Stamford accountant Steven L. Henning has pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges for defrauding investors in a Westchester firm of $2 million.

He stipulated to a sentencing guideline of 51 to 63 months in prison, according to a June 24 plea agreement, forfeiture of $938,246 in traceable ill-gotten gains and a fine of at least $250,000.

The prosecution agreed not to pursue any other criminal charges, except for possible tax violations.

Henning, 58, was once a partner in Marks Paneth LLP, a Manhattan accounting firm, where he distinguished himself as a specialist in anti-fraud and forensic services. His former employer was not implicated in the wire fraud schemes.

In 2008, while working for the accounting firm, he formed an intellectual property business that later became known as OpportunIP LLC, with offices in Tarrytown and Purchase.

From 2012 to 2017, he conned two people into investing $2 million in his company. One investor was a former student he taught when he was an assistant professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Henning produced phony licensing and escrow agreements, purportedly from automobile manufacturers, to dupe his prey into investing.

Then from mid-2017 to late 2018, after he left Marks Paneth, he persuaded a Chicago firm to hire him and pay a $240,000 draw, based on fraudulent contracts and other false statements.

He also is embroiled in a federal lawsuit filed last year by Golomb Mercantile Co. of Las Vegas, accusing him of fabricating documents showing an interest in patents by Ford, Mercedes, Nissan, Renault and Volkswagen. The case is pending in federal court in  Manhattan.

Henning is scheduled for sentencing in the criminal case Oct. 18 before U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel.

He is represented by Michael K. Burke of Hodges Walsh & Burke in White Plains. Assistant U.S. Attorney Margery B. Feinzig is handling the prosecution.

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The New York City law firm Fitapelli Kurta said that is has filed securities arbitrations related to the alleged theft of funds by Norwalk financial adviser James Booth, who was affiliated with LPL Financial.

According to the law firm, Booth was registered with LPL Financial until he was terminated on May 30. LPL Financial sent letters to Booth’s former clients asking if they authorized withdrawals from their securities accounts to an entity called Insurance Trends Inc., which Fitapelli Kurta identified as shell company. Fitapelli Kurta added that Booth allegedly instructed his clients to write checks to Insurance Trends Inc. under the pretense that their funds would be invested, but noted Booth  allegedly created bogus customized performance reports detailing nonexistent activity.

Fitapelli Kurta stated that it is seeking the return of investor’s funds, plus interest, attorneys’ fees and punitive damages. Booth also operated a company called Booth Financial Associates, but that entity’s website and social media pages have been taken down while Booth’s LinkedIn profile said his company ceased operations last month. The LinkedIn page omits any mention of Booth’s involvement with LPL Financial.

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Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas will resign and leave office effective Sept. 30 as a consequence of his guilty plea in state court in White Plains this morning to charges of stealing campaign funds and lying about those funds in a disclosure filed with the state’s board of elections.

Thomas pleaded guilty to third-degree attempted grand larceny and second-degree offering a false instrument for filing. Both are misdemeanors.

Thomas admitted that he took approximately $13,000 from his campaign committee, the Friends of Richard Thomas, during his 2015 mayoral candidacy and put it to personal use.    

Thomas was sentenced to pay a $13,000 fine in addition to a one-year conditional discharge. During the one-year period, Thomas may not seek or accept any elected or appointed public office or seek or accept any position as a public servant.

An indictment against Thomas had been filed in Westchester County as a result of a joint investigation conducted by the Office of the Attorney General and the New York State Office of the Comptroller. 

“By using campaign funds to line his own pockets, Thomas broke the law, and violated public trust,” State Attorney General Letitia James said. “New Yorkers put their faith in our public servants, and Thomas’ gross violation of that faith constitutes the utmost disloyalty to those he was sworn to serve.”

“Mayor Thomas admitted to knowingly misusing campaign donations to fund his lifestyle instead of funding his campaign,” Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said. “Thanks to my partnership with Attorney General Letitia James, his scheme was exposed and he has now admitted his guilt.” 

After leaving the county courthouse in White Plains, Thomas met with reporters and emphasized that he pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, not felonies. “Thirteen million Americans get caught up in the misdemeanor system where it’s very difficult to defend yourself, especially when you’re poor. The reality is we know that this outcome today was something that God ordained and I’m gonna go with it, as well as the results of the election.” He was referring to the recent Democratic primary in Mount Vernon for mayor in which he was defeated by Shawyn Patterson-Howard.

“I just want to make it clear,” Thomas said, “had I not had children, had I not had a real future to lose, I would have loved my day in court, a fair day in court.”

Thomas said he took responsibility for “the mistakes made” but added that he was “never given a chance to correct anything.”

He had a few things to say about the city. “Mount Vernon is far better than it was four years ago. And, for a fact, Mount Vernon is safer than White Plains. That’s because of the hard work done by the Mount Vernon Police Department, the hard work of the Mount Vernon Fire Department, the hard work done by recreation to stand in the gap. There are so many things that have been done without any help or support and for those that are standing to benefit from this, God is in charge and I firmly believe that God will deal with each and every person that had a hand in doing this to Mount Vernon.”

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Accused embezzler Rocco Romeo has been ordered to pay nearly $1.1 million to his former employer.

U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel issued a default judgment July 16 after Romeo, of Washingtonville, failed to answer a lawsuit filed by Budd Larner PC, the Short Hills, New Jersey law firm where he was chief technology officer for many years.

The Orange County firm accused Romeo and Jacqueline Galler of Sugar Loaf of racketeering on Feb. 25 in federal court in White Plains. They also were charged criminally with money laundering and wire fraud for allegedly siphoning law firm funds into personal accounts from 2015 to 2018.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mathew Andrews dropped the criminal charges against Galler on May 29 in the “interests of justice.”

