KeyBank sues Kiryas Joel religious charity in $950K credit card chargeback scheme

KeyBank has sued a Hudson Valley religious charity and a co-founder for allegedly running a $950,000 credit card chargeback scheme.

KeyBank of Cleveland sued Mordechai Gold and BHMD BY on Chevron Inc., of Kiryas Joel, Orange County, Dec. 16 in White Plains federal court.
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 Gold, 26, Yoel Shtosel and Joel Fekete set up BHMD BY on Chevron in 2015 to establish a place of worship, Bnai Yisroel, on Chevron Road, according to the incorporation papers, and to “support the spiritual needs of the community with providing free loans and to support the religious, intellectual, moral and social welfare among them.”

KeyBank sues Kiryas Joel religious charity in $950K credit card chargeback scheme

Zymere Perkins’ mother read the bible, did her makeup and bathed her dead son’s body before getting help - New York Daily News

The mother of slain 6-year-old Zymere Perkins on Wednesday coldly recounted
the fatal beating her lover delivered with a broken broomstick, and how
she cleaned her child’s limp and unresponsive body, read the bible and
did her makeup before carrying the battered little boy to the hospital.

In her third day on the stand in Manhattan Supreme Court in the murder
trial of ex-boyfriend Rysheim Smith, Geraldine Perkins, 29, confessed
that she stood idly by while her son endured the heartless beating that
killed him in their Harlem apartment Sept. 26, 2016.

After a day without food or water — punishment for his supposed misbehavior —
Perkins testified she found little Zymere rummaging through the trash
for food.

Zymere Perkins’ mother read the bible, did her makeup and bathed her dead son’s body before getting help - New York Daily News

Ex-Greek Orthodox Archdiocese exec accused of embezzling over $500K

The onetime executive director of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has been busted for pocketing more than $500,000 in church funds, according to prosecutors.

Jerome Dimitriou, 55, allegedly ran two separate schemes dating back to 2011, according to a Manhattan federal court complaint unsealed Monday.

Prosecutors claim he charged tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses to the diocese-issued credit card, while also instructing subordinates to cut him around $500,000 in bonus checks without proper authorization
Ex-Greek Orthodox Archdiocese exec accused of embezzling over $500K

Bronx pastor from Yonkers charged in gruesome murder of estranged wife

A Bronx pastor from Yonkers is accused of killing his estranged wife in gruesome fashion in front of her two grandchildren in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx. 

Victor Mateo, a 63-year-old Yonkers resident, hit his estranged wife Noelia Mateo, 58, with his car when she walked out of her house to bring her 11- and 9-year-old grandchildren to school on Oct. 3, the Bronx District Attorney's Office said.

Noelia hid under her car, and Victor allegedly got in her car, ran her over with it and then hacked her with a machete, Bronx prosecutors said. 

The two young children watched the entire scene unfold.

Bronx pastor from Yonkers charged in gruesome murder of estranged wife

This Upper West Side Psychic Parlor Specializes in Reincarnation (Its Own) - The New York Times

The psychic shop had been there for at least 10 years, a fixture on a block of prime real estate on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It had thrived even amid neighbors’ complaints and surprise visits from New York City inspectors who issued violations.

The tenants in the apartment had a history of evading city restrictions on home-operated businesses by finding loopholes in the rules, offering a case study into how psychics continue to thrive in modern-day New York. For years, the apartment has been a revolving door for psychics who promise a $5 or $10 peek at the future, a cottage industry that has proved to be recession-proof and common-sense-proof.

What happened to the passing woman lured inside that day last year eventually brought visits from detectives. Two separate investigations led to the recent arrests of three women who worked as psychics in the apartment, at 143 West 69th Street. Each was convicted of felony larceny charges and forced to repay the victims up to $60,000 apiece. 

Yet as recently as last week, fortunetellers appeared to be operating again in the same location, demonstrating how resistant the fortunetelling business can be to law enforcement.

This Upper West Side Psychic Parlor Specializes in Reincarnation (Its Own) - The New York Times

East Village landlord accuses tenant of hosting wild sex parties

A deep "man of faith," sounds like he is deep into something else, "Avraham once told a newspaper he’s so religious that he wouldn’t carry his car keys on the Sabbath."

No more sex parties for you!

A randy tenant has been using his rented East Village townhouse as a den of iniquity, charging $60 to attend sex-filled shindigs featuring swings, spankings and group foreplay, according to court papers.

Avraham Adler signed a two-year lease on the four-story home at 189 East 7th St. on April 1, and within a month opened the space to “lewd, loud” parties almost every week, his landlord charges.

