Reichberg was convicted in January of four counts, including conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and bribery.
Enlarge ImageEric Rodriguez
Eric RodriguezNYPD

His prosecution was secured in part by the nine-day testimony of former pal Rechnitz, who cut a deal with the feds and pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in 2016.

“Because the allegations led to the highest-ranking NYPD officials, and perhaps directly to the Mayor, who the NYPD was trying to protect, the NYPD believed it needed to take immediate action, at least for public relations purposes,” the plaintiff former cops say in their suit, which was filed in Manhattan federal court.

“Because the corruption allegations reached the Mayor’s office, the Mayor, the City, and NYPD top leaders, such as the Commissioner and [NYPD] Chief (Philip) Banks, they had an interest in insulating themselves from the allegations,” according to the lawsuit.

“Accordingly, the NYPD implicated ‘expendable’ deputy chiefs and inspectors – career police officials with impeccable records – while protecting politically tied officers from implication in the Corruption.”

Banks, the former NYPD chief of department who was named by the feds as an unindicted co-conspirator in the scandal, has denied that he took payoffs from the mayor’s two ex-fundraisers in return for special treatment.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/05/13/de-bl...erg-sentenced-to-4-years-for-bribery-scandal/

De Blasio donor Jeremy Reichberg sentenced to 4 years for bribery scandal
By Andrew Denney and Yaron Steinbuch
May 13, 2019 | 1:48pm | Updated

A former City Hall fundraiser who was convicted of taking part in a massive bribery scheme in which NYPD officers were given lavish gifts that included a private junket to Las Vegas was sentenced Monday to 48 months in prison.

Jeremy Reichberg, who was convicted in January of four counts, including conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and bribery, had tearfully asked District Judge Gregory Woods for leniency moments earlier.

“I acted as an adolescent, wanting special attention, feeling that I was entitled to get special attention for my friends who were police officers ,” Reichberg said in Manhattan federal court, struggling to read through prepared remarks and pausing often to wipe away tears and blow his nose.

His attorney, Susan Necheles, argued that her client committed crimes of “hubris … ego and gluttony,” saying he paid bribes to cops so he could pal around with them and look like a “big shot.”

She argued that the bribes didn’t get him any big favors or put the public in danger.

“What he got were things that made him look like a big shot,” she said. “He hung out with them doing fancy things.”

But prosecutors said Reichberg’s bribes weren’t just to spruce up his image — arguing that he and his former pal Jona Rechnitz got police favors in exchange for their lavish gifts, including help with arrests and difficult-to-obtain gun licenses.

“This was not a crime that created an appearance of favoritism,” said Assistant US Attorney Martin Bell. “This was impropriety of the most basic sort. This was favoritism, bought and paid for.”

Reichberg also was sentenced for two years of supervised release.

“I believe the offenses were about more than dollars and cents. It’s about corruption of an important public institution,” the judge said.

Reichberg’s prosecution was secured in part with the nine-day testimony of Rechnitz, the “money man” in the bribery scheme who cut a deal with the feds and pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in 2016 before returning to his native Los Angeles.

Also testifying in Reichberg’s case was Gabriella Curtis, also known as “Gabi Grecko,” the prostitute who provided NYPD cops with mile-high entertainment on a pricey private flight to Las Vegas.

James Grant, a former NYPD commander who was tried alongside Reichberg, was acquitted.

Jurors from the trial have told The Post they had a hard time believing Grecko’s story that she shared a hotel room with Grant in Sin City.

In March, Reichberg’s lawyers alleged that Rechnitz inaccurately testified that Reichberg used police connections to “fix” tickets so recipients could avoid getting points on their licenses or fines, and that he leaned on the head of the state court officers union to get friends who paid him a fee out of jury duty.

Reichberg had maintained he only hired lawyers to help violators with their tickets, and he never helped to get a ticket fixed.

He also said Rechnitz asked him about getting one friend out of jury duty, but that the friend ended up serving on a jury anyway.

In June 2016, The Post exclusively revealed Grecko’s account of wearing a flight attendant uniform during a private plane flight to Vegas during 2013’s Super Bowl XLVII, on which she said she engaged in sex with Grant and others.