Romeo and Galler had allegedly created a shell company, set up banking and payment accounts and invoiced the law firm for technology services. Romeo, as head of IT, paid the bills with a company credit card. Funds were transferred to the private accounts and then withdrawn from ATMs or through online payments.

Last summer the firm discovered $900,000 in suspicious payments to the shell company, for services another vendor had provided.

Galler, who is also known as Star Galler and who runs a yarn shop in Monroe, admitted opening a bank account on behalf of Romeo, in her answer in the civil lawsuit. But she claimed she had no knowledge of Romeo’s transactions.

Romeo told her he was starting a new business, according to a counterclaim she filed against him, he was planning to divorce his wife and he did not want his wife to have any rights to the company.

She claims Romeo had exclusive use of the debit card.

She had relied on his misrepresentations, she said, “to her detriment.” Now she has been implicated in criminal activity and has been sued “for actions committed solely by Romeo.”

Galler is asking the court to dismiss the law firm’s complaint and order Romeo to cover her costs if a verdict goes against her.

Galler is represented by David L. Darwin, Ostrer & Associates PC of Chester.

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La Crémaillère, the famed French restaurant in Bedford, was on the verge of selling the business for $2.5 million when a bankruptcy judge approved a trustee this week to investigate possible fraud after the FBI arrested co-owner Barbara Meyzen on accusations of cooking the books.

“Management has lost all credibility,” attorney Andrea B. Schwartz wrote in a request for appointment of a trustee to manage the restaurant and real estate for creditors.

Meyzen has been implicated in “rampant financial fraud,” according to a statement issued by U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman.

Her criminal attorney, Kerry Lawrence, said, “We look forward to resolving the charges against her.”

“Ms. Meyzen and her husband and family have owned La Cremaillere for decades,” he said, “and it is truly one of the great French restaurants on the East Coast.”

La Crémaillère is housed in a 1750s farmhouse on Bedford-Banksville Road, on the Connecticut border, and for many years it has been acclaimed as one of the finest examples of French country cooking in the Northeast.

Barbara Meyzen, also known as Bobbie, and her husband, Robert Olivier Meyzen, are co-owners and have run the restaurant since 1993.

The criminal complaint describes several alleged schemes.

In 2013, the Meyzens borrowed $155,000 from a niece, Judy Smith of Fort Worth, Texas. The loan was secured by a mortgage. In 2017, a document was submitted over the internet to the Westchester County Clerk by “Bobbie Meyzen,” purportedly signed by Smith and a Texas notary, stating that the loan had been paid.

The loan had not been paid off, Smith stated in a lawsuit last year, and the signatures were forgeries.

In 2015, the Meyzens were looking for new financing, according to the criminal complaint. Barbara Meyzen allegedly gave doctored bank statements to nine potential lenders, changing negative account balances to positive balances and removing information on bounced checks.

In 2017, a Stamford woman who was a friend of Barbara Meyzen and a frequent customer of La Crémaillère, entrusted Meyzen with her American Express card number to automatically bill for meals. Meyzen allegedly used it to buy $80,000 worth of fruits, vegetables, cheeses and other goods.

When her friend confronted Meyzen, she said it was a mistake and promised to fix the problem. She allegedly gave the woman two checks on the restaurant’s bank account, totaling $32,000. They bounced.

Meyzen Family Realty Associates LLC, owner of the farmhouse and 3.75-acre property, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2018, declaring $2.8 million in assets and $1.45 million in liabilities.

La Crémaillère Restaurant Corp. filed for Chapter 11 in April declaring $1.4 million in assets and more than $2 million in liabilities.

Two days after filing the restaurant bankruptcy, Barbara Meyzen opened a new bank account in her name and diverted more than $40,000 in restaurant credit card receipts to the account, according to the criminal complaint. She allegedly opened another account with a White Plains bank, in the name of Honey Bee Farm LLC, and diverted more restaurant funds to the account.

This past May, Barbara Meyzen allegedly gave the U.S. trustee misleading information about insurance coverage on the property, when she knew that the insurance had been canceled for nonpayment.

Federal prosecutors accused her of identity theft, wire fraud, mail fraud, credit card fraud, concealing a debtor’s property and making false statements to investigators.

According to a bankruptcy court document filed June 21, Meyzen Realty had “repeatedly provided fraudulent documents to Celtic Bank.” Celtic had loaned $900,500 to Meyzen Realty in 2013.

The realty company had told the bank that it had a payment plan for state taxes and was up to date with payments. But the documents provided to the bank were allegedly altered, and according to a state tax official, the restaurant has had five installment payment agreements and defaulted on every one.

The state Department of Taxation and Finance filed a $520,022 claim against La Crémaillère on July 15.

When Barbara Meyzen was questioned at a bankruptcy creditor’s meeting on June 10  about the tax payment plan and loan from her niece, she declined to answer and asserted her Fifth Amendment right not to testify.

Just a few weeks ago, things were looking brighter for La Crémaillère. The restaurant’s bankruptcy attorney had hired business broker Silvio Benedetto to find a buyer.

He had queried numerous French restaurants in the region, such as Le Provençal Bistro in Mamaroneck, Bistro Versailles in Greenwich and La Panetiere in Rye. He contacted potential buyers such as Martha Stewart, Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich. He consulted with wine merchants such as Zachys and Acker Merrall & Condit.

“French restaurants are not doing well and many are for sale,” Benedetto stated in a July 17 report. “Most of the prospects I offered the restaurant to felt the price was out of line, as is the location nestled in back country.”

