New York Paralegal Blog

NEW YORK, NY – Six individuals have been sentenced for their roles in a large-scale, unlicensed money transmitting operation that moved over $15 million in a matter of months through an informal system known as "hawala." The sentences, handed down in the White Plains federal court, mark a significant victory for federal investigators in their efforts to curb illicit financial activities. What is a "Hawala"? Essentially, a hawala is a way to transfer money, often across borders, without any physical cash actually moving. It relies on a network of brokers who receive money in one location and then have an associate in another location pay out the same amount to the intended recipient. While not inherently illegal, operating such a service without a license from state and federal authorities is a serious crime, as these networks can be used to launder money for criminal enterprises. The Investigation and Convictions Between February and September of 2023, the group ra...

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the New York City Police Department, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) today announced charges in a domestic sex trafficking operation run by a father and son. The indictments are the result of a long-term joint investigation between the DA’s Human Trafficking Program, the DA’s Major Economic Crimes Bureau, and the agencies above.

CRAIG DRIMAL was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 66 months in prison for his participation in an insider trading scheme in which he obtained and traded on material, nonpublic information (“Inside Information”), including information misappropriated from the law firm of Ropes & Gray. DRIMAL pled guilty to five counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy on April 26, 2011. U.S. District Judge RICHARD J. SULLIVAN imposed today’s sentence.

OAKLAND, Calif. - New United Motors & Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI), California’s last auto plant, has agreed to contribute to a $6 million settlement fund as part of a class settlement resolving complaints that the company violated federal law when it denied severance benefits to employees on medical leave, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.

CHICAGO—A northwest suburban man was sentenced to six years in federal prison for engaging in an investment fraud scheme that swindled more than $5 million from approximately 150 victims who invested in funds he purported to operate. The defendant, Scott M. Ross, who pleaded guilty to mail fraud in March, was sentenced yesterday, 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, announced today. Ross misused money he raised from investors for his own benefit, including salary and a stadium sky box, and to make Ponzi-type payments to certain customers who complained.

VENTURA - Daniel Avila, a former candidate for the Thousand Oaks City Council has been sentenced to six years and four months in prison for threatening to kill six prosecutors in the Ventura County District Attorney's office. Avila was convicted of six counts of making criminal threats and six counts of threatening public officials on April 4 in Ventura County Superior Court. He was sentenced yesterday. The case was prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Jonathan Kline. "As the chief law enforcement officer of California," Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said, "I take very seriously any threat against prosecutors or police officers. They are the ones charged with keeping the public safe, so their own protection is doubly important, and violators must be punished. The result in this case achieves both objectives." Avila ran for the Thousand Oaks City Council in 2004, and was charged with hacking into the Verizon wireless system and sending bogus text messa...

LOS ANGELES—A Santa Ynez man who falsely promised bartending and “mystery shopper” jobs to people around the country has been sentenced to serve six years in federal prison for operating the scheme that took more than $6 million from thousands of victims across the United States. Stevan P. Todorovic, 40, was sentenced yesterday afternoon by United States District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr.