Skip to main content

MANHATTAN U.S. ATTORNEY CHARGES NARCISA NOVACK AND CRISTOBAL VELIZ WITH THE MURDERS OF BEN AND BERNICE NOVACK

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and JANET DiFIORE, the District Attorney of Westchester County, today announced the filing in White Plains federal court of an 11-count Superseding Indictment charging NARCISA NOVACK and her brother, CRISTOBAL VELIZ, with racketeering offenses, including the murders of Bernice Novack in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on April 4, 2009, and of Ben Novack, Bernice Novack’s son and NARCY NOVACK’s husband, at the Hilton Rye Town Hotel in Westchester County on July 12, 2009.

Mr. BHARARA stated: "This Indictment alleges racketeering acts that run the gamut from murder to robbery to obstruction of justice -– a bloody and corrupt chain of events for which the defendants will now have to answer to a jury."

According to the Superseding Indictment filed in White Plains federal court:

From in or about February 2009 to in or about January 2011, the Veliz Enterprise -- consisting of NOVACK, VELIZ, and others -- was "a group of individuals associated in fact" that engaged in "a pattern of racketeering activity" including the assault and murder of Bernice Novack, the robbery and murder of Ben Novack, as well as other crimes that were allegedly committed after his murder. That conduct included NARCY NOVACK’s theft of approximately $95,000 in cash belonging to Convention Concepts Unlimited, her husband’s company; NOVACK’s laundering of those funds through a number of bank accounts; an endeavor by CRISTOBAL VELIZ to have a witness killed; and a number of endeavors by NOVACK and VELIZ to pay a witness for false exculpatory testimony.

Both defendants are charged with: racketeering, which carries a maximum prison term of life; racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum prison term of life; conspiracy, which carries a maximum prison term of 5 years; interstate domestic violence, which carries a maximum prison term of life; stalking, which carries a maximum prison term of life; and obstruction ofjustice, which carries a maximum prison term of 10 years. NOVACK is also charged with: interstate transportation of stolen property, which carries a maximum prison term of 10 years; and two counts of money laundering, each of which carries a maximum prison term of 10 years. VELIZ is also charged with: tampering with a witness, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.

Both defendants are scheduled to be arraigned before United States District Judge KENNETH M. KARAS at 10:00 a.m. on April 8, 2011. Mr. BHARARA praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Rye Brook Police Department, and prosecutors and investigators from the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for their cooperative work in this investigation and prosecution.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys ELLIOTT B. JACOBSON, ANDREW DEMBER, JEFFREY ALBERTS, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney PERRY PERRONE of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, cross-designated for this case, are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

15 Gang Members Convicted on Conspiracy, Weapons Possession, Firearms Trafficking Charges Case Follows Recent Convictions of 137th Street Crew and East Harlem Narcotics Trafficking Organization

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the results of the investigation and prosecution of one of Central Harlem’s most destructive criminal street gangs, referred to as “ONE TWENTY-NINE” or “GOODFELLAS/THE NEW DONS,” which terrorized the neighborhood surrounding West 129th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues. Thirteen members of the gang have previously pleaded guilty to importing, possessing, and using firearms over the course of the conspiracy.

Mortgage Fraud

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the indictment of 13 individuals and a mortgage origination company for perpetrating over $100 million in mortgage fraud over a four-year period in the New York City metropolitan area. In addition, 12 individuals have already waived indictment and pleaded guilty to felonies relating to their participation in the mortgage fraud scheme. The indictment charges 13 individuals and the mortgage company, AFG FINANCIAL GROUP, INC., with enterprise corruption, grand larceny, scheme to defraud and conspiracy involving 19 fraudulent mortgage transactions. The defendants include the principals and a number of employees of the mortgage company, as well as bank employees, appraisers, and three attorneys. Two other attorneys are among the defendants who already pleaded guilty. The crimes charged in the indictment occurred between June 2004 and April 2009 with the bulk of the fraudulent closings occurring from mid-2005 through the end of...

DISTRICT ATTORNEY VANCE ANNOUNCES INDICTMENT OF SIX SUBCONTRACTING COMPANIES AND THEIR OWNERS IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR FRAUD

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictments of six subcontracting companies and their owners for colluding with LEHR CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION (LEHR) in a multimillion dollar scheme that defrauded numerous construction clients over the past decade. See, related story. The announcement comes one day after DA Vance announced LEHR and four executives were indicted on crimes including Enterprise Corruption, the New York State Racketeering law. GODSELL CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION and its owner ARTHUR GODSELL are charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree. JT ROSELLE LIGHTING, INC. and its owner JAMES ROSELLE, LIBERTY CONTRACTING CORPORATION and its owners GEORGE FOTIADIS and KEVIN FOTIADIS, PJ MECHANICAL and its owner JAMES PAPPAS, SUPERIOR ACOUSTICS, INC. and its owner KENNETH MCGUIGAN, and SWEENEY & HARKIN CARPENTRY and its owner MICHAEL HAYES are charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree.[1] "The defendants in this case cheated clie...