He considered breaking the sale into three options: wine cellar, real estate and the business.

He estimated that the wine cellar, valued at nearly $1.3 million in La Crémaillère’s Chapter 11 petition, was worth $250,000 to $360,000. The real estate could fetch $2.1 million to $2.6 million. The restaurant could command $250,000 to $300,000. Total price, he estimated, could be $3.5 million to $3.8 million.

Ray Balidemaj, owner and chef of Alba’s Restaurant in Port Chester, offered $2.5 million.

He demanded a 60-day due diligence period, to inspect the property, and he proposed a Sept. 1 closing. He wanted to execute a purchase “as expeditiously as possible.”

“This letter constitutes a mere expression of interest,” he stated, “and does not represent a binding offer.”

He signed the document July 17 and it was submitted to bankruptcy court on July 19. It had not been signed yet by the Meyzens.

Four days later, Barbara Meyzen, 57, of Redding, Connecticut, was arrested. She was released from custody on a $250,000 bond. The following day a bankruptcy judge approved the appointment of a trustee to manage the bankrupted companies.

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A U.S. Postal Service employee has been arrested and accused of stealing mail at the Tarrytown Post Office.

Juwan Caesar has been a postal employee since 2016, picking up mail from collection boxes in Tarrytown.

The postal service hotline began receiving complaints last December from people who live or work in the Tarrytown area, according to the criminal complaint submitted by postal service agent Angela Flora. About 40 people claimed that checks they had sent by mail were missing or altered or cashed by someone other than the intended recipient.

On July 2, a camera was installed on the truck used by Caesar. On three days, videos allegedly show he held envelopes up to a light, placed them aside and then left the truck with them.

“Caesar’s responsibilities do not include sorting mail,” the complaint states. His job is “simply to collect mail and place it in the truck.”

He was arrested after he left work on July 22. He allegedly admitted to investigators that he had been stealing mail since January.

His initial appearance was held July 23 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Smith. She released him on a $5,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 21.

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Connecticut business owners are being targeted in a new scam by a private company attempting to collect money for an unnecessary business operations document.

According to a joint statement issued by Attorney General William Tong and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, a company calling itself CT Certificate Service has been mailing letters to Connecticut businesses demanding a $112.50 fee for the companies to receive a “Connecticut Certificate of Existence.” The letter insists that the certificate is need to prove that the business “complies with all state requirements.”

CT Certificate Service has a West Hartford mailing address, although an investigation found it is run by a private company out of Florida.

A certificate of existence is not a required document for a business operating in Connecticut. The certificate, which is designed to affirm that a company is active and up-to-date with its annual report filing, can be obtained through the Secretary of the State’s office.

“CT Certificate of Service has no affiliation with the State of Connecticut and this is not a legitimate mailing,” said Tong. “If you have received this letter or sent money to this company, I want to hear from you.”

“There is no legal requirement for any business to obtain a certificate of legal existence, or to pay the inflated fee indicated,” added Merrill.

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Fairfield Superintendent of Public Works Scott Bartlett has been placed on administrative leave as a police investigation involving illegal dumping and bribery continues.

It is the latest development in a story that dates back to 2013, when Julian Development was hired by the town to manage its Public Works Yard and reduce the soil and spoils there. In 2016, near the end of the contract, contaminants were discovered on site in violation of the contract.

“After Julian refused to accept responsibility and pay for the proper disposal of the contaminated soil, First Selectman Mike Tetreau directed the Town Attorney to take legal action against Julian for failure to perform,” according to a statement issued by the town. “The First Selectman also requested that the Fairfield Police Department review the situation to determine if any laws were violated, specifically concerning the transport and dumping of contaminated material.”

The statement acknowledged that a search warrant containing “some very serious allegations” about Julian Development and Bartlett has been issued. A search has been conducted at Julian. Bartlett has allegedly been seen accepting illicit cash payments from Julian Development, where his son Steven is an employee.

“The State’s Attorney will determine if the evidence supports the allegations and if arrest warrants are to be issued,” the Fairfield statement said, adding that further updates will come from that office.

“As Chief Executive of the Town of Fairfield, I believe anyone contaminating our soil or any Town property should be held responsible and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Tetreau said. “I want to make it clear to anyone doing business with the Town that this conduct will not be tolerated.”

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Exclusive Motor Sports in Central Valley made money, but the father and son who ran the Orange County used car dealership allegedly concealed millions of dollars in revenue and lied to lenders about their finances.

Mehdi Moslem, 70, and his son, Saaed Moslem, 35, were arraigned Monday in White Plains federal court on conspiracy charges to commit tax fraud and bank fraud. Saaed Moslem was also accused of making false statements to lenders and concealing assets in a bankruptcy case.

From 2009 to 2016 they allegedly underreported their personal incomes to the IRS, with the help of a Rockland County tax preparer who was not identified in court documents.

They directed their accountant to lower Exclusive Motor Sport’s revenues and year-end inventories, thus increasing the costs of goods sold and decreasing net profits, according to the indictment issued by U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman. The fraudulent figures were then passed through to their tax returns, reducing their personal taxes.

They were also accused of submitting inflated net worth statements and fabricated tax returns on loan applications. Saaed Moslem was charged with concealing assets when he filed for bankruptcy in 2015.

They borrowed millions of dollars from financial institutions Bank of America, Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union, Riverside Bank, Melrose Credit Union, Salisbury Bank and Trust Co. and Walden Savings Bank.

Riverside Bank, for instance, loaned $1,162,500 to Exclusive Motor Sports in 2011, secured by their personal guarantees. The loan defaulted in 2017, with $956,636 still owed.

