DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

A state ethics panel quietly dismissed a complaint last summer against the New York judge presiding over the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, issuing a warning over small donations the judge had made to groups supporting Democrats, including the campaign of Joseph R. Biden. The judge, Juan M. Merchan, donated a total of $35 to the groups in 2020, including a $15 donation earmarked for the Biden campaign, and $10 to a group called “Stop Republicans.”Political contributions of any kind are prohibited under state judicial ethics rules. “Justice Merchan said the complaint, from more than a year ago, was dismissed in July with a caution,” the spokesman for the court system, Al Baker, said in a statement. A caution does not include any penalty, but it can be considered in any future cases reviewed by the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct. A letter outlining the caution was not released because of the commission’s rules, and Justice Merchan did not make the letter available.

Persons: Donald J, Joseph R, Biden, Juan M, ”, Merchan, Al Baker Organizations: New, Trump, Republicans, state’s, Judicial Locations: New York

The first criminal trial of an American president has presented more than a few logistical complications. And then, during each midday break in the action, it’s time for Mr. Trump to eat. But it would be difficult for Mr. Trump to duck out for a steak or even a hot dog, and so he orders in. “Tony told me it was for Mr. Trump,” said Abimael Maldonado, who works at The Pie Guy, of the man who texted him the order Thursday. (A person with knowledge of the lunch order confirmed Thursday’s pies were for Mr. Trump and his team.)

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Pie Guy, “ Tony, ”, Abimael Maldonado Organizations: Mr, Pie Locations: Lower Manhattan

agents early Thursday searched the homes of two senior New York Fire Department chiefs responsible for overseeing safety inspections while city investigators also searched the chiefs’ offices at the agency’s headquarters in Brooklyn, people with knowledge of the matter said. There was no immediate indication that the searches were part of a broad federal corruption investigation focused on Mayor Eric Adams and fund-raising for his 2021 campaign, although spokesmen for the F.B.I. A spokeswoman for the Department of Investigation could not immediately be reached for comment. Neither of the chiefs, Brian Cordasco and Anthony Saccavino, has been accused of wrongdoing. The Fire Department said in a statement that Commissioner Laura Kavanagh has “proactively” placed both chiefs on modified duty.

Persons: Eric Adams, Brian Cordasco, Anthony Saccavino, Laura Kavanagh Organizations: New York Fire Department, city’s Department of Investigation, U.S, Department, Fire Department Locations: Brooklyn, Manhattan

The coordinated raids were the first public sign of a broad corruption investigation into the mayor’s 2021 campaign. and federal prosecutors in Manhattan are examining whether the Turkish government conspired with Mr. Adams’s campaign to funnel foreign donations into campaign coffers and whether Mr. Adams pressured Fire Department officials to sign off on a new high-rise Turkish consulate despite safety concerns. Both Ms. Abbasova and Mr. Öcal have ties to Turkey. She was Mr. Adams’s longtime liaison to the Turkish community when he served as Brooklyn borough president; he was the general manager of the New York office of Turkish Airlines until early last year. Ms. Abbasova, Mr. Öcal, Ms. Suggs and Mr. Adams have not been accused of wrongdoing.

Persons: Eric Adams’s, Brianna Suggs, Rana Abbasova, Cenk, Adams, Abbasova, Öcal, Adams’s, Suggs Organizations: Turkish Airlines, Fire Department, New Locations: Turkey, New Jersey, Manhattan, Turkish, Brooklyn, New York

After federal authorities raided the home of Mayor Eric Adams’s chief fund-raiser on Nov. 2, a broad criminal inquiry into the fund-raising practices of Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign spilled into public view. Federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. are examining whether the campaign conspired with members of the Turkish government, including its consulate in New York, to receive illegal donations, according to a search warrant obtained by The New York Times. Here’s what we know about the investigation. The full scope of the federal criminal inquiry is not yet clear, but the investigation has focused at least in part on whether Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign conspired with the Turkish government and Turkish nationals to receive illegal donations.