East Village landlord accuses tenant of hosting wild sex parties

UPDATED::Psychic arrested for scamming clients out of more than $800K

UPDATE:: New York psychic appears in court charged with swindling a dozen victims out of more than $1 MILLION, including a Canadian woman 'she took $740k from, insisting it would be used to buy gold coins that would be placed in a temple to protect her from danger'

A New York fortune teller accused of swindling a dozen 'vulnerable' clients out of more than $1 million across a five year period appeared in a Manhattan court on Friday, as prosecutors pursue a litany of fraud charges.

Looking more morose than mystic, shamed clairvoyant Ann Thompson, 42, solemnly emerged from the holding room of the Manhattan Supreme Court, dressed in a grey tank-top with her hair scraped back.

Thompson last appeared in court in August, where she pleaded not guilty to 17 counts, including scheme to defraud, grand larceny, and forgery, in relation to complaints made by 12 of her former clients.

Prosecutors say she touted herself as a renowned psychic medium and advertised readings for five dollars, operating out of the storefront 'Psychic Zoe' on West 35th Street, near Seventh Avenue.

A self-proclaimed psychic in Midtown has been arrested for allegedly conning at least two vulnerable out-of-town clients out of more than $800,000 over the last five years, The Post has learned.

Ann Thompson, 42, who operated her years-long supernatural scheme under the name “Psychic Zoe” out of the second-story of a W. 35th building near Seventh Avenue, was finally nabbed Wednesday morning on charges of grand larceny, scheming to defraud and fortune-telling, authorities said.

Thompson, who represented herself as a renowned psychic medium and advertised $5 readings, told her victims they “needed to provide her with funds for a spiritual protection plan to ensure that family members would be protected,” an NYPD spokeswoman said.

Psychic arrested for scamming clients out of more than $800K

UPDATED::Father accused in Word of Life case pleads guilty to assault, will testify against others | WSTM

UPDATE::  Cult member convicted of beating half brother to death appeals 25-year sentence

The boy's half-sister, Sarah Ferguson, was convicted of second-degree murder for her role in the attack. In New York's appellate court in Rochester on Wednesday, she argued her conviction and 25-year sentence are too harsh. 

"As soon as she saw the blood, she stopped the whipping, so I would argue the whipping was a reckless act (not intentional)," said her attorney, Peter DiGiorgio.

The case exposed the cult-like activities of the church. Ferguson was the only defendant to go to trial. Eight others, including the parents of the boys, pleaded guilty.

UPDATE::  Four defendants in Word of Life case fail to reach plea deal; judge sets one week deadline before new trial date set

The four remaining defendants in the Word of Life Church murder trial will have one more chance to accept a plea deal when they return to court next Friday, according to County Court Judge Michael L. Dwyer.

Otherwise, a new trial date will be set, the judge stated this morning.

Pastor Tiffanie Irwin, Joseph Irwin, Linda Morey and David Morey all made a surprise appearance in court this morning to possibly accept plea offers, but Dwyer said no agreements had been reached.

Dwyer said that all four defendants must accept the offer together or none at all.

He did not disclose the details of the offer.

Dwyer told them that if they did not reach a deal by next Friday then he would set a new trial date for all four of them.

Two other defendants, Traci Irwin and David Irwin, each accepted a plea deal of one year in county jail last Friday for pleading guilty to unlawful imprisonment.

The father accused of taking part in a beating at the Word of Life Church that left one of his sons dead and another injured has pleaded guilty to lesser charges and will not stand trial.

Bruce Leonard pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree and second-degree assault Wednesday morning, after appearing in Oneida County Court to consider a plea offer for the charges he faced in the death of his son Lucas Leonard and beating of his other son Christopher last fall. The plea was accepted by Judge Michael Dwyer.

The two charges carry a sentence of 15-16 years in state prison, which will be served concurrently according to Judge Dwyer. Leonard will also be required to state his role in the beatings and testify against the other defendants in the Word of Life case.

Father accused in Word of Life case pleads guilty to assault, will testify against others | WSTM

Bronx pastor accused of fleecing Harlem nonprofit to fuel lavish lifestyle

The CEO of a tax-payer funded nonprofit that serves some of the city’s neediest city populations bilked the organization out more than half a million dollars to fund lavish vacations and high-end dinners, prosecutors said.

Reginald Williams, 67, allegedly hatched a series of schemes to rip off the the Addicts Rehabilitation Center Foundation, which he ran, and a related group called the Addicts Rehabilitation Center Fund.

Both groups provide social services and housing to drug addicts and those living with HIV and AIDS.
Williams is also the longtime pastor of the Charity Baptist Church in the South Bronx.