Saaed Moslem allegedly overstated his assets and understated his liabilities to get a loan from Melrose Credit Union in 2013 for Quality Homes of Hudson Valley LLC. In his bankruptcy case, he failed to disclose his ownership of Quality Homes or his interests in three properties in Cornwall-on-Hudson.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa M. Smith released both men from custody on $300,000 personal recognizance bonds.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Loss is in charge of the prosecution.

Saaed Moslem’s attorney, James R. DeVita, was unavailable for comment. Mehdi Moslem’s attorney, Jason I. Ser, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Two separate high-profile cases of Medicaid fraud have resulted in charges against a Greenwich police officer and a prison sentence for the former co-owner of a social services company in Bridgeport.

The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney has charged Michael Mastronardi with fraudulently billing Medicaid $57,278 for work as a provider in the agency’s Personal Care Assistance (PCA) program between August 2014 and April 2019. The unit alleged that Mastronardi was working as an officer in the Greenwich Police Department when he was allegedly providing the services in question. Mastronardi was released on a $100,000 nonsurety bond and is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court on Aug. 21 to face charges for larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community, conspiracy to commit larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community, health insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit health insurance fraud.

In another development, Juliet Jacob, the former co-owner of the social and psychotherapy services companies Transitional Development and Training and It Takes a Promise, both at 360 Fairfield Ave. in Bridgeport, was sentenced to one year and one day followed by three years of supervised release for participating in two separate Medicaid fraud schemes.

Jacob pleaded guilty last October guilty to one count of health care fraud and a separate Medicaid fraud scheme for her role in fraudulently billing Medicaid for services that were never provided. Jacob also participated with two others in a scam that involved the theft of personal identification information of Medicaid clients, which was then used for additional fraudulent billing purposes.

Jacob, who was also ordered to pay $ 2,711,173 in restitution related to the two schemes, is required to report to prison on Sept. 20.

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Gabriel Letizia Jr., owner and executive director of AMA Laboratories Inc. in New City, was arrested Friday on charges of rigging tests for 30 years on sunscreen lotions and other consumer products.

The alleged scheme cost AMA Laboratories‘ customers millions of dollars and endangered consumers, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a press release.

Letizia, 69, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud in federal court in White Plains. U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison released him on a $500,000 bond, secured by the AMA property on Congers Road in New City.

Two weeks ago, Letizia proclaimed his innocence in a letter to the Westchester County Business Journal. He was responding to accusations by his former lab director, David Winne, who had accused him of being “fully aware” of the lab’s practices. Winne and three other lab workers have pleaded guilty to conspiracy for their roles in the scheme.

Letizia founded AMA in 1982. The lab tests consumer products for efficacy and safety on paid volunteers and it produces reports and marketing materials to support customers’ claims.

Twice in 2017, FBI agents and Rockland County District Attorney’s Office detectives served search warrants and seized voluminous records from labs and offices.

From 1987 to 2017, according to the Letizia indictment, AMA used fewer panelists than promised in clinical trials. Then he and employees, acting under his direction, allegedly gave clients false and misleading information about test results.

Winne, Mayya Tatsene, clinical laboratory director; Patrycja Wojtowicz, associate director of clinical studies; and Kaitlyn Gold, supervising laboratory technician, have pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges.

AMA investigated itself after the law enforcement raids, according to a company press release, and fired two-thirds of its staff when testing discrepancies were uncovered. The company sued several former employees in Westchester Supreme Court in 2017, blaming them for the scheme.

Winne responded in a court filing that Letizia had “arrogated for himself” money that was falsely allocated to nonexistent panelists. The clients, not AMA, he said, were the victims.

The lawsuit is pending.

The press release also states that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration routinely audited the company from 1987 through 2017, the years covered by the indictment, and “found no hint of dishonesty.”

The FDA, FBI and Rockland County District Attorney’s Office collaborated in the criminal investigation, Berman said. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey C. Coffman, James McMahon and Olga Zverovich are in charge of the prosecution.

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Rolando Russell, an independent Bridgeport tax preparer, was sentenced to four years and two months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for preparing false tax returns for clients that totaled approximately $1.5 million in fraud.

Russell, 62, who pleaded guilty in April to two counts of aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return, prepared approximately 1,820 federal tax returns for the 2013 through 2016 tax years. Those returns claimed a total of approximately $11.26 million in refunds, of which the IRS issued approximately $10 million. However, an investigation determined many of the tax returns included false Schedule C forms, also known as the profit or loss from business form, and these losses totaled approximately $22.2 million, resulting in a corresponding reduction of taxes owed of up to $6.2 million.

The Internal Revenue Service is sending notices to Russell’s clients to amend their tax forms from the years in question. Russell, who was also ordered to pay restitution of $1.5 million as part of his sentence, was released on a $100,000 bond and is required to report to prison on Oct. 16.

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Westchester County Police arrested five people Aug. 14 and charged them with stealing more than $500,000 worth of merchandise from TJ Maxx and other retailers in the past five months through the use of identity theft and credit card fraud.

Officials said the ring would buy several thousand dollars in merchandise a day, including high-end pocketbooks and clothing, televisions and furniture using credit cards obtained through fraudulent means. Preliminary charges included multiple counts of grand larceny, criminal possession of a forged instrument and identity theft. The investigation was continuing and additional charges were anticipated.

Two of the suspects were arrested in Mount Vernon. Hassan Miller, 46, of Chester Street in Mount Vernon, and Dawn Anderson, 48, of the Bronx, were being held at the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla. Stanley Awala, 45, of St. Albans, Queens, and 37-year-old Asanimo Riesa and Peter Onogwu, 63, both of the Bronx, were being held at Westchester County Police Headquarters in Hawthorne pending arraignment.