Persons: Eric Adams’s, Adams’s, Adams Organizations: The New York Times Locations: Turkish, New York

Maryanne Trump Barry, a former federal judge who was an older sister of Donald J. Trump and served as both his protector and critic throughout their lives, has died. Ms. Barry died at her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, according to two people familiar with the matter. Ms. Barry, the widow of John Barry, a veteran trial and appellate lawyer, had been a federal judge in New Jersey, a position that Mr. Trump’s fixer, the lawyer Roy M. Cohn, was credited with helping her attain during President Ronald Reagan’s tenure. She retired from the bench in 2019, at a time when inquiries were brewing after a New York Times investigation into the family’s tax practices. Mr. Trump seemed to heed the words of few people as much as he did his sister’s, according to confidants.

Persons: Maryanne Trump Barry, Donald J, Trump, Barry, John Barry, Roy M, Cohn, Ronald Reagan’s, Mary L Organizations: New York Times Locations: Manhattan, New Jersey

Mr. Adams already had a long-running relationship with the Turkish consulate general, which paid for part of his trip to Turkey while he was Brooklyn borough president in 2015, according to a public filing. The warrant to search the home of Mr. Adams’s 25-year-old fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs, indicated that the investigation was examining the role of KSK Construction, a Brooklyn building company owned by Turkish immigrants that organized a fund-raising event for Mr. Adams on May 7, 2021. On that day, 48 donors, including the company’s owners, employees and their families, along with others in the construction and real estate industries, donated $43,600, Mr. Adams’s campaign reports show. Mr. Adams’s campaign filings do not specify which donations were made through the fund-raising event. Neither Mr. Adams nor his campaign has been accused of wrongdoing, and no charges are publicly known to have been filed in connection with the investigation.

Persons: Adams, York City’s, Adams’s, Brianna Suggs, Suggs Organizations: Fire Department, Mr, Democratic Locations: Brooklyn, Manhattan, York, Turkish, Turkey

The agents approached the mayor on the street and asked his security detail to step away, one of the people said. with him and, pursuant to a court-authorized warrant, took his devices, the person said. Law enforcement investigators with a search warrant can make copies of the data on devices after they seize them. It was not immediately clear whether the agents referred to the fund-raising investigation when they took the mayor’s devices. The surprise seizure of Mr. Adams’s devices was an extraordinary development and appeared to be the first direct instance of the campaign contribution investigation touching the mayor.

Persons: Eric, Adams Locations: Turkish

The choice was unconventional: Eric Adams, the candidate who would go on to win the 2021 election for mayor of the nation’s financial capital, had picked an inexperienced 23-year-old to run his campaign’s fund-raising operation. Ostensibly, the fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs, did her job. Thanks in part to her work, the campaign would spend more than $18 million and win the election. But the unusual arrangement, which raised eyebrows in the tight-knit, professional world of Democratic political fund-raising, might have come at an extraordinary cost. On Thursday morning, federal agents raided Ms. Suggs’s home in Brooklyn and walked away with a wide range of materials, including three iPhones, two laptop computers and a manila folder labeled “Eric Adams.” The court-authorized search was part of an expansive public corruption investigation into whether the campaign conspired with the government of Turkey to receive illegal foreign donations.

Persons: Eric Adams, Brianna Suggs, Suggs’s, ” Organizations: Democratic Locations: Brooklyn, manila, Turkey

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Thursday searched the Brooklyn home of Mayor Eric Adams’s chief fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs, a campaign consultant who is deeply entwined with efforts to advance the mayor’s agenda, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The raid apparently prompted Mr. Adams to abruptly cancel several meetings scheduled for Thursday morning in Washington, D.C., to talk to White House officials and members of Congress about the influx of migrants in New York and other major cities. Instead, he hurriedly returned to New York “to deal with a matter,” a spokesman for the mayor said. Ms. Suggs, who could not immediately be reached for comment, is an essential cog in Mr. Adams’s fund-raising machine, which has already raised more than $2.5 million for his 2025 re-election campaign. A third person with knowledge of the raid said agents from one of the public corruption squads in the F.B.I.’s New York office questioned Ms. Suggs during the search of her home.