In addition to the all-expenses-paid getaway, Grant was accused of taking graft from Reichberg and Rechnitz in the form of a Nintendo game system and an American Girl doll for his daughter, diamond earrings for his wife and hotel accommodations in Italy.

In exchange, prosecutors alleged that Grant provided Reichberg, Rechnitz and their pals with official favors, including NYPD vehicle escorts, help handling private disputes and help getting gun permits.

The defense contended that all the exchanges were merely favors one pal would do for another, and that none amounted to an illegal quid pro quo.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/10/16/jona-...for-corruption-probe-cooperation-prosecutors/

Jona Rechnitz deserves light sentence for corruption probe cooperation: prosecutors
By Emily Saul
October 16, 2019 | 3:05pm

Manhattan federal prosecutors Wednesday showered praise on Mayor de Blasio donor-turned-cooperator Jona Rechnitz, telling a judge the businessman deserved the utmost leniency at his upcoming sentencing.

“Since making the determination to cooperate fully with the Government in the spring of 2016, Rechnitz has been, without exaggeration, one of the single most important and prolific white-collar cooperating witnesses in the recent history of the Southern District of New York,” prosecutors wrote in a letter to judge Alvin Hellerstein.

“By every metric by which one measures a cooperating witness, Rechnitz has been both extraordinary and exemplary.”

Rechnitz testified against former jail union head Norman Seabrook, claimed he lavished donations on de Blasio in exchange for access to City Hall, and said he bribed high ranking NYPD brass for in order to get help with arrests and expedite tricky gun licenses

His testimony led to the convictions of Seabrook and his old pal Jeremy Reichberg, while ex-NYPD Deputy Inspector James Grant was acquitted.

Rechnitz faces up to 20 years behind bars at sentencing, but prosecutors begged the judge to show mercy.

“The Government respectfully submits that Rechnitz’s cooperation has been of a caliber such that, if genuine leniency is ever available, it should be available in this case,” they wrote.

Rechnitz’s sentencing is set for Nov. 1.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/10/22/jona-rechnitz-asks-for-time-served-says-hes-suffered-enough-lawyer/

Jona Rechnitz asks for time served, says he’s suffered enough: lawyer
By Emily Saul
October 22, 2019 | 3:20pm | Updated

The Big Apple’s best rat, Jona Rechnitz, thinks he should be sentenced to time served for his turn as a government witness — claiming his cooperation turned him into a persona non grata while constant threats and intimidation forced him to decamp New York for Los Angeles.

“Jona has also experienced more than sufficient punishment over the past several years of cooperation with the Government,” his lawyers wrote to Manhattan federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who will decide Rechnitz’s fate on Nov. 1.

“The shunning by his community literally drove him out of town, as he relocated this family to his hometown of Los Angeles.”

“Formerly unknown to the public, he is now known in New York as a ‘rat’ and a ‘snitch,’ whose every embarrassing episode has been reported in the tabloid press,” writes the defense, adding their client now lives “in fear of being accosted on the street by friends of the men he cooperated against.”

The former Manhattan real estate developer took the stand during three recent corruption trials where he admitted he’d schemed to lavish donations on Mayor Bill de Blasio in exchange for access to City Hall, and also bribed high-ranking NYPD cops with favors that included an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas on a private plane, complete with a hooker dressed as a flight attendant.

His testimony led to the convictions of former correction union chief Norman Seabrook, Brooklyn businessman Jeremy Reichberg — once a close pal — and the guilty plea of hedge funder Murray Huberfeld.
see also
Jona Rechnitz deserves light sentence for corruption probe cooperation: prosecutors

Former NYPD Deputy Inspector James Grant, who allegedly shared a Vegas hotel room with then-hooker Gabi Grecko, was acquitted by jurors who said they didn’t believe her claims.

In addition to testifying at trial, Rechnitz sat down with prosecutors over 80 times, leading to the prosecution of some 15 people, the defense added.

Even after the move to LA in June 2017, Rechnitz says he was subjected to “[t]hreatening voice messages, windows smashed at home, windows smashed in my car several times and my parents cars on the same day at their home, [and] people following me and sitting outside of my home in Los Angeles for periods of time.”