Westchester County Police detectives, assisted by members of the County Police Special Response Team and investigators from the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, made arrests at one residence in Mount Vernon, three in the Bronx and one in Queens. Numerous items of stolen property, worth more than $100,000, were seized at the five residences. Several vans and a U-Haul truck were needed to take away the seized stolen goods, police said. A complete inventory of the recovered items was being done. Devices used to make fraudulent credit cards and fraudulent identification were also seized by police.

“I would like to commend the General Investigations Unit for the painstaking investigation it conducted in recent months to identify these thieves and bring them to justice,” Westchester County Police Commissioner Thomas A. Gleason said. “I am grateful to the prosecutors and investigators at the Westchester District Attorney’s Office for their invaluable assistance throughout this lengthy and complex investigation.”

“This was a lucrative criminal enterprise that victimized numerous retail establishments in Westchester and beyond,” Gleason said. “We have evidence that this scheme was also utilized outside of Westchester and we will be sharing information and evidence with other jurisdictions.”

“This was an important collaborative effort to stop the kind of theft that begins by stealing identities of innocent victims and then becomes theft of property,” Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. said. “Our specialized Identity Theft Unit will see that they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

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Former College of New Rochelle controller Keith Borge – who failed to pay $20.4 million in payroll taxes, caused losses of $612,398 in a securities fraud and filed financial statements that inflated college assets by $33.8 million – blames the closing of the 115-year-old Catholic college on other administrators and the board of directors.

Borge detailed his version of the college’s decline in a sentencing memorandum and letter to a federal judge in which he asks for no jail time and no fine when he is sentenced on Aug. 28.

“Yes, Mr. Borge played a role in the demise of CNR, and he deeply regrets his actions,” his attorney, Lee David Auerbach states in the sentencing memo.

“But he did not act alone. Mr. Borge appears to be the scapegoat, the tragic mascot, for the many who refused to say what their eyes were clearly able to see. He has pled guilty for the many who failed in their responsibilities and were unable to provide Mr. Borge with the financial resources he needed to satisfy CNR’s tax obligations.”

Borge expresses regrets for his actions but claims that a sharp drop in tuition payments from declining enrollments was the primary cause of the college closing.

However, Borge is to be sentenced for criminal culpability, not for causing a college closure.

CNR’s last class graduated in the spring and its last day of classes was this month. The 15.5-acre campus is up for sale, and Mercy College has agreed to accept CNR students as transfers. In addition, Mercy College is leasing three of CNR’s campuses, the main campus as well as the Rosa Parks campus on 125^th street near the Apollo Theater in Harlem and the campus in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

Borge, 62, of Valley Cottage held several finance positions during his 37-year tenure. He retired in 2016. College President Judith Huntington resigned a few months later.

A forensic accountant and law firm hired by the college discovered $31.2 million in unpaid bills. Their findings were turned over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In March, Borge pleaded guilty to criminal charges of securities fraud and failure to pay payroll taxes.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused him in a civil suit of using the college’s endowment to pay operational expenses without approval by the board of trustees, concealing tax obligations from college officials, and mispresenting assets and liabilities on financial statements that deceived investors in bonds issued by the college.

Last month he consented to being assessed a civil penalty in the SEC case.

His sentencing memo and letter to U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti claim that college officials, including Huntington and the board of trustees, were aware of the unpaid payroll taxes and unpaid bills.

The documents do not say much about the specific actions on which the criminal and civil charges are based.

The real issue, according to Borge, is that CNR did not enroll enough tuition-paying students to support operations.

“It was simply the college’s inability to produce enough cash,” the sentencing memo states, “that caused Mr. Borge to commit the charged offense.”

Borge also attributes CNR’s financial woes to fundraising shortfalls, building a wellness center that increased debt by $28 million, expensive leases for campuses in New York City, and programs and degrees that did not attract students.

“Where was the sense of urgency on behalf of the board and administration?” his letter asks. “For a group of intelligent people, it’s hard to believe they couldn’t realize the seriousness of the situation.”

The sentencing memo depicts Borge as a heroic figure who made a poor decision, “a man whose whole adult working life was spent towards the betterment of the College of New Rochelle, its students and faculty.”

Borge claims that his only motive was to help the college survive, “so that students could graduate and employees could be paid while the administration worked on things getting better.”

His letter is a litany of yes … but defenses.

Yes, he is sorry for not paying the taxes, “but the stress I was experiencing trying to keep the college open was overwhelming.”

Yes, he knew the seriousness of not paying taxes, “but the college didn’t have the cash.”

Yes, he should have done things differently, “but I cannot change the past.”

Yes, he should have called the IRS, “but the IRS also could have contacted the college at any time.”

CNR closed its doors because enrollment dropped significantly and it was no longer an economically viable educational institution, the sentencing memo states.

“It had suffered from a fatal case of insufficient cash flow, as well as an administration who turned a blind eye to its economic demise and a board that was uninvolved.”

Nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines call for a prison sentence of eight to ten years and a fine of $30,000 to $300,000, according to a criminal plea agreement he signed in March. A pre-sentence investigation report recommended imprisonment of four years.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not yet submitted its analysis and recommendations.

In asking the court for leniency, Borge and his lawyer argue that he did not personally profit from the crimes and he has no history of antisocial behavior or prior crimes, “not even a traffic ticket.”

He is a religious man, an outstanding father and husband, the principal family caregiver, the sentencing memo states. He has fully cooperated with investigators and he has taken full responsibility for his actions.

“Let me contribute to my community rather than be incarcerated,” Borge says in his letter to the judge.

“I know I had to plead guilty to these charges because of my responsibility,” he states, “but please know I was trying to keep the college going, to keep its doors open.”

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Jodian Stephenson, the owner of the now-defunct consultancy Immigration and Legal Services LLC in Bridgeport, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge related to her activity in arranging fraudulent marriages that enabled non-U.S. citizens to receive U.S. immigration benefits.

Stephenson, who also went by the name Jodian Gordon, was part of a conspiracy that arranged 28 sham marriages between U.S. citizens and non-citizens for the purpose of helping the latter apply for and obtain lawful permanent residence status, more commonly known as a green card. One of the marriages involved Stephenson, who is a citizen of Jamaica, and a U.S. citizen. For the others, she helped the couples obtain a marriage license and arrange their marriage ceremonies, and she also coached them on how to make their marriage appear to be genuine – even though the couples did not live together and never intended to stay married.

Stephenson also prepared several immigration documents needed as part of the non-citizen’s green card application. In some cases, Stephenson or her assistants prepared other false documents for the couple, such as a false lease that portrayed the couple as living in a genuine union. Stephenson charged between $17,000 and $20,000 to complete this process for a non-citizen, and the citizen spouse received between $2,000 and $4,000 for his or her participation. The conspiracy ended when Stephenson offered to arrange a sham marriage for an undercover federal law enforcement agent for a proposed fee of $20,000.

Stephenson was arrested in June 2018 and has been free on a $250,000 bond. She faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, although her sentencing date is not scheduled. Six other individuals involved in this scheme have already pleaded guilty.

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Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has signed legislation that changes Section 292 of New York state’s Executive Law to specify that the Human Rights Law protects anyone who is a victim of domestic violence from employment discrimination.

One goal is to help make sure that people who have survived what Cuomo described as “these unthinkable traumas” never have to worry about losing their jobs as they deal with the aftermath of what they’ve experienced.

“Victims of domestic violence are forced to deal with far-reaching, lasting ramifications that can understandably interfere with their work schedules,” Cuomo said Aug. 20 in signing the legislation into law.

The governor’s office said that each year New York law enforcement receives reports of about 400,000 domestic violence incidents.

The new law specifies, in part, “It shall be unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to refuse to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee who is known by the employer to be a victim of domestic violence.”

The employer can charge the time off against any paid time off to which the employee may be entitled or, if there is no time available such as paid vacation, to treat the time off as an unpaid absence. Among the provisions of the new law are specifications that the time off can be used for seeking medical attention for injuries caused by domestic violence for a child who has been victimized, to obtain the services of a domestic violence shelter or other service provider, to obtain psychological counseling, to participate in safety planning, to obtain legal services and to appear in court.

The law calls for employees to give reasonable advance notice of an absence. If they can’t, such as when they’ve just been attacked, they’re allowed to provide certification from a police department, medical professional, domestic violence prevention advocate or other source that something had happened.

The new law allows employers to be excused from having to provide reasonable accommodation if they can demonstrate that the employee’s absence would be an undue hardship on the business because of its size, the number of employees and similar factors.

State Sen. Roxanne J. Persaud of Brooklyn, who sponsored the Senate version of the legislation, said, “It’s my hope that nobody will have to use these new measures but that New York continues to lead the nation in supporting victims of domestic violence and their families.”

Assembly Member Helene E. Weinstein, also of Brooklyn, sponsored the bill in the Assembly. She said, “It can be difficult for victims to obtain and maintain employment due to the stresses of domestic violence, the abuser’s interference with the victim’s ability to perform in the workplace or the need to access services that are necessary for safety. This bill provides important legal protections, which would require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to these victims.”

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Federal prosecutors contend that convicted controller Keith Borge could have prevented the closure of The College of New Rochelle and that he should be imprisoned.

Borge is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 28 for failure to pay $20.4 million in payroll taxes and filing financial statements that inflated the college’s net assets by $33.8 million, causing losses of $612,398 to bond investors.

Borge has asked U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti for no jail time, and he claims that he was a scapegoat for the failures of other college administrators and the board of directors.

Federal prosecutors painted a starkly different picture.

“The defendant was literally the only person who knew the truth about CNR’s financial condition,” James McMahon and Daniel Loss, assistant prosecutors, stated in a sentencing memorandum. “He was the only person who could have initiated a successful effort to save the college, just by telling CNR’s board and management the full truth, instead of repeatedly deceiving them.”

CNR, a 115-year-old Catholic college that has educated more than 50,000 students, held its final graduation ceremony Aug. 20. Mercy College has agreed to accept transfer students and to lease the college’s 15.5-acre main campus in New Rochelle.

Borge claimed in his sentencing memo and in a letter to judge Briccetti that CNR closed because declining enrollments caused a severe cashflow shortage. Former college president Judith Huntington and the board of trustees were aware of unpaid payroll taxes and unpaid bills, he claims, but failed to see the urgency of the situation.

Borge’s position, the prosecutors argue, is utterly inconsistent with the fact.

Borge, 63, of Valley Cottage, began his career as a senior accountant in 1979, rose to controller and to vice president of finance, and was demoted back to controller when tax issues were first discovered. He retired in 2016.

From 2014 to 2016, he failed to pay federal and state taxes and Social Security and Medicare payments that had been withheld from employee paychecks.

He hid the growing tax liability by inflating assets and understating liabilities on the college books. He then made the fictitious financial statements available to potential investors in the college’s bonds.

Prosecutors claim he maintained tight control over finances during the key years, and could easily manipulate records. For instance, he had $2.5 million in checks printed, reducing accounts payable on the accounting software, but did not mail the checks, enabling him to use the cash elsewhere. When an employee discovered the discrepancy, prosecutors state, Borge fired him.

