This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/nyregion/manhattan-restaurateur-with-ties-to-us-corruption-inquiry-is-arrested-in-ponzi-scheme.html
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Mayor de Blasio’s Campaign Fund-Raising Scrutinized in U.S. Corruption Inquiry | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A wide-ranging federal corruption investigation centered on two businessmen with ties to Mayor Bill de Blasio is also examining some aspects of his campaign fund-raising, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Friday. | |
| The investigation, which in recent days has garnered attention because the focus on the two businessmen led federal agents to interview roughly 20 senior New York Police Department officials, has for some time been examining the ways the businessmen wielded influence in New York City government, several people briefed on the matter said. | |
| That examination has included an aggressive review of Mr. de Blasio’s campaign fund-raising, the person with knowledge of the matter said. The investigation’s focus on Mr. de Blasio’s fund-raising was reported on Friday night by WCBS-TV News. | |
| It was unclear what specific aspect of the mayor’s fund-raising was under scrutiny and how it related to the conduct of the two businessmen. | |
| Dan Levitan, a spokesman for Mr. de Blasio’s campaign, said, “We are fully confident that the campaign has conducted itself legally and appropriately at all times.” The campaign is expected to return the contributions from Mr. Rechnitz and his wife. | |
| The two businessmen under scrutiny are Jona Rechnitz and Jeremy Reichberg. Both served on a large committee that planned Mr. de Blasio’s inaugural celebration in 2014, and Mr. Rechnitz and his wife each contributed $4,950, the maximum amount allowed, to his 2013 campaign. Mr. Rechnitz also raised about $45,000 for him. | |
| Mr. Rechnitz owns a real estate investment, development and management company called JSR Capital L.L.C., which owns buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn. | |
| Mr. Reichberg hosted a 2014 fund-raiser for the Campaign for One New York, a nonprofit created by advisers to Mr. de Blasio in support of the mayor’s agenda. The group, criticized by watchdog groups as a kind of “shadow government” of lobbyists at City Hall, began the process of closing down last month. | |
| While the interviews of the police officials attracted far more attention — and led to discipline on Thursday against four senior department officials — the examination of the roles of the businessmen, according to several people briefed on the matter, and the mayor’s fund-raising have been the central elements of the inquiry. | |
| The sprawling investigation also led to the arrest this week of a Manhattan restaurateur with ties to Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichbach. He was charged in an unrelated Ponzi scheme whose investors included the two men, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case and a person briefed on the inquiry. | |
| The restaurateur, Hamlet Peralta, who owned the now-closed Hudson River Café in Harlem, misappropriated more than $12 million from investors for use in what he said was a wholesale liquor business, according to the complaint, which was unsealed on Friday in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The business was, in fact, fictitious, prosecutors said. | The restaurateur, Hamlet Peralta, who owned the now-closed Hudson River Café in Harlem, misappropriated more than $12 million from investors for use in what he said was a wholesale liquor business, according to the complaint, which was unsealed on Friday in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The business was, in fact, fictitious, prosecutors said. |
| Mr. Peralta, 36, used more than $11 million of the money to repay other investors and to cover personal expenses like high-end clothing purchases, restaurant bills, gas and spa treatments, according to the complaint, which was filed by the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, which is conducting the broader inquiry along with the F.B.I. | |
| Mr. Peralta, who faces one count of wire fraud, was arrested on Thursday by F.B.I. agents in Macon, Ga.; on Friday, a magistrate judge ordered him detained and sent to New York for further proceedings. A lawyer who represented him in court on Friday declined to comment. | |
| According to the complaint, Mr. Peralta relied on a recruiter to help him find investors, and he befriended at least one other person who became an investor at his restaurant. That person was one of Mr. Peralta’s largest investors and gave him more than $3.5 million, the complaint says, adding that Mr. Peralta still owes that investor more than $1.5 million. | According to the complaint, Mr. Peralta relied on a recruiter to help him find investors, and he befriended at least one other person who became an investor at his restaurant. That person was one of Mr. Peralta’s largest investors and gave him more than $3.5 million, the complaint says, adding that Mr. Peralta still owes that investor more than $1.5 million. |
| The complaint, signed by Joseph Downs, an F.B.I. special agent, said that the authorities identified about 12 investors in the scheme, none of whom were named in the document. But the person briefed on the inquiry, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because that person was not allowed to discuss the matter, said the investors included the two businessmen, Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg. | |
| It was unclear whether either of the two men lost money in the alleged scheme, or how much they had invested. Marc S. Harris, a Los Angeles lawyer who represents Mr. Rechnitz, declined to comment. Mr. Reichberg could not be reached for comment, and a lawyer who was said to represent him would not comment on who she might or might not represent. | It was unclear whether either of the two men lost money in the alleged scheme, or how much they had invested. Marc S. Harris, a Los Angeles lawyer who represents Mr. Rechnitz, declined to comment. Mr. Reichberg could not be reached for comment, and a lawyer who was said to represent him would not comment on who she might or might not represent. |
| The charge against Mr. Peralta adds another strand to the tangled web of people who have come under scrutiny in the course of the roughly two-year inquiry, which includes police officials; the two businessmen; Mr. Peralta; the police force’s former chief of department, Philip Banks III, who was the top uniformed official before retiring in 2014; and Norman Seabrook. Mr. Seabrook heads the union that represents New York City correction officers and, along with Mr. Banks, was one of the original people whose financial dealings were examined by federal investigators. | The charge against Mr. Peralta adds another strand to the tangled web of people who have come under scrutiny in the course of the roughly two-year inquiry, which includes police officials; the two businessmen; Mr. Peralta; the police force’s former chief of department, Philip Banks III, who was the top uniformed official before retiring in 2014; and Norman Seabrook. Mr. Seabrook heads the union that represents New York City correction officers and, along with Mr. Banks, was one of the original people whose financial dealings were examined by federal investigators. |
| The investigation, which led to the interviews of about 20 mostly senior police officials, is more narrowly focused on the conduct of Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg and how they may have tried to use their influence in City Hall, people briefed on the inquiry have said. Neither man has been charged with a crime and the precise allegations under investigation were unclear. | |
| Monica Klein, a spokeswoman for Mr. de Blasio, said in a statement that he and Police Commissioner William J. Bratton were “both committed to ensuring that the N.Y.P.D. maintains the integrity and trust that the public expects from its Police Department.” | |
| “The mayor is fully supportive of these investigations to learn the truth,” Ms. Klein added. | “The mayor is fully supportive of these investigations to learn the truth,” Ms. Klein added. |
| Mr. Bratton said on Thursday that the investigation was examining the “conduct of current and former N.Y.P.D. officers and several others.” The department also said that three deputy chiefs and a deputy inspector had been reassigned to desk jobs as discipline stemming from the investigation. | Mr. Bratton said on Thursday that the investigation was examining the “conduct of current and former N.Y.P.D. officers and several others.” The department also said that three deputy chiefs and a deputy inspector had been reassigned to desk jobs as discipline stemming from the investigation. |