 Williams also enlisted the help of co-defendants Naomi Barrera, 42, the current president and CEO of the ARC Foundation, and Bennie Hadnott, 74, a financial consultant, to pull off the schemes.

Bronx pastor accused of fleecing Harlem nonprofit to fuel lavish lifestyle

New York Scientologist chiropractor pleads guilty in $80 million Medicare scam | The Underground Bunker

Chiropractor James “Jay” Spina of Middletown, New York entered a guilty plea last week in an $80 million Medicare scam we told you about in September.

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Also charged in the case were Spina’s younger brother, Jeffrey Spina, as well as two employees at their chiropractic clinic — bookkeeper Andrea Grossman, 59, and Jeffrey and Jay’s sister Kim Spina, 54 — who all entered not guilty pleas.
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The Spina brothers have worked as chiropractors in Middletown, New York for many years. They called their clinic Spina Chiropractic — which was listed as a World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE) business in 1999 — then Dolson Avenue Medical until it was raided in 2017 by the FBI and changed its name to Pain Relief and Wellness Center.

WISE is a Scientology front organization that targets chiropractors, dentists, and veterinarians with L. Ron Hubbard’s business administration ideas as a way to bring them into the church itself.

New York Scientologist chiropractor pleads guilty in $80 million Medicare scam | The Underground Bunker

Harlem pastor who moonlights as therapist charged with rape over accusations of trysts inside the church with patient during sessions - New York Daily News

A Harlem pastor who moonlights as a therapist has been charged with rape over accusations of trysts inside the church with a patient during sessions.

Kirton Lashley, 57, allegedly had sex with the victim, a woman in her 30s, during sessions beginning in October 2016 and lasting through December at the Beulah Wesleyan Methodist Church on W. 136th St. near Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.

Under the law, a person in the care of a medical doctor or mental health professional cannot consent to sexual activity with the provider. The criminal complaint against him does not describe any forcible conduct.

For more than two years the pastor and patient “engaged in a sexual relationship,” according to court papers.

Harlem pastor who moonlights as therapist charged with rape over accusations of trysts inside the church with patient during sessions - New York Daily News

Former Westchester Priest Faces Sexual Abuse Charge Involving 10-Year-Old | Pelham Daily Voice

A Westchester County grand jury indicted Rev. Thomas Kreiser, who allegedly sexually abused a 10-year-old girl while serving at St. Joseph’s parish in Bronxville.

The jury charged Kreiser with three counts of first-degree sexual abuse and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Kreiser allegedly engaged in touching his victim on an intimate part of her body while in a school building in Bronxville in the middle of the day. Officials noted that the 10-year-old was fully clothed at the time of the incident.

At the time of the alleged incident, Kreiser was employed as a Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of New York and was stationed at St. Joseph’s Parish in Bronxville, which includes both a church and elementary school. As part of his responsibilities, Kreiser was visiting the school at the time of the alleged abuse. Kreiser has since been removed from the parish by the Archdiocese.

Former Westchester Priest Faces Sexual Abuse Charge Involving 10-Year-Old | Pelham Daily Voice

NYC pastor arrested for grabbing buttocks of teen girl in Harlem church - New York Daily News

An assistant pastor of a Harlem church was charged with grabbing the buttocks of a teenage girl in his church, police said.

Jeffery Brown, 57, was arrested at the Tabernacle of Deliverance for All People on Frederick Douglass Blvd. and W. 153rd St. at about noon Sunday, police said.

He was charged with forcible touching, and was arraigned Monday in Manhattan Criminal Court.

NYC pastor arrested for grabbing buttocks of teen girl in Harlem church - New York Daily News

Brooklyn pastor charged with sexually abusing his own daughter | Fox News

A prominent New York pastor has been charged with sexually abusing his own daughter over the last six years, Pix 11 reports.

Matthew Gibson, who heads the Progressive Baptist Church of Brownsville in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, has been accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting his now 14-year-old daughter on the church’s grounds since 2012, after the girl’s mother passed away.

Matthew Gibson’s daughter reportedly revealed to her sister-in-law, Myia Maples, the extent of the abuse last week. Maples said her husband, the young girl’s older brother, has had full custody of the girl and her twin brother since their mother died nearly seven years ago. Their father, the pastor, is allowed visitation with the twins every other weekend, and they attend his church services.

Brooklyn pastor charged with sexually abusing his own daughter | Fox News

'I chopped her up' : Utica man charged with murdering grandmother, landlord | WHAM

A Utica man is facing murder charges in the deaths of his grandmother and landlord.

Naythen Aubain, 29, was released from the hospital Tuesday and was arraigned Tuesday evening on two counts of murder in the 1st Degree.