Rechnitz, who reported the situation to the FBI, suspects Huberfeld orchestrated the actions to deter him from testifying at the upcoming trial, his lawyers write.

“The Government has now confirmed that Jona’s suspicion was correct: the FBI verified, among other things, that the vehicle that had shadowed Jona’s residence was owned by persons with connections to Huberfeld.”

No charges were ever brought.

The letter from Rechnitz’s attorneys follows a glowing submission from prosecutors in which they called him “one of the single most important and prolific” white-collar snitches in recent Manhattan history.

Rechnitz — who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud — faces a maximum 20 years in prison at sentencing.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/12/02/de-bl...erg-appeals-4-year-sentence-for-nypd-scandal/

De Blasio donor Jeremy Reichberg appeals 4-year sentence for NYPD scandal
By Emily Saul
December 2, 2019 | 8:00pm

A former City Hall fundraiser convicted of taking part in a massive NYPD corruption scandal is appealing his four-year sentence — claiming he should have been allowed to call Mayor Bill de Blasio as a trial witness.

In newly filed court papers, Jeremy Reichberg’s lawyer John Meringolo argues that allowing jurors to hear testimony from turncoat pal Jona Rechnitz about de Blasio allegedly taking bribes — without hearing from the Mayor himself — confused the jury, leading to his client’s conviction on conspiracy and other charges.

Reichberg’s defense team tried to subpoena de Blasio as a trial witness, but that request was quashed by Manhattan federal court judge Gregory Woods.

“The district court abused its discretion in admitting Rechnitz’s testimony concerning his alleged interactions with Mayor Bill de Blasio, first because the credible evidence failed to establish that any crime had been committed, and second because any probative value of the testimony was far outweighed by its likelihood of confusing and inflaming the jury,” Meringolo wrote.

“Because the defense was unable to call de Blasio to testify, the defense could not erase the prejudice caused by Rechnitz’s speculative assertions,” the court papers read. “The notoriety of the alleged bribe recipient and the highly publicized nature of Rechnitz’s claims alone warranted enforcing the defense’s subpoena to de Blasio.”

Rechnitz, who is facing sentencing later this month, testified that he and Reichberg bought access to City Hall by donating more than $100,000 to de Blasio’s pet causes.

The mayor has aggressively denied the claims, and blasted Rechnitz as a “liar.”

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/12/06/shady-de-blasio-donor-jona-rechnitz-to-pay-correction-union-1-2m/

Shady de Blasio donor Jona Rechnitz to pay correction union $1.2M
By Emily Saul
December 6, 2019 | 6:20pm

Jona Rechnitz Baruch Ezagui


Convicted Bill de Blasio donor Jona Rechnitz will pay the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association $1.2 million, according to newly filed court papers.

Rechnitz made the pledge to atone for his role in a scheme that steered COBA retirement money to hedge-fund Platinum Partners, which later collapsed and lost the union $19 million.

The fund-raiser convict delivered a $60,000 bribe to ex-union head Norman Seabrook, who then invested the whopping sum in the ill-fated fund.

Both Seabrook and the fund’s founder, Murray Huberfeld, were convicted after Rechnitz flipped and started working with feds.

Rechnitz’s Friday filing said he’d already shelled out $240,000 to COBA, and would pay the rest of the sum in installments.

The City Hall donor testified at three corruption trials, claiming he showered de Blasio with donations in exchange for political access and bribed high-ranking NYPD officials to speed up gun licenses for his cronies.

While Rechnitz has claimed his snitching turned him into a pariah, recent footage obtained by The Post showed him hobnobbing with Kim Kardashian and other celebs in Los Angeles.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/12/19/de-blasio-donor-turned-informant-jona-rechnitz-sentenced-to-10-months/

De Blasio donor-turned-informant Jona Rechnitz sentenced to 10 months
By Emily Saul
December 19, 2019 | 2:14pm | Updated

City Hall donor-turned-cooperator Jona Rechnitz has been sentenced to 10 months behind bars for his role in the NYPD corruption scandal.