Persons: Eric Adams’s, Brianna Suggs, Adams, New York “, ”, Suggs, Adams’s, Ms Organizations: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington , D.C, White House Locations: Brooklyn, Washington ,, New York

Mr. Cohen’s second day was bumpier. Under questioning from one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers, Mr. Cohen appeared flustered and admitted to several past lies, including before a judge when he was sentenced to prison for federal crimes in 2018. The two-day spectacle offered a preview of how Mr. Cohen, who once idolized Mr. Trump but now loathes him, might perform on the bigger stage of the criminal trial. It also captured the trade-offs for prosecutors of calling a witness like Mr. Cohen, a felon who can nonetheless offer an insider’s account of Mr. Trump’s conduct. Mr. Cohen became so worried about the lack of assistance that his lawyer, E. Danya Perry, prepared him to object on his own behalf.

Persons: Cohen’s, Cohen, flustered, Trump, Mr, Trump’s, Hoffinger, Necheles, Todd Blanche, Alvin L, Danya Perry Locations: Manhattan

☆ Jurist presiding at Trump’s civil trial will serve as judge and jury.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( William K. Rashbaum | More About William K. Rashbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Arthur F. Engoron, who is presiding over Donald J. Trump’s civil fraud trial, is an independent and thoughtful — if somewhat quirky — jurist who has served for 20 years in New York City Civil and State Supreme Court. The 74-year-old judge, a former cabby with a shock of white hair and a penchant for cracking jokes from the bench, will effectively be judge and jury, deciding the fate of Mr. Trump’s New York businesses, which make up a large portion of his real estate empire. That’s because the case was brought under a little known but powerful New York state law requiring that the matter be adjudicated at what is known as a bench trial, meaning that no jury will hear the case. The judge not only applies the law, as judges do in jury trials, but also decides the facts, a task that a jury would otherwise perform. And that means that Justice Engoron, a Democrat, will play a far more prominent and consequential role than a judge would at a jury trial, not just during the proceedings, but in the ultimate outcome — unless he is overturned on appeal.

Persons: Arthur F, Engoron, Donald J, Trump’s Organizations: New York City Civil, Court, Democrat Locations: New York City, Trump’s New York, New York

Eric Ulrich rose through the ranks of city government with modest momentum, first elected as a city councilman before Mayor Eric Adams appointed him a senior adviser and, finally, his commissioner of the Department of Buildings. At each stop, prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office said on Wednesday, he used his positions to benefit friends and associates, and harvested more than $150,000 for himself. They said he reaped New York Mets season tickets, a custom suit, a painting by an apprentice of Salvador Dalí and cash for gambling. The district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, said in a statement that Mr. Ulrich had accepted or solicited the bribes over just two years. And a court filing said that Mr. Ulrich had engaged in conduct antithetical to his oath of office “on an almost daily basis.”“At every possible turn,” Mr. Ulrich used his taxpayer-funded positions “to line his pockets,” Mr. Bragg’s statement said.

Persons: Eric Ulrich, Eric Adams, Salvador Dalí, Alvin L, Bragg, Ulrich, Mr, Eric Ulrich’s, ” Organizations: of Buildings, New York Mets Locations: Manhattan, City of New York

MR. TRUMP: My son Eric is much more involved with it than I am. Mr. Trump claims to have protected the world from nuclear war while in office. In an exchange soon after that, Mr. Trump acknowledged that those other things included having been president. And I think you might have a nuclear war now, if you want to know the truth. The attorney general’s case against Mr. Trump focuses on his annual financial statements, which she says overvalue his property by up to $2.2 billion each year.