A payroll coordinator repeatedly confronted Borge about late and missing tax deposits in 2013, and eventually told Huntington. Borge told the president that he had forgotten to pay the taxes.

She told him to pay the taxes immediately. He claimed he had done so, but didn’t until the IRS filed a $2 million levy.

The controller who replaced him when he retired repeatedly asked for tax information. Borge, according to prosecutors, insisted he had paid everything and said the files were on his desk.

CNR hired an outside attorney in 2016 who discovered more than $20 million in unpaid payroll taxes. Borge still claimed he had paid the taxes, and at Huntington’s request he returned to his former workplace to find the proof. For at least four hours, prosecutors say, he shuffled papers. After seven hours, he turned over copies of tax returns he had signed but not filed.

Borge eventually admitted that he had lied to Huntington and others, that he alone was responsible for the unpaid taxes and that he had failed to tell the board about the college’s liability.

But in 2017, testifying before the Securities and Exchange Commission about the distorted financial statements, he attempted to deflect attention from himself. He said a senior accountant was recording the liabilities “and I wasn’t directly involved in that.”

Borge also drew down an extra $5.1 million from two government grants, according to prosecutors, for expenditures not authorized by the grants. He told Huntington that it was a mistake and promised to return the funds. He did not live up to the agreement, prosecutors say.

He also failed to make $2.7 million in contributions to an employee benefit plan from 2009 to 2012.

In 2015, New York State determined that CNR had failed to return $861,490 in unclaimed student loans. The college agreed to pay the obligation in six installments. Borge, prosecutors say, issued the checks but stopped payments on three checks totaling $430,740.

“To hear the defendant tell it,” the prosecution’s sentencing memo states, “almost everyone else in this case bears responsibility for his offenses.”

According to him, he is a hero. He did not personally benefit from the financial manipulations and his actions permitted more than 5,600 students to obtain degrees.

“But what is most surprising is the defendant’s argument that he pleaded guilty for the sins of others,” prosecutors say. “The defendant is hardly a scapegoat and the only tragedy here is what has happened to CNR .… His efforts to minimize his guilt, to shift blame to others and to portray himself as a hero who sacrificed his life for others bear no resemblance to reality.”

His deception, prosecutors argue, was breathtaking in scope, persistent and long lasting.

When he signed a criminal plea agreement in March, the nonbinding sentencing guidelines called for imprisonment of eight to ten years. A pre-sentence investigation report recommended four years.

Prosecutors argue that a sentence of incarceration is reasonable but the guideline range of eight to 10 years would be more than necessary.

CNR “could have created a sustainable future had it had a true and timely picture of its financial state,” the college’s last president, William W. Latimer, said in a letter to the court.

But “the additional debt created by the actions of Mr. Borge ultimately had a series of effects on the college from which it could not and has not recovered.”

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Keith Borge, the former controller of the former College of New Rochelle was sentenced Aug. 28 to three years in prison for failing to pay $20.4 million in payroll taxes and filing fictitious financial statements that caused losses of more than $600,000 to investors in the college’s bonds.

CNR held its last graduation this month and has put its New Rochelle campus up for sale.

Borge, 63, of Valley Cottage, had pled guilty to the charges but argued that he was not the reason the 115-year-old Catholic institution had to close its doors. Several years of declining enrollments had caused a sharp decline in tuition revenue, he argued, and other administrators and the trustees had failed to address the financial strains.

His lawyer, Lee David Auerbach, had recommended no jail time. Federal prosecutors James F. McMahon and Daniel Loss had called for imprisonment, but said a nonbinding sentencing guideline of eight to ten years was not necessary to serve the interests of justice.

He broke the law. CNR is closed. Lives have been shattered, Gwen Adolph, chair of the board of trustees told the court.

“No sentence can change that.”

U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti agreed that Borge was not entirely at fault for CNR’s demise, but if college officials had known earlier what he knew, they might have been able to recover.

The judge acknowledged that Borge did not personally profit from the financial diversions. And he said he believes Borge when he says he was motivated by a desire to help the college by using payroll deductions to pay for operational costs.

But the crime, Briccetti said, is not the closure of the college. It is the failure to give the IRS its due and giving bond investors misleading information.

“This is really about concealment and deception,” the judge said.

Borge had created false documents, lied to supervisors and investors, and blamed other people for his own failings.

If he were really committed to CNR, he would not have retired in 2016 at age 60. He would have stuck it out and handled the financial problems openly and honestly.

Borge’s actions were similar to a Ponzi scheme, in that he had to keep the balls in the air and keep everything going until it collapsed.

The impact, Briccetti said, has been devastating to employees who devoted their lives to CNR, to students who must now make new arrangements, to alumni who are emotionally attached to the college and to a town that lost a bedrock.

“That’s a lot of loss,” Briccetti said.

The magnitude of the crime, the judge said, warrants incarceration. He granted a variance from the federal guidelines, because the crime was not violent, he did not profit from the crimes, he has been an otherwise lawful person, and his motive, though misguided, was to save the college.

Briccetti also sentenced him to three years of supervised release following his prison sentence, fined him $25,000 and ordered him to pay $13.3 million in restitution to the IRS.

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New City attorney Lawrence A. Weissmann has been suspended from practicing law for two years for fixing parking tickets.

Weissmann argued to the New York Second Appellate Division that his crime was not serious, but the attorney grievance committee that sought the suspension said he had “perverted the administration of justice.”

Weissmann was appointed special prosecutor in 2016 to handle traffic tickets and zoning violations, on the recommendation of Spring Valley Trustee Vilair Fonvil.

