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DISTRICT ATTORNEY - NEW YORK COUNTY | ||
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News Release |
Contact: Barbara Thompson | |
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Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau, joined by New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner (DOI) Rose Gill Hearn, announced the arrests of 62 people for stealing money from the Municipal Credit Union (MCU) in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center. Thirty-nine people are still being sought for arrest. Of the total of 101 people who have either been arrested or are being sought, 41 are employees of New York City; the remaining 60 are either employees of non-mayoral agencies or health care facilities. The investigation is continuing into as many as 4,000 members of the Municipal Credit Union and the theft of $15 million. Each of the defendants is charged with stealing more than $7500 from MCU by using their ATM cards to withdraw funds in the weeks following the WTC attacks far in excess of their account balances. MCU, whose membership is open to, among others, employees of the city, state and federal governments and employees in the health care industry, is located at 22 Cortlandt Street, near where the World Trade Center towers stood. As a result of the collapse of the towers, MCU's own ATM machines were disabled and MCU intermittently lost its computer link to the New York Cash Exchange (NYCE) network which administers bank-to-bank transactions and processes ATM transactions, including withdrawals. When the link to the NYCE network was interrupted, NYCE had no ability to access MCU account balances to ensure that there were sufficient funds to cover a withdrawal when a member withdrew cash using his MCU-issued ATM card or used it as a Visa credit card (the MCU cash accounts linked to these ATM cards did not have overdraft protection). Upon learning this, MCU made a determination not to shut down its entire ATM operation because of the hardship it might impose on members, particularly those adversely affected by the tragedy, but rather to allow NYCE to continue to dispense cash to MCU account holders. Those arrested or sought today took advantage of the situation by withdrawing at least $7500 more than their account balances in the weeks after the attacks. For example: · TERRY HUTCHINSON-JONES, a nurse at Manhattan Psychiatric Center, never had a positive end of month balance in the eight months prior to 9/11. Despite the fact that she had a negative account balance for all that time, she made 54 ATM cash withdrawals between September 18th and the end of October, leaving her with a balance of -$18,111.01, which she has never paid down. Twenty-three of those withdrawals were for $500 each; for example, she made two withdrawals of $500 each from the same branch of Banco Popularo on October 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th, among other withdrawals. · JAMES ALLEN, an employee of the Housing Authority, never had an end of month account balance that exceeded $130 in the eight months prior to 9/11. Nonetheless, he made 53 ATM withdrawals ranging from $20 to $300 each, and charged 101 Visa purchases using his MCU ATM card between September 19th and October 22nd. The Visa purchases were at stores including Foot Locker, Jimmy Jazz, Joy Joy Jewelry, Bronx BBQ, Hot Booz Liquor and the 216th Street Motel. As a result of this activity, this individual's account balance was -$10,378.70 as of the end of October, which he has not paid down. · An employee of Mt. Sinai Hospital never had an end of month account balance that exceeded $95 in the six months prior to 9/11. Despite that, he made 91 ATM withdrawals from September 16th to October 30th, when his account balance reached -$10,757.37, which he has not paid down. Sixty-one of those withdrawals were for $100. For example, on September 16th, he made one cash withdrawal of $20, followed by four more for $40 each, followed by three for $100 each, all from the same ATM location. The next day, September 17th, he made three cash withdrawals of $100 each from the same Chase branch in the Bronx; two more $100 withdrawals were made from the same Chase branch on September 18th. On September 19th, he made two $100 cash withdrawals and used his ATM card to make six debit purchases, including the purchase of two Metrocards. By October 2nd , and the days that followed, many of his cash withdrawals were for $200 each. · Another Municipal Credit Union member never had an end of month account balance that exceeded $566 in the eight months prior to 9/11. Nevertheless, he made 50 ATM withdrawals totaling $8,700 between September 16th and November 8th. He also used his MCU card to make 89 Visa purchases at stores including Gap, Cookies Department Store, Leather World, Barefoot Shoes, Jeans Plus, Dynasty Restaurant, and BX Sports. As a result of this activity, his account balance was -$12,570.75 at the end of November, which he has not paid down. · JEANETTE BONNER, a school safety agent employed by the New York City Police Department, never had an end of month account balance that exceeded $245 in the eight months prior to 9/11. Nevertheless, she made 80 ATM withdrawals between September 13th and October 22nd, leaving her with a balance of -$11,344.76 at the end of October, which she has not paid down. Sixty of those withdrawals were for $200 each, and multiple withdrawals were made on many days. · An employee of the Board of Education never had an end of month account balance of more than $16 in the eight months prior to 9/11. Despite that, he made 86 ATM withdrawals between September 17th and October 1st. As a result, his balance at the end of October was -$8,739.18, which he has not paid down. Twenty-five of those withdrawals were for $100, while another twenty-five were for $200. · MARTHA HOOPER, another employee of the Board of Education, never had a positive end of month account balance in the eight months prior to 9/11. Despite the fact that she had a negative balance for all that time, she made 90 ATM cash withdrawals between September 14th and October 13th, leaving her with a balance of -$7,777.27 as of the end of October, which she has not paid down. Twenty-nine of the withdrawals were for $20, twenty-eight were for $100 and twelve were for $200 during that time period. · DYRON JACKSON, an employee of the Housing Authority, never had an end of month account balance that exceeded $22 in the eight months prior to 9/11. Despite that, he made 73 ATM cash withdrawals between September 19th and October 31st, leaving him with a balance of -$10,105.84 at the end of October, which he has not paid down. Forty-four of the withdrawals were for $200 with