He’s also on the hook to pay the Correction Officers Benevolent Association $10 million in annual installments of $500,000 as restitution for steering COBA retirement money to the Platinum Partners hedge fund, which later collapsed and ultimately lost the union $19 million.

The former real estate developer had hoped for time served after his testimony on behalf of prosecutors at a series of trials that he bribed public officials — including Mayor Bill de Blasio and high-ranking NYPD officials — in exchange for favors.

His testimony led to the convictions of former correction union chief Norman Seabrook, Brooklyn businessman and close pal Jeremy Reichberg and the guilty plea of hedge-funder Murray Huberfeld.

Seabrook and Huberfeld are also liable for repaying a portion of the $19 million lost through Platinum Partners.

Ex-NYPD Deputy Inspector James Grant was acquitted of corruption charges, and has since sued the city, claiming he was forced to retire amid the scandal.

The sentence follows requests from both prosecutors and defense attorneys that the snitch receive a lenient sentence, with the government describing Rechnitz as “one of the single most important and prolific white-collar cooperating witnesses in the recent history of the Southern District of New York.”

Rechnitz’s defense team painted previously their client as a social pariah, claiming he’d already suffered enough and was forced to flee New York out of humiliation and fear.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/02/09/ex-de...dashian-ties-for-fraud-scheme-lawsuit-claims/

Ex-de Blasio crony used Kardashian ties for fraud scheme, lawsuit claims
By Emily Saul
February 9, 2020 | 6:01pm | Updated

Jona Rechnitz leaving federal court, left, and with Kim Kardashian during a party at the Hotel Bel-Air in Beverly Hills. William Farrington


Convicted ex-Mayor de Blasio crony Jona Rechnitz is keeping up with the Kardashians — to run a fraud scheme involving millions of dollars in diamonds, a new lawsuit charges.

The brazen crook — who used footage of himself partying with Kim Kardashian at a November jewelry show to try to convince a Manhattan federal judge to go easy on him at sentencing — is touting the same starry event to lure in marks, according to the suit obtained by The Post.

While the Kardashians have no role in the estimated $15 million scheme, Rechnitz and his wife, Rachel, have posted photos on social media of clients Kylie Jenner and Kim, as well as de Blasio, “to create a false sense of credibility’’ for themselves, documents say.

The Rechnitzes run the business Jadelle and Jewelry Diamonds, “whose marque [stet] client is the Kardashian family,’’ says the suit, filed Sunday in Los Angeles County, where the Rechnitzes live in an estimated $15,000-a-month rented pad.

Rechnitz tricked plaintiff investor Victor Franco Noval into loaning him millions of dollars by touting his “political and powerful celebrity connections,’’ court papers say.

Noval says in his suit that he loaned Rechnitz $2.8 million for his business in January 2019.

Noval did not know of Rechnitz’s past — which includes bribing New York City correction-union officials in a retirement-fund scheme — at the time, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Ronald Richards, told The Post.

Rechnitz, who Richards called an “economic terrorist,’’ is currently free while appealing his 10-month prison sentence, which he landed in December.

Under the deal between the two men, Rechnitz was to pay Noval an interest rate of 9 percent annually on the loan, the suit says. He allegedly gave Noval $7 million in diamonds, plus an ultra-luxury ride Bugatti, in return as collateral.

When Rechnitz missed deadline after deadline on repaying the loan, Noval sold off the Bugatti for $400,000 and called him out on the rest of the outstanding dough, the suit says.

Rechnitz allegedly told Noval that if he gave him the diamonds back, he would write the investor two checks totaling $3.8 million.

The diamonds and checks exchange went down last month — weeks after Rechnitz was sentenced in Manhattan federal court on wire-fraud charges. During his sentencing, Rechnitz urged the judge to “watch the video’’ of him with Kim Kardashian at the jewelry show, saying, “You’ll see me dressed in a suit trying to make a living.’’

Noval agreed to return the diamonds to Rechnitz in exchange for the checks, the suit says. The checks later bounced, according to the suit. The Rechnitzes had a Wells Fargo Bank worker who arranged to have them stopped, the papers say.