Persons: Trump, Letitia James, Kevin Wallace, ” KEVIN WALLACE, DONALD J, WALLACE, Eric, I’ve, Wallace, That’s, didn’t, “, Mr Organizations: Trump Organization, TRUMP, Mar Locations: North Korea, Mar

Before Donald J. Trump was indicted four times over, he was sued by New York’s attorney general, who said that for years the former president, his business and members of his family had fraudulently overvalued their assets by billions of dollars. Before any of those criminal trials will take place, Mr. Trump is scheduled for a civil trial in New York in October. During the trial, the attorney general, Letitia James, will seek to bar him and three of his children from leading their family business, the Trump Organization, and to require him to pay a fine of around $250 million. On Wednesday, Ms. James fired an opening salvo, arguing that a trial is not necessary to find that Mr. Trump and the other defendants inflated the value of their assets in annual financial statements, fraudulently obtaining favorable loans and insurance arrangements. The fraud was so pervasive, she said in a court filing, that Mr. Trump had falsely boosted his net worth by between $812 million and $2.2 billion each year over the course of a decade.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Letitia James, James Organizations: New, Trump Organization Locations: New York

A few months before he was elected mayor of New York City, Eric Adams was feted at a $1,000-a-head fund-raiser at Russo’s on the Bay, a plush wedding venue overlooking the water in Howard Beach, Queens. Among the hosts was Eric Ulrich, a city councilman whom Mr. Adams would eventually appoint as buildings commissioner. In addition to Mr. Ulrich, those facing indictment include Anthony and Joseph Livreri, who own a Queens pizzeria that has drawn the attention of prosecutors investigating gambling and organized crime activity. The Livreris were also hosts of the fund-raiser, as was Michael Mazzio, a towing-company operator and friend of Mr. Ulrich’s who is also under investigation. Law enforcement officials had previously identified Mr. Mazzio and the Livreri brothers as having connections to organized crime.

Persons: Eric Adams, Eric Ulrich, Adams, Ulrich, Anthony, Joseph Livreri, Michael Mazzio, Mr, Ulrich’s, Mazzio Locations: New York City, Russo’s, Howard Beach , Queens, Manhattan, Queens

Three different prosecutors want to put Donald J. Trump on trial in four different cities next year, all before Memorial Day and in the midst of his presidential campaign. A morass of delays, court backlogs and legal skirmishes awaits, interviews with nearly two dozen current and former prosecutors, judges, legal experts and people involved in the Trump cases show. Some experts predicted that only one or two trials will take place next year; one speculated that none of the four Trump cases will start before the election. And between the extensive legal arguments that must take place before a trial can begin — not to mention that the trials themselves could last weeks or months — there are simply not enough boxes on the calendar to squeeze in all the former president’s trials. “While each of the cases seems at this point to be strong, there’s only so much you can ask a defendant to do at one time.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, ”, Jeffrey Bellin Organizations: Trump, Republican, & Mary Law School Locations: Washington

By the time he reached middle age, Charlie McGonigal was living a comfortable suburban life. He had married and raised two children in a tidy Maryland neighborhood near the Capital Beltway. He coached his co-workers on an office softball team and went to church on Sundays. Apart from his outward image as a wholesome and responsible G-man, however, there was another, less visible side to Mr. McGonigal, federal prosecutors and his former colleagues say. But a close look at Mr. McGonigal’s life and career reveals an arc that appears to have little or nothing to do with espionage and international intrigue.

Persons: Charlie McGonigal, “, ”, Charles Franklin McGonigal, McGonigal, McGonigal’s Organizations: Federal Bureau of Investigation Locations: Maryland, Ohio, New York, Russian, Russia

☆ A Federal Food Safety Case Reveals Latest New York City Rat Horror Story
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( William K. Rashbaum | More About William K. Rashbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The details of the case, made public on Friday, immediately entered the pantheon of New York City rat tales. This year, Mayor Eric Adams appointed the city’s first rat czar to confront the long-running rodent problem. Perhaps most famous was Pizza Rat, a large brown rat that went viral after video emerged showing it dragging a large slice of pizza down the stairs to an L line station in Manhattan in 2015. But it was Meat Rats — and several instances of selling misbranded chicken gizzards, pork spareribs and other meat — that put an end to Ya Feng, which ceased operations at the end of 2022. The lawsuit accused the company; its owner and president, Linmin Yang; and the warehouse manager, Kong Ping Ni, of violating the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act.