multiple withdrawals on many days. · Another individual never had an end of month account balance that was more than $320 in the eight months prior to 9/11. Despite that, he made 92 ATM withdrawals between September 15th and October 31st, leaving him with a balance of -$12,595.48 at the end of October, which he has not paid down. Thirty-one of those withdrawals were for $100 and thirty-two were for $200. · An employee of the Transit Authority never had an end of month account balance that was more than $115 in the eight months prior to 9/11. Nonetheless, he made 83 ATM withdrawals between September 19th and October 31st. He also used his MCU card to make 62 Visa purchases between September 14th and November 8th at stores including Casual Male, Duke Electronics, Modell's, The Wiz, Footco, and Auto Zone, leaving him with an account balance of -$11,452.09 at the end of October, which he has not paid down. · Another individual never had an end of month account balance of more than $30 in the eight months prior to 9/11. Despite that, he made 90 ATM withdrawals totaling $9,100 between September 19th and October 31st. In addition, he used his MCU card to make 23 Visa purchases during that period at stores including Territory Ahead, Akwaba Sportswear, Game Place, I & I Sports, and Modell's, leaving him with an account balance of -$9,406.57 at the end of October, which he has not paid down. · MARVIN LUCAS, an employee of Perfect Courier, Ltd., never had an end of month account balance of more than $525 in the eight months prior to 9/11. Nevertheless, he made 68 ATM withdrawals between September 12th and October 31st, resulting in an account balance of -$9,549.01 at the end of October, which he has not paid down. Twenty-nine of those withdrawals were for $100 and twenty-four were for $200. · ILLYA LANCASTER, an employee at Kingbrook Medical Center, never had a positive end of month balance in the eight months prior to 9/11. Despite the fact that she had a negative account balance for all that time, she made 65 ATM withdrawals between October 3rd and November 1st, resulting in an account balance of -$10,456.95, which she has not paid down. Thirty-five of those withdrawals were for $200 and twenty-six of them were for $500. · CASSANDRA SCOTH, who is unemployed, never had an end of month account balance that exceeded $90 in the eight months prior to 9/11. Nonetheless, she made 72 ATM withdrawals totaling $10,100 between September 15th and October 31st. She also used her MCU card to make 57 Visa purchases at stores including Best Buy, Dr. Jay's, Old Navy, Perfumania, Circuit City and Sneaker King. As a result of this activity, her account balance at the end of October was -$11,080.96, which she has not paid down. · A Board of Education employee never had an end of month account balance of more than $327 in the eight months prior to 9/11. Despite that, she made 61 ATM withdrawals between September 15th and November 12th, resulting in an account balance of negative $10,482.26, which she has not paid down. Thirty-eight of the withdrawals were for $200. · An employee of the Department of Health, never had an end of month account balance of more than $578 in the eight months prior to 9/11. Despite that, he made 58 ATM withdrawals between September 14th and October 31st, resulting in an account balance of -$8,919.68, which he has not paid down. Twenty-six of the withdrawals were for $100 and twenty-three of them were for $200. The investigation began when officials of MCU notified DOI and the Police Department of the problem. Both launched investigations, which were shortly thereafter referred to the District Attorney's Office. As a result, a joint investigation was undertaken by DOI, the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau, the District Attorney's Squad of the Police Department and the Special Prosecutions Bureau of the District Attorney's Office, with today's arrests the first results. The defendants arrested today, as well as those who are still being sought, are all of individuals who overdrew their accounts by more than $7,500 and who have made little or no effort to repay the money. In November 2001, MCU mailed notices to all of the individuals who had overdrawn their accounts, listing the amount overdrawn and demanding repayment immediately. Then, MCU engaged the services of a collection agency that contacted, or attempted to contact, the individuals. Those individuals who responded to either the letter from MCU or to the actions of the collection agency were offered the opportunity to convert their negative account balances to loans with a defined repayment schedule. Those arrested or sought today made little or no effort to repay despite these notifications. The 101 people arrested or being sought today stole the most money, but many others also made ATM withdrawals well beyond their account balances in the weeks after the World Trade Center attacks. More than 540 MCU members (including those arrested or being sought today) made ATM withdrawals that exceeded their account balances by at least $5,000 in the weeks after 9/11; more than 1,700 overdrew their accounts by at least $3,000; and more than 4000 overdrew their accounts by at least $1,000. Although some have repaid all, or a substantial amount, of the money, a large number have made little or no repayments. The investigation into those individuals is continuing. For their part in the investigation leading to today's arrests, Mr. Morgenthau thanked the New York City Department of Investigation: specifically Vincent Green, Assistant Commissioner of Financial Fraud, Marquita Allen-Howard, Deputy Inspector General, and Joseph Medina, Chief Investigator; Municipal Credit Union, President/Chief Executive Officer William Porter; New York Police Department: Chief of Detectives William H. Allee, Jr., District Attorney's Squad Captain Sean Crowley and Det. John Cumbo, and Fugitive Enforcement Division Deputy Inspector Raymond Ferrari. Within the District Attorney's Office, the cases have been investigated by Assistant District Attorneys Brenda Fischer and Daniel Schwager who coordinated the work for the District Attorney's Office under the supervision of Special Prosecutions Bureau Chief Leroy Frazer. Paralegal Emily Ching also assisted with the cases. The cases will be prosecuted by assistant district attorneys assigned to the Special Prosecutions Bureau. The defendants have been charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree,
a class D felony which is punishable by up to seven years in prison. DEFENDANT INFORMATION ALLEN, James 530 St. Pauls Place #5E, Bronx, NY 10456 Employer: Housing Authority DOB: 07/24/76 Balance: -$10,378.70 ALMODOVAR, Cathy BIGGS, Linnea |
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