Fonvil, who is not an attorney, attended plea negotiations with defendants charged with traffic violations, according to the appellate court, and occasionally directed Weissmann to justify favorable plea dispositions.

Nathalie Rosene, for instance, had been issued two summonses for illegally parking in a handicapped spot. Fonvil instructed Weissmann to “remember” her.

Weissmann advised Rosene to pretend that she had a handicapped placard that had fallen inside of her vehicle, when in fact she never had a placard. Weissmann then filed a plea agreement stating that Rosene’s disability sticker “fell to bottom of car floor.”

Last year Weissmann pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of official misconduct. He admitted to the allegations as charged, during his plea allocution, and to knowing that his actions were an unauthorized exercise of his official functions.

Spring Valley Justice David Ascher sentenced him to two years probation.

But in his disciplinary case, he asked the appellate court to rule that his conviction did not constitute a serious crime. He asked the court to impose a public censure or a short-term suspension of no more than six months.

Weissmann argued that he is remorseful and has accepted full responsibility for his conduct. He has an unblemished disciplinary history, “but for a letter of caution.” He is an ethical and zealous advocate. He has a kind and caring nature. And it is unlikely that the misconduct will be repeated.

But appellate Justices Alan Scheinkman, Cheryl Chambers, Mark Dillon, Reinaldo Rivera and William Mastro concurred on Aug. 21 that the official misconduct misdemeanor is a serious crime.

“The court cannot overlook the fact that the crime committed here epitomizes the kind of corruption at the heart of the judicial system that undermines the public’s trust in the courts and their delivery of fair and evenhanded justice,” they ruled.

“In his role as special prosecutor, (he) fabricated evidence to secure a dismissal, knowing that his conduct was wrongful and improper.

The suspension will begin on Sept. 20.

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“Businesspeople can make a difference,” Anthony Davidson, dean of the Fordham University School of Professional and Continuing Studies, said when discussing why he believes an upcoming symposium on anti-Semitism in sports is significant for the business community.

“They’re influencers and they’re thinkers,” he told the Business Journal. “And if you’re a businessperson and you’re sitting at the game and somebody next to you makes a remark that is anti-Semitic, that is gender biased, that is racist. Then you have to speak up and say something.”

Davidson said while sports can be an environment in which many forms of racism and anti-Semitism flourish, “What we can do is use sports as a catalyst for change and we can change the dialogue and that will be the focus, to build some thought leadership that will come out of this.”

The School of Professional and Continuing Studies has three campus locations: Lincoln Center in Manhattan; Rose Hill in the Bronx; and West Harrison in Westchester. The “Global Symposium on Sports and Society: Anti-Semitism and Sports” is to be held on Sept. 25 at the McGinley Campus Center on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus. An eight-hour event is planned from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hundreds of industry executives, athletes, journalists, scholars and activists from around the world are expected to attend. The event is being presented in conjunction with the Chelsea Football Club of England and New England Revolution’s Final Whistle on Hate campaign.

The Chelsea Football Club of U.K.’s Premier League and Major League Soccer team New England Revolution created the Final Whistle on Hate partnership in 2018 to promote tolerance and fight anti-Semitism.

Among the announced speakers for the symposium are: Bruce Buck, chairman of the Chelsea Football Club; Ross Greenburg, former president of HBO Sports; Anna Isaacson, a senior vice president of the National Football League; Howie Rumberg, global sports editor for the Associated Press; Leigh Steinberg, chairman and CEO of Steinberg Sports & Entertainment; sportscaster Spencer Ross; and NFL Hall of Fame offensive tackle Ron Mix.

“I made two things very clear to my team when we embarked upon this project,” Davidson said. “I do not want any politicians involved at all. I do not want this to be a platform to make it in any way political and I don’t want any vendors because I don’t want it commercial.”

Ken Jacobson, another of the speakers and deputy director of the Anti-Defamation League, said, “At ADL, we are all too familiar with this dangerous climate of rising anti-Semitism. From 2015 to 2018, we have documented a 99% increase in anti-Semitic incidents, including assault, harassment and vandalism. The sports world is no exception and it’s a step forward that industry leaders are realizing the important role they play in combating hate.”

“There are now groups of extremists and hate groups that are attending games and inciting things in Europe specifically and especially in soccer,” Davidson said.

He cited banners displayed at some European soccer games, which have phrases as overt as “Jews to the Ovens.”

“You will have people throwing banana skins at players of color and many chants and attacks, physical and emotional, on players. But, it also happens in the United States. It happens in locker rooms,” he said.

Davidson said that while racism and anti-Semitism surface in worldwide soccer, it is by no means the only sport. He mentioned lacrosse, cycling and track, and recalled the 1936 Olympics in Germany where U.S. athletes Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller were pulled from competing in the 4×100 meter relay ostensibly to preclude the possibility that German Chancellor Adolf Hitler would have to acknowledge Jewish athletes as winners.

“My mother is a survivor of the concentration camps. She was in Auschwitz and I will tell you that growing up, me personally in England, as a Jewish player of different sports in my high school, we were subject to anti-Semitic remarks every game that we played and most of those games ended up with some kind of fighting,” Davidson said.

He recalled that he and his friends sometimes were attacked with baseball bats.

Davidson said he wants the symposium to be an action-oriented playbook for doing more than just talking about what’s happening in the world and Fordham is the right place to be holding it. “I’ve seen how committed it is to social justice. They live and breathe it and everybody there has so embraced this concept and my school in particular. I can think of no better place to do this than Fordham University in view of its values,” he said.

More information, including details regarding ticket availability, can be found by looking up the symposium on the events section of Fordham’s website at news.fordham.edu/events.

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