“Apparently misunderstanding his role as a ‘one of the single most important and prolific white collar cooperating witnesses in the recent history of the Southern District of New York’ according to the government, Jona mistakenly believes that this provides him immunity from committing fraud in California,’’ the documents say, quoting the feds in describing Rechnitz’s role in bringing down public officials.
see also
Mom-and-pop shops 'blindsided' by de Blasio's sign crackdown

Noval’s lawyer, Richards, and the court papers allege that there are other victims of Rechnitz’s out there and put the estimated total price tag on his alleged scheming at $15 million in the court papers.

“He lied to his sentencing judge and has bamboozled the amazing prosecutors … who went to bat for him,’’ the lawyer told The Post.

The lawsuit targets Rechnitz, his wife and two alleged accomplices, alleging fraud, civil theft and breach of contract, among other things.

Neither Rechnitz nor his lawyer responded to request for comment.

Noval is filing suit to encourage others who have allegedly been scammed by Rechnitz to come forward and report it, his lawyer said.

Noval is the son of investor Victorino Noval, who was convicted of mail fraud and tax evasion in 1997.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/02/27/corru...ck-money-immediately-says-union-he-defrauded/

Corrupt de Blasio donor should pay back money immediately, says union he defrauded
By Ben Feuerherd
February 27, 2020 | 6:52pm

Jona Rechnitz leaves Federal Court after sentencing William Farrington


Corrupt Mayor Bill de Blasio donor Jona Rechnitz is a victim of his own success.

The convicted fraudster — who has whined to a judge he should be allowed free ahead of his sentencing so he can party with the likes of Kim Kardashian in order to drum up money to pay back the correction union he bilked for $19 million — has more dough than he’s letting on, and should immediately pay them back, the union says in a new court filing.

Union lawyers asked a federal judge in Manhattan to make Rechnitz liable for $14.25 million that’s yet to be repaid — pointing to a California civil suit in which a businessman accused Rechnitz of bilking him out of millions of dollars in loans by offering a $400,000 Bugatti sports car and millions of dollars in diamonds in collateral.

Rechnitz was convicted in the union scheme last year, along with former Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association chief Norman Seabrook and hedge-funder Murray Huberfeld, and sentenced to 10 months in prison. He’s appealing the decision and free on bail.

The union has recouped $4.75 million from their stolen money, which was paid by Huberfeld, the filing states.

But they fear Huberfeld and Seabrook will not be able to pay the remaining $14.25 million, so they’re demanding it from Rechnitz.

“We believe that based on his prospective business ventures he will have the ability to pay back more money,” Union President Elias Husamudeen said in a statement.

“Our members’ finances should not be held up any longer,” he added.

A lawyer for Rechnitz did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/02/28/de-blasio-donor-jona-rechnitz-accused-of-1m-scam-in-california/

De Blasio donor Jona Rechnitz accused of $1M scam in California
By Ben Feuerherd
February 28, 2020 | 3:41pm | Updated

A second California man has accused corrupt Mayor Bill de Blasio donor Jona Rechnitz of swindling him out of more than $1 million, The Post has learned.

Sam Israel Gorodistian said in a lawsuit filed earlier this week in Los Angeles that he lent Rechnitz a total of $1,573,333 in what the convicted scam artist assured him was a short-term loan opportunity to collect some interest on the cash.

Rechnitz told Gorodistian that, as part of his jewelry business, he and his wife lend money to customers, loans which are secured by the borrowers putting up jewelry as collateral.

The loans, Rechnitz allegedly told Gorodistian, were made possible by outside lenders, who would collect monthly interest payments.

Gorodistian agreed to be one of those lenders in June 2019 — not knowing Rechnitz had bribed a corrupt New York City union official — and lent Rechnitz the more than $1 million sum in a total of six payments, the lawsuit alleges.

When none of the loans was repaid, Gorodistian had several conversations with Rechnitz and his father, Robert, and they repeatedly told him the funds would be reimbursed, according to the suit.

After months of non-repayment, Rechnitz’s lawyer eventually spoke with Gorodistian and told him he would not be getting the money back, the suit states.

The scheme is similar to one Rechnitz allegedly pulled on Victor Franco Noval, who accused the fraudster of bilking him out of millions by offering a $400,000 Bugatti sports car and millions of dollars in diamonds as collateral.

