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☆ Highlights From the Decision in Trump’s Fraud Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( William K. Rashbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The judge who cut a broad swath through Donald J. Trump’s personal and corporate coffers on Friday, ordering him to pay a penalty in his civil fraud trial that will exceed $450 million, was both cutting and colorful in his characterization of the former president’s conduct. The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, an unconventional jurist who presided over the trial, wrote a detailed 92-page legal decision that wove lyrical descriptions of Mr. Trump’s statements and actions into the legal analysis that supported his decision. There’s Bernie Madoff. And there’s even an 18th-century poet. A former cabdriver and music teacher, the judge is an unlikely antagonist for Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly denounced him as a Democratic stooge and criticized his family and his law clerk.

Persons: Donald J, Arthur F, There’s Bernie Madoff, Trump Organizations: Democratic

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

A former executive at a prominent New York City development firm that collapsed amid an avalanche of investor lawsuits and foreclosures was arrested this week and is expected to be charged in connection with a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme, according to several people with knowledge of the case. The developer, Nir Meir, was taken into custody on Monday at the 1 Hotel South Beach in Miami and was expected to be extradited to New York City on the charges, which were brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, the people said. Several other people and businesses were expected to be charged in a series of indictments brought by the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, as part of a sprawling web of suspected criminal conduct involving Mr. Meir’s former company, HFZ Capital Group. Those expected to be charged include people involved with the construction firm Omnibuild, which worked on at least one major HFZ project, including a principal at the company, some of the people with knowledge of the matter said.

Persons: Nir Meir, Alvin L, Bragg, Meir’s Organizations: HFZ Capital Group Locations: New York City, Beach, Miami, Manhattan

☆ Blindsided Trump Fraud-Trial Judge Demands Intel on Perjury Plea
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

"Dear Counselors," the fraud-trial judge, state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, begins an acidly-worded email he sent Monday. After all, he notes, he is the fraud trial's "presiding magistrate, the trier of fact, and the judge of credibility." AdvertisementIn describing the potential trial monkey wrench that a Weisselberg perjury admission would be, Engoron drops some Latin. Lawyers for his co-defendants in the lawsuit — the Trump Organization, eldest sons Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump, Weisselberg and another longtime Trump Org executive, Jeffrey McConney — have also denied wrongdoing. AdvertisementAttorneys for Trump and Weisselberg, and spokespersons for the AG's office and Manhattan district attorney's office, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Persons: —, Donald Trump's, Allen Weisselberg, Arthur Engoron, William K, Rashbaum, Jonah E, Ben Protesss, Alan, Weisselberg, Trump's, Manhattan, Forbes, Engoron, Letitia James, Trump, Donald Trump , Jr, Eric Trump, Jeffrey McConney — Organizations: Service, New York Times, Trump Org, Business, Trump, Former Finance, Manhattan, Times, Penthouse, New York, Lawyers, Trump Organization, Weisselberg Locations: York, Bromwich, Manhattan, trier

Federal prosecutors have accused Donald J. Trump of plotting to subvert American democracy and mishandling nuclear secrets. The Manhattan district attorney’s office has begun to approach witnesses to prepare them for trial, including Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former fixer, according to people with knowledge of the matter. He and at least two others involved in buying a porn star’s silence about her story of a tryst with Mr. Trump are expected to meet with prosecutors in the coming weeks. With the potential trial drawing near, the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, has also added one of his most experienced trial lawyers to the team assigned to prosecute Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump did so, the district attorney argues, by concealing an illegal payoff to the porn star, thus hiding damaging information from voters just days before they headed to the polls.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Michael D, Cohen, Trump’s, Alvin L, Bragg, Mr Organizations: White House, Mr Locations: Manhattan

Mayor Eric Adams raised $732,000 in less than two months to pay for legal expenses related to a federal investigation into his campaign fund-raising, according to a filing submitted Tuesday. The contributors to Mr. Adams’s defense fund include an array of wealthy players in business and politics, among them at least four who have been described as billionaires: the former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Ukrainian-British oligarch Leonard Blavatnik, the real estate and fertilizer tycoon Alexander Rovt and the cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce. The fund has so far spent $440,000, most of it on WilmerHale, the law firm Mr. Adams hired to represent him in the investigation, the filing shows. City law permits elected officials to set up defense funds to pay for expenses related to criminal or civil investigations that are unrelated to their government duties and cannot be paid for with public money. The funds can collect up to $5,000 per donor but are not permitted to solicit or receive contributions from anyone with city contracts or business before the city.

Persons: Eric Adams, Michael Bloomberg, Leonard Blavatnik, Alexander Rovt, Brock Pierce, Adams Organizations: New, New York City Locations: New York, Ukrainian, British

Mayor Eric Adams of New York said on Tuesday that the 25-year-old woman he had chosen to manage his political fund-raising was no longer working in that role, weeks after a search of her home by the F.B.I. revealed a federal investigation into his campaign and plunged his administration into turmoil. The announcement by Mr. Adams was something of a reversal: He had previously said he had “full confidence” in the fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs, adding that she was qualified for the job and that he would love for her to remain on his team. At his weekly press briefing on Tuesday, Mr. Adams declined to explain the reasons for the change, saying as he often does that he would not discuss private conversations. “She is no longer doing fund-raising for the campaign,” Mr. Adams said, in response to a question from a reporter.

Persons: Eric Adams, Adams, Brianna Suggs, ” Mr Locations: New York

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

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

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

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

The biggest involved Alameda Research, the sister hedge fund he controlled that’s at the heart of a collapse that has cost investors, business partners and customers billions. Under questioning, he conceded that he played a larger role at Alameda before it imploded. His decision to testify was long seen as risky, and that became clearer yesterday. The 31-year-old, who faces nearly a lifetime in prison on fraud and money-laundering charges, delivered curt “yep,” “no” and several “I’m not sure” responses, the latter drawing rebukes from the judge. The lead prosecutor used Bankman-Fried’s own words against him.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried, curt “ yep, I’m, Danielle Sassoon, Antonin Scalia, Bankman Organizations: Alameda Research, Supreme, Twitter Locations: Alameda

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

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