New York Paralegal Blog

Admir Kacamakovic, an eight year veteran of the New York City Police Department, pleaded guilty today to willfully violating the civil rights of a Brooklyn resident by illegally detaining and handcuffing him. As a consequence of these acts, Kacamakovic’s victim sustained bodily injury in the form of scarring on his wrist. The guilty plea was entered before United States District Judge William F. Kuntz, II, at the U.S. Courthouse in Brooklyn. As part of his plea agreement, Kacamakovic will resign from the NYPD and will not apply for a job in law enforcement in the future.

Defendant Fabricated Resisting Arrest Charge Michael Daragjati, an eight-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, pleaded guilty today to violating an African-American victim’s civil rights by charging him with resisting arrest knowing that there was no probable cause to support that charge. Daragjati also pleaded guilty to attempting to violently extort property from another victim. The guilty pleas were entered before United States District Judge William F. Kuntz, II, at the U.S. Courthouse in Brooklyn. As part of his plea agreement, Daragjati will not oppose termination of his employment by the NYPD and has agreed never to apply for a job in law enforcement in the future. Daragjati faces a maximum sentence of 21 years’ imprisonment.

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that REZA SAFARHA was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 10 months in prison for violating the Iran Trade Embargo, money laundering, conspiracy, and theft of government money. SAFARHA was found guilty in February 2011 by U.S. District Judge RICHARD J. SULLIVAN, who found, among other things, that SAFARHA illegally transmitted approximately $300,000 through the “hawala” system to Iran and that SAFARHA believed the money was proceeds from criminal conduct. Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA stated: “This office takes violations of the United States’ trade embargo with Iran very seriously. Reza Safarha employed a form of financial legerdemain to circumvent the embargo, and added insult to injury by doing this to conceal what he believed were the proceeds from the sale of stolen property.” According to the indictment, the evidence at trial, and Judge SULLIVAN’s public findings: Th...

The manufacturer of Rascal Scooters, used by disabled and senior consumers with limited mobility, will pay $100,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it illegally called millions of consumers who had chosen to avoid unwanted telemarketing calls by listing their phone numbers on the national Do Not Call Registry. The FTC alleges the firm illegally used phone numbers gathered from sweepstakes entry forms to contact consumers whose numbers are on the Registry. The FTC’s complaint charges scooter manufacturer Electric Mobility Corporation and its owner Michael Flowers with making more than three million illegal sales calls since 2003 to consumers on the Do Not Call Registry who had entered the company’s “Win a Free Rascal” sweepstakes. According to the FTC, in small print under the part of the sweepstakes form provided for the entrant’s phone number, EMC reminded consumers to list their numbers so the company could contact them if they were “the next lucky winner.” EMC en...

Marketers of a weight-loss patch have agreed to pay $110,539 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they violated two 2004 consent orders by continuing to make false claims that their product causes substantial weight loss and weight loss in all users. After agreeing to the 2004 consent orders, the marketers continued making the same bogus claims they had made previously, but this time they targeted consumers abroad. They made these claims in brochures accompanying shipments of the patches that were intended for sale to overseas consumers. In 2004, Advanced Patch Technologies (APT), its distributor, Buckhead Marketing & Distribution LLC (Buckhead), and their officers, settled FTC charges of deceptive marketing based on their claims that, among other things, the “Peel Away the Pounds” patch would cause substantial weight loss when applied to the skin. That settlement required the defendants to pay more than $1 million in consumer redress. More...