Rechnitz was convicted of siphoning millions of dollars from the New York City correction officers union last year and sentenced to 10 months in prison. He’s free on bail and appealing the decision.

An attorney for Rechnitz did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Gorodistian, who also names Rechnitz’s wife and father in his suit, is seeking the money he loaned Rechnitz and other unspecified monetary damages.

 

[The Bobster]

Philip Banks, unindicted co-conspirator in bribery scandal, named deputy mayor

Mayor Eric Adams has named former NYPD chief Philip Banks — an unindicted co-conspirator in a sweeping federal police corruption case — the deputy mayor of public safety.

nypost.com

Philip Banks, unindicted co-conspirator in bribery scandal, named deputy mayor​

By
Nolan Hicks and

Craig McCarthy


January 7, 2022 12:32pm
Updated

Philip Banks, who abruptly resigned as NYPD chief eight years ago, has been appointed head of public safety by Mayor Eric Adams. Robert Mecea

​

Mayor Eric Adams has named former NYPD chief Philip Banks — an unindicted co-conspirator in a sweeping federal police corruption case — the deputy mayor of public safety, City Hall officials confirmed Friday.
Banks, who’s long been rumored to be appointed to the reinstituted post by Adams, will return to public office nearly eight years after abruptly resigning from the top uniformed spot in the department amid the federal probe into the NYPD.
The post, last held by Milton Mollen in 1992, is tasked with overseeing the NYPD and other public safety matters.
At the time, Banks had said his rift with then-Police Commissioner Bill Bratton over his promotion to first deputy commissioner, the second in command, spurred his resignation.
It was later revealed the rising star’s surprise move came as the feds probed “hundreds of thousands” of dollars in Banks’ account as part of the investigation into Jona Rechnitz and Jeremy Reichberg, who bribed cops with hookers and jewelry.
Philip Banks was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal investigation into police bribery.AP
Banks was never charged in the case but later named by the feds as an unindicted co-conspirator.
Rechnitz and Reichberg were both convicted of bribery and corruption and sentenced to 48 months in prison.
Banks, as well as Adams, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and pointed to the fact that the feds never brought criminal charges as proof of his innocence.
Jeremy Reichberg (left) and Jona Rechnitz were convicted of bribing NYPD officers with jewelry and prostitutes.
The announcement Friday came in an op-ed column penned by Banks in which he apologized for his connection to the men while slapping down the previous allegations against him.
Hours later, the mayor’s office made it official.
“I need a partner in government who understands what it takes to keep New Yorkers safe. Phil Banks is that person,” Adams said in a statement.
Banks thanked the mayor and lauded Adams for “restoring this position in his administration speaks volumes about how dedicated he is to tackling the real public safety crisis on our streets.”
City Hall officials said Banks “will be tasked with coordinating all agencies on public safety matters to ensure they align with the Mayor’s vision” but did not go into detail as to the his daily responsibilities.
In an op-ed, Philip Banks (right) apologized for his connection to Reichberg (left) and Rechnitz (center), but maintained his innocence. Evidence photo
Banks’ checkered past allegedly led to Adams advisers pushing back on naming him to the spot, delaying the appointment.
Banks, whose brother David Banks is the new New York City schools chancellor, has been advising Adams on NYPD issues for months and played a key role in the search for the police commissioner.
His then-expected role in the Adams administration led to the leading candidate, Carmen Best, voicing concerns over reporting to Banks and not the mayor.
Banks has been advising Mayor Adams for months, and members of the NYPD are concerned over his influence. ZUMAPRESS.com
Sources with knowledge of the hiring process told The Post newly appointed Keechant Sewell had been Banks’ favorite for top cop.
Banks had set up shop in One Police Plaza after Adams was elected, meeting with police and other public safety officials as part of the transition, sources said.
Police sources have voiced concerns that Banks, who was once expected to take over as the city’s top cop before resigning, would act as a “shadow police commissioner” from City Hall.
They later pointed to Edward Caban, who has close ties to Banks, being elevated from an inspector to the second in command as an example of his influence.