Persons: Eric Adams, Ya Feng, Linmin Yang, Kong Ping, Valerie Caproni Organizations: Inspection, Poultry, U.S Locations: New York City, Bronx, Manhattan

Using phone records and a sophisticated system that maps the reach of cell towers, a team of investigators had drawn the irregular shape across a map of tree-lined streets in the Long Island suburb of Massapequa Park. By 2021, the investigators had been able to shrink the polygon so that it covered only several hundred homes. In one of those homes, the investigators believed, lived a serial killer. A decade before, 11 bodies had been found in the underbrush around Gilgo Beach, a remote stretch of sand five miles away on the South Shore. He was charged with three of the murders, to which he has pleaded not guilty, and was named as the prime suspect in the fourth.

Persons: Rex Heuermann Organizations: Shore, Penn Locations: Long, Massapequa, Gilgo, Midtown Manhattan, Penn, Manhattan, Suffolk County

Edward Caban, who grew up in the Bronx as the son of a Puerto Rican transit police detective, on Monday became the first Latino officer to lead the New York Police Department in its 177-year history. Mayor Eric Adams announced the appointment of Mr. Caban, who had been serving as acting police commissioner, in a morning news conference in front of the 40th Precinct in the South Bronx, where Mr. Caban began his career as a police officer in 1991. The move came just over a month after Commissioner Keechant Sewell, the first woman to serve in the role, resigned after only 18 months, frustrated in her attempts to act with autonomy. Mr. Caban, who had previously served as first deputy commissioner, had remained close to the mayor through Commissioner Sewell’s tenure. He will oversee roughly 36,000 officers and 19,000 civilian employees.

Persons: Edward Caban, Eric Adams, Caban, Keechant Sewell, Sewell’s Organizations: New York Police Department Locations: Bronx, Puerto Rican, South Bronx

A criminal investigation into the former commissioner of New York City’s Buildings Department has reached its final stages and charges are expected as soon as this week, according to three people with knowledge of the inquiry. The commissioner, Eric Ulrich, resigned in November shortly after investigators with the Manhattan district attorney’s office seized his cellphone and then interviewed him the next day. The inquiry continued after his resignation, with the prosecutors focusing on crimes related to bribery that occurred when Mr. Ulrich was still in office. A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment. A lawyer for Mr. Ulrich, Samuel M. Braverman, said that until he knew what the indictment contained, he would not comment.

Persons: Eric Ulrich, Ulrich, Samuel M, Braverman Organizations: Buildings Department Locations: New York, Manhattan

“After hearing about this case for so many years, it’s a shock to find out that your neighbor is a serial killer and you never knew it,” a neighbor, Cheryl Lombardi, said. The killings terrorized residents for more than a decade as body after body was discovered in the remote area about 40 miles from Midtown. In all, remains of nine women, a man and a toddler were discovered in the area. She disappeared during an escort job in Oak Beach, a gated community three miles from Gilgo Beach. Ms. Gilbert’s remains were found in December 2011, but investigators have said they do not believe her death is linked to the serial killer.

Persons: Cheryl Lombardi, Shannan Gilbert, Gilbert, Amber Lynn Costello, Maureen Brainard, Barnes, Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Valerie Mack, Gilbert’s Locations: Midtown, Jersey City, N.J, Long, Oak Beach, Gilgo Beach, Suffolk County, New Jersey

New York City’s complex campaign finance law sits at the heart of the events sketched out in the court papers. The defendants are accused of trying to mask large donations by funneling them through straw donors. On Friday, Evan Thies, a spokesman for the 2021 Adams campaign, thanked prosecutors for “their hard work on behalf of taxpayers.”“The campaign always held itself to the highest standards and we would never tolerate these actions,” Mr. Thies said. The second took place after Mr. Adams had won his primary, effectively ensuring his election as mayor of the heavily Democratic city. For each fund-raiser, according to prosecutors, the defendants recruited straw donors and then reimbursed them.

Persons: Montgomery, Riza, Evan Thies, Adams, ”, ” Mr, Thies, “ Organizations: Mr, Campaign Finance Board, Democratic Locations: York, , New York City

Search resuls for: "More About William K. Rashbaum"

24 mentions found