Last edited on Friday, October 22, 2021, at 10:40 AM.
Welcome to The Blanch Law Firm’s weekly digest of New York Criminal Cases as the court enforces laws. Our goal is to keep the public informed as to recent events in federal courts around the country.
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Friday, October 22, 2021
Court Enforces Laws Against Armed Robbery
This week, on October 19, 2021, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced the Oct. 18 unsealing of a four count indictment charging Matthew Dusablon, 27, and Jahaira Mejia, 35, both from the Bronx, with robbery and obstruction of justice. The defendants were arrested Oct. 18 and presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy in a White Plains federal court.
As alleged in the Indictment, and according to other publicly available documents, on December 6, 2020, Dusablon, Mejia, and at least three other co-conspirators committed a gunpoint robbery in Ossining, New York, during which one of the co-conspirators brandished a firearm. That same co-conspirator died from injuries sustained during the robbery victim’s flight from the scene of the robbery.
Dusablon and Mejia later concealed a jacket that another co-conspirator was wearing during the robbery and deleted information from their cell phones and social media accounts in order to obstruct the federal investigation of the December 6, 2020, robbery. Dusablon also directed a co-conspirator to erase information from the co-conspirator’s cellphone and social media accounts in order to obstruct the federal investigation of the December 6, 2020, robbery.
Court Charges Court Officers with Trip-and-Fall Fraud Scheme
Also, this past week, on October 20, 2021, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced the unsealing of a Superseding Indictment charging Adrian Alexander with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud as part of a scheme to obtain fraudulent insurance reimbursements and other compensation for fraudulent trip-and-fall accidents.
Alexander was arrested Oct. 19 and was presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger. A prior Indictment in the case charged New York lawyers George Constantine and Marc Elefant, along with New York doctors Sady Ribeiro and Andrew Dowd for their participation in the overarching fraud scheme.
The superseding indictment adds Alexander, who allegedly funded fraudulent lawsuits in furtherance of the trip-and-fall scheme, as the fifth individual charged in the case. The case is assigned to United States District Judge Sidney H. Stein.
Security Company Executives Charged in $50 Million Fraud
Fraud seems to have been a huge factor in bringing criminal cases in New York this week. One of the most prominent occurred on October 20, 2021, which is when the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced that Robert Bernardi, the founder and former CEO of the Virginia-based email security company GigaMedia Access Corporation, along with Nihat Cardak, GigaTrust’s former CFO, and Sunil Chandra, GigaTrust’s former Vice President of Business Development, were all charged in an Indictment in Manhattan federal court with participating in a scheme to defraud investors and lenders of millions of dollars through false and misleading misrepresentations, including fabricated bank statements and audit reports, and by impersonating a purported customer, auditor, and at least one GigaTrust lawyer.
According to the Indictment, from in or about 2016 through at least in or about 2019, GigaTrust purported to be a market-leading provider of cloud-based content security solutions. All three defendants, who were executives with the company, devised a scheme to defraud investors and lenders by (a) fabricating and disseminating false and misleading bank account statements overstating GigaTrust’s cash deposits; fabricating and disseminating false and misleading audit materials that purported to have been issued by GigaTrust’s auditors and overstated GigaTrust’s performance; forging and disseminating a false and misleading letter purporting to be from GigaTrust’s New York-based counsel; and (d) impersonating or causing others to impersonate a purported customer and auditor of GigaTrust on telephone calls with a prospective lender.
Moving Company Former Officers Charged with Payroll Tax Fraud
Also on Oct. 20, 2021, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced the unsealing of a federal Indictment charging Joseph Eugene LeMay and Joel Lingat with criminal tax offenses. LeMay is the former president of a company that provides moving and storage services, and Lingat is the same company’s bookkeeper.
LeMay and Lingat allegedly conspired to perpetrate a long-running scheme to evade more than approximately $7.8 million in federal payroll taxes owed by Company-1 and affiliated companies to the IRS. LeMay also allegedly evaded his personal income taxes. Lingat was previously arrested in this case; LeMay self-surrendered to the federal courthouse Oct. 20. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil.
According to the allegations in the Indictment, from in or about 2010 through in or about December 2016, LeMay, Lingat, and other co-conspirators perpetrated a scheme to defraud the U.S. government of payroll and income taxes. As part of the criminal scheme, LeMay and Lingat, along with their co-conspirators created sham companies, nominally owned by close associates or family members of LeMay or others; they also allegedly created fake invoices by which the sham companies supposedly billed the company for labor.
Enforcing the Law to Protect Children from Sexual Predators
Something else came up on Oct. 20, when the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced the arrest of Fabrice Tontisabo, 33, of Brooklyn, NY on charges of persuading, inducing, enticing, and coercing two 14-year-old minors to engage in sexual activity. Tontisabo was arrested Oct. 20 and was presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger in Manhattan federal court later that day.
According to the complaint, filed on Sept. 9, 2021, in Manhattan federal court and unsealed Oct. 20, between at least on or about October 2020, up to and including at least on or about March 2021, Tontisabo persuaded a 14-year-old minor to meet him in person on multiple occasions to engage in sexual activities in exchange for cash, alcohol, and marijuana.
Also, between on or about October 2019, up to and including at least on or about January 2020, Tontisabo persuaded another 14-year-old minor to meet him in person on multiple occasions to engage in sexual activities with Tontisabo in exchange for cash, alcohol, and marijuana.
Enforcing the Law Preventing Exploitation of Patients by Doctors
Something else came up on Oct. 20, when the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced the arrest of Fabrice Tontisabo, 33, of Brooklyn, NY on charges of persuading, inducing, enticing, and coercing two 14-year-old minors to engage in sexual activity. Tontisabo was arrested Oct. 20 and was presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger in Manhattan federal court later that day.
According to the complaint, filed on Sept. 9, 2021, in Manhattan federal court and unsealed Oct. 20, between at least on or about October 2020, up to and including at least on or about March 2021, Tontisabo persuaded a 14-year-old minor to meet him in person on multiple occasions to engage in sexual activities in exchange for cash, alcohol, and marijuana.
Also, between on or about October 2019, up to and including at least on or about January 2020, Tontisabo persuaded another 14-year-old minor to meet him in person on multiple occasions to engage in sexual activities with Tontisabo in exchange for cash, alcohol, and marijuana.
