“BOILER ROOM” OPERATOR PLEADS GUILTY: United States District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto (Brooklyn federal court) yesterday presided over the guilty plea of Lee Cohen, a citizen of the United Kingdom, to conspiracy to commit securities fraud for his role in a scheme to manipulate the price and trading volume of HD View, 360, Inc. (HDVW), a publicly traded company that purported to distribute and install security surveillance systems. In connection with his plea, Cohen also admitted that he agreed to launder money that was said to be the proceeds of similar securities fraud schemes.
When sentenced, Cohen faces up to five years in prison.
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ATTORNEY GENERAL INVESTIGATING CRYPTOCURRENCY CRASH: New York Attorney General Letitia James has issued an investor alert urging any New Yorker deceived or affected by the cryptocurrency crash to contact her office (via dedicated link https://ag.ny.gov/investor-protection/submit-complaint). Many high-profile cryptocurrency businesses have frozen customer withdrawals, announced mass layoffs, or filed for bankruptcy, while investors have been left in financial ruin.
Attorney General James also encourages workers in the cryptocurrency industry who may have witnessed misconduct or fraud to file a whistleblower complaint with her office, which can be done anonymously.
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FIGHTING AUTO THEFT: Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-11) and Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon have teamed up to request that the U.S. Attorneys for the Eastern District of New York, (Brooklyn) Southern District of New York (Manhattan), and the District of New Jersey establish a task force to assist NYPD with the sharp rise in transnational grand theft auto crimes in New York City.
New York City has seen a 44 percent increase in auto grand larceny thefts over 2021, with 7,361 vehicles stolen citywide, and Staten Island seeing the largest percentage increase of all the boroughs.
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REINTRODUCED BILLS WOULD COMBAT WORKPLACE HARASSMENT: Two pieces of legislation to combat workplace harassment are back on the Congressional table, thanks to U.S. Rep Carolyn B. Maloney (D-12/northern Brooklyn), who has reintroduced them. The No Tax Deductions for Workplace Harasser Buyouts Act would prohibit using buyouts paid to perpetrators of workplace harassment as a tax deduction. The Ending Secrecy About Workplace Harassment Act requires companies to submit an annual report that specifies the total number of settlements with employees involving workplace harassment and the number of such settlements by protected category, which includes race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, genetic information, or any combination of such factors.
The two bills, first introduced in December 2017, are designed to end the corporate culture of secrecy surrounding workplace harassment settlements and to no longer allow companies to treat Bill O’Reilly-like severances as an ordinary cost of doing business.
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ADAPTIVE REUSE: CONVERTING OFFICE SPACE INTO HOUSING: New York City Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force, created in accordance with a bill City Councilmember Justin Brannan (D-43) passed in 2021, has convened and started its work City Councilmember Justin Brannan announced on Monday. The Task Force will study the questions of whether and how the city can make future use of vacant, obsolete office space, particularly whether it can be safely and cost effectively converted into affordable housing, and will examine the feasibility of converting vacant office space into schools, labs.
The Task Force includes experts from across related fields in housing, construction, labor, policy, and advocacy; with appointees made by the Mayor, the Council, and the Public Advocate.
