New York Paralegal Blog

When we hear about a government employee being arrested, it's easy to get caught up in the details of the crime. But a recent case in New York City—where a former employee stole over $624,000 in pension funds—offers a clear look at a specific and serious crime: "Corrupting the Government in the First Degree." Let's break down what that means and why it's a big deal. What is "Corrupting the Government"? In New York, this isn't a vague charge. It's a specific legal offense aimed at protecting the integrity of public service. The law recognizes that when public employees or those working with them abuse their power for personal gain, they are not just committing fraud—they are actively "corrupting the government." The charge of Corrupting the Government in the First Degree applies when a public servant, or someone acting with them, creates a systematic scheme to defraud the state or its agencies. In this particular case, the ke...

HOUSTON—A Houston Police officer has been arrested following the return of an indictment by a Houston grand jury charging him with drug trafficking and corruption, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today along with FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen L. Morris.

SEE UPDATE TO THIS STORY Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of LEHR CONSTRUCTION CORP. (LEHR), a Manhattan-based construction company, and four of its executives for a scheme that defrauded their construction management clients of at least $30 million over the past decade. The company and its executives - Executive Vice-President and Director JEFFREY LAZAR, Executive Vice-President in charge of Operations TODD PHILLIPS, Finance Director STEVEN HALPER, and Chief of Estimating Department and Cost Control STEVEN WASSERMAN - are charged with Enterprise Corruption, Scheme to Defraud, and Grand Larceny.  In addition, LEHR and HALPER are charged with Money Laundering.[ 1 ] LEHR is a Manhattan-based construction company paid by its clients to oversee interior renovation construction projects, acting in the capacity of either a general contractor (“GC”) - in which case it was paid a flat “lump sum” fee - or as a construction manage...

PREET BHARARA, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and JANICE K. FEDARCYK, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI“), announced today the unsealing of a complaint charging New York State Senator CARL KRUGER and State Assemblyman WILLIAM BOYLAND, JR., with accepting bribes in exchange for official acts. KRUGER is charged with taking more than $1 million in bribes from, among others, lobbyist RICHARD LIPSKY, real estate developer AARON MALINSKY, and health care consultant SOLOMON KALISH, all of whom are also charged. DAVID ROSEN, the CEO of the MediSys Health Network, is also charged with conspiring to bribe KRUGER, as well as with paying over $177,000 in bribes to New York State Assemblyman WILLIAM BOYLAND, JR., and $390,000 in bribes to former New York State Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio, in exchange for their official acts.

WASHINGTON—A federal jury in the District of Columbia today convicted a former staff member in the U.S. House of Representatives on corruption charges relating to his acceptance of an all-expenses paid trip to Game One of the 2003 World Series, announced the Criminal Division and the FBI. Fraser C. Verrusio, 41, was convicted after a 10-day trial on one count of conspiring to accept an illegal gratuity, one count of accepting an illegal gratuity, and one count of making a false statement in failing to report his receipt of gifts from a lobbyist and the lobbyist’s client on his 2003 financial disclosure statement.

New Public Integrity Hotline Will Allow New Yorkers to Easily Report Wrongdoing Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the formation of the Public Integrity Unit. The new unit will proactively investigate public corruption in government at all levels, including not only bribery and malfeasance by public servants, but also election fraud and criminal violations of state and local ethics laws. “Self-serving criminal activity among public employees at all levels severely undermines the public’s confidence in our government,” District Attorney Vance said. “The new Public Integrity Unit reaffirms this Office’s long tradition of rooting out corruption at all levels.”

Five defendants were sentenced this week for their participation in a corruption scheme involving the 2000 resident commissioner and 2004 gubernatorial campaigns of a former governor of Puerto Rico, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez. The defendants were sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico by U.S. District Court Judge Paul J. Barbadoro, sitting by designation from the District of New Hampshire. Former Puerto Rico Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá , 47, and Luisa Inclán Bird, 49, a legal advisor for the San Juan resident commissioner office when Acevedo Vilá served as resident commissioner, were acquitted on March 20, 2009, of all criminal charges related to the scheme. The five defendants sentenced were: Jorge Velasco Mella, 39, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, who was sentenced on May 21, 2009, to three years probation, including...