New York Paralegal Blog

The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is an invaluable source for understanding crime trends across the nation. While we're always looking at the most recent data, sometimes it's helpful to revisit past years to see patterns and shifts. Let's take a quick look at some key insights from the 2019 FBI UCR data, focusing on violent crime. In 2019, there were an estimated 1,203,808 violent crimes nationwide, representing a slight decrease of 0.5% compared to 2018. This category includes murder, rape (revised definition), robbery, and aggravated assault. Looking deeper into the violent crime offenses and associated arrest demographics: Aggravated assaults accounted for the largest portion, making up 68.2% of violent crimes reported. Of the 274,376 arrests for aggravated assault, White individuals accounted for 61.8% (169,467 arrests) and Black or African American individuals accounted for 33.2% (91,164 arrests). Robberies comprised 22.3% of violent crime...

WASHINGTON - Fourteen individuals were arrested today by FBI agents on charges related to their alleged involvement in a cyber attack on PayPal’s website as part of an action claimed by the group “Anonymous,” announced the Department of Justice and the FBI. Two additional defendants were arrested today on cyber-related charges.

A Seal Beach woman was arrested today for allegedly used "spoofing" technology to impersonate FBI agents in phone calls to business clients who believed she was running a fraud scheme, announced Steven Martinez, Assistant Director of the FBI in Los Angeles, and United States Attorney André Birotte Jr. Karen Elaine Hanover, 44, was arrested this morning without incident at Fashion Island in Newport Beach by special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Hanover was charged with impersonating a federal agent in a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in United District Court in Santa Ana.

ROCKWELL, TX—A man on the run for more than a decade was arrested in Rockwell, TX this morning after investigators received tip calls from viewers of America’s Most Wanted. Jack Allen Poteat (dob: 10/03/1964) is wanted on a federal Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution warrant based on charges in Union County, NC. A jury indicted Poteat in June 1999 for first degree statutory rape, first degree statutory sex offense, indecent liberties with a minor and crimes against nature involving a 13-year-old girl in Monroe, NC. Poteat failed to appear for his jury trial on October 19, 1999 and has been a fugitive ever since.

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The New York FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) seeks to identify a person who may be in a position to assist with the ongoing investigation of the attempted Times Square bombing on May 1, 2010. The FBI’s JTTF in New York, along with the NYPD, responded to Times Square in response to a suspicious vehicle and device. Numerous FBI offices have been tasked with leads to assist with the investigation and every lead will be followed. The FBI’s JTTF in New York is operating a fully staffed Joint Operations Center (JOC) 24 hours a day to address this situation. “The investigation into this case continues. The JOC is operating 24/7 with agents, detectives, analysts, and SDNY attorneys. Evidence has been sent to the FBI Lab for analysis. Anyone who believes they may have additional information that could assist in this investigation, please contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, submit a tip on www.fbi.gov or call the NYPD at 1-800-577-TIPS,” said Special Agent Richard Kolko.

In response to Freedom of Information Act requests, the Bureau has released its investigative files on the late entertainer Michael Jackson, who died earlier this year. The records total 333 pages, divided into seven files. They detail the FBI’s investigation of a man who threatened to kill Jackson, as well as various forms of assistance to California authorities in two cases involving allegations that Jackson had abused children. It should be emphasized that none of these allegations were ever proven in court.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, 19, has been arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Smadi, who was under continuous surveillance by the FBI, was arrested today near Fountain Place, a 60-story glass office tower located at 1445 Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas, after he placed an inert/inactive car bomb at the location. Smadi, a Jordanian citizen in the U.S. illegally, lived and worked in Italy, Texas. He has repeatedly espoused his desire to commit violent Jihad and has been the focus of an undercover FBI investigation. "The highest priority of the FBI and the Department of Justice remains the prevention of another terrorist attack within the United States," said U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Texas James T. Jacks. "In that effort, it is the job of the FBI to locate and identify individuals intent upon carrying out any type of attack upon this country and its citizens/residents. Whether as...

On August 19th, 2009, PAWEL GUZAL dob 05/09/1970 a.k.a. JAROMIR HAVRANEK dob 04/26/1973, was captured in the Baltic Sea resort town of Wladyslawowo, Poland. In or around 2000, GUZAL arrived in the U.S. on a stolen Czech passport. As a result of FBI New York’s investigation, GUZAL was indicted in February 2006 on federal RICO charges, and on March 1, 2006, a federal arrest warrant was issued by the Eastern District of New York. While GUZAL eluded authorities, he continued to defraud victims located in the United States. GUZAL’s recent capture was a result of co-operative efforts between the New York FBI/NYPD Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, the FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in Warsaw, the Polish National Police, the International Police Cooperation Bureau, and several Regional Police entities in Poland. GUZAL is facing charges in the United States, Poland, France, and Germany. Persons believing they may have been a victim of fraudulent activity involving GUZAL are requested to ...

MANHATTAN - PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and JOSEPH M. DEMAREST, JR., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), announced the arrest this morning of HASSAN NEMAZEE, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nemazee Capital Corporation, in connection with a scheme to defraud Citibank, N.A. ("Citibank"). According to the Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court: NEMAZEE engaged in a fraudulent scheme to induce Citibank to lend up to $74 million to NEMAZEE based on false representations that NEMAZEE owned millions of dollars in collateral. NEMAZEE submitted, and caused to be submitted, to Citibank numerous documents that purported to establish the existence of accounts in NEMAZEE's name at various financial institutions containing many hundreds of millions of dollars. In fact, those were fraudulent and forged documents. Specifically, the various ac...

A Downers Grove man who purported to offer financial investment services to the public was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly engaging in a two-year Ponzi scheme that resulted in losses totaling approximately $3.5 million when it collapsed last month. The indictment alleges that David J. Hernandez fraudulently induced some 290 victims to invest approximately $12 million through his business, NextStep Financial Services, Inc., and several related companies. Hernandez was charged with four counts of mail fraud in an indictment that was returned late yesterday and announced today by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Hernandez, 48, of Downers Grove, was initially charged with a single count of mail fraud in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago on June 17, several days after FBI agents executed a sea...