“One of the aggravating factors is multiple homicides, so if you kill more than one person within the same criminal transaction that makes a 'Murder Second' into a Murder in the First," Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara said.

Aubain was brought into his arraignment wearing a spit shield and was forced into a restraining chair during it.

He interrupted the judge several times, saying:

I did it. I chopped her up.

I’ll chop anyone up who disrespects Jesus Christ.

'I chopped her up' : Utica man charged with murdering grandmother, landlord | WHAM

‘Psychic’ busted for allegedly scamming woman out of $12K

A Westchester County “psychic” has just been busted for the third time in fewer than two years — this time for allegedly bilking a woman out of her life savings by convincing the client she’d been cursed in a past life as a mute Egyptian healer.

Accused serial Scarsdale scamster Janet Lee, 44, was arrested Tuesday in Bedford and charged with third-degree grand larceny for allegedly ripping off a 64-year-old local resident for more than $12,000, according to court documents.

The woman had sought out Lee’s services in June after growing “despondent” that she’d never achieved her dream of a career in writing or filmmaking, according to a statement provided to The Post by Bob Nygaard, a private investigator she recruited to help bring the psychic to justice. Nygaard said the statement also was submitted to authorities.

‘Psychic’ busted for allegedly scamming woman out of $12K

New York jury convicts two men for trading on hacked press releases | Reuters

A federal jury in Brooklyn, New York on Friday convicted two men for their roles in an international scheme to make millions of dollars by illegally trading on corporate press releases that were stolen by computer hackers before they became public. 

Vitaly Korchevsky, a Pennsylvania pastor and former Morgan Stanley (MS.N) vice president, and co-defendant Vladislav Khalupsky were each found guilty on two securities fraud and three conspiracy counts, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue in Brooklyn said.

The defendants had been among 10 people, including seven traders and three Ukraine-based hackers, criminally charged in Brooklyn and New Jersey over what U.S. authorities have called the largest known hacking scheme to game financial markets.

Authorities said more than 150,000 press releases were stolen from Business Wire, Marketwired and PR Newswire from February 2010 to August 2015, and used to generated in excess of $100 million of illegal trading profit.

New York jury convicts two men for trading on hacked press releases | Reuters

See also::  Pastor's Insider-Trading Trial Shines Light on Jurors' Faith

Ivy League student known for fighting sexual violence is charged with child sex crimes - The Washington Post

For a 22-year-old Columbia University student, Joel Davis had built an impressive reputation as an activist for ending sexual violence.

He was the founding executive director of the international organization Youth to End Sexual Violence. He served as a youth ambassador for the United Nations special representative on sexual violence in conflict. He was on the steering committee of the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict, a group of more than 5,000 human rights organizations and experts worldwide.

Davis traveled around the world, worked alongside high-profile activists such as Angelina Jolie, delivered a TED talk and appeared on media panels. In 2015, at age 19, he claimed to have been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

His work focused particularly on ending sexual violence against the most vulnerable victims: children.

Yet behind this virtuous front, Davis was allegedly committing the same types of crimes he claimed to be fighting, federal prosecutors say. On Tuesday, authorities arrested Davis on charges of attempting to sexually exploit a child, enticing a child to engage in sexual activity and possessing child pornography. If convicted, he could face a long sentence.

Ivy League student known for fighting sexual violence is charged with child sex crimes - The Washington Post

UPDATED::Upstate religious cult allegedly beats kids, forces them into labor

UPDATE::  Twelve Tribes community pushes back against labor violation accusations

The Twelve Tribes community near Albany is pushing back against labor violations involving children.

Members say there weren't 12 people, let alone 12 children at the Common Sense packaging facility when the Department of Labor visited this week, so they don't know how they received 12 violations.

Investigators visited the community after "Inside Edition" aired hidden camera footage showing alleged child labor.

UPDATE::  Officials probe commune after illegal child labor claims

Video purporting to show a 6-year-old old boy picking potatoes at a farm run by a religious community and other children working at the group’s high-end cosmetics factory has prompted an investigation by New York state labor officials.

The state’s labor commissioner said the department will investigate the Twelve Tribes community in Cambridge, New York, after the TV show “Inside Edition” aired hidden camera footage appearing to show child labor. The show said Common Sense Farm packages cosmetics for companies like Acure and Savannah Bee that are sold by major retailers.

A former worker wore a hidden camera and pretended to go back to work in the commune near the Vermont border. She was filmed talking to children in the factory who said they were 11 and 10. A producer filmed what the syndicated show said was a 6-year-old boy struggling to push a wheelbarrow and pick potatoes.

Twelve Tribes/Yellow Deli seems to be making some waves,,,

The factory, in rural Cambridge — a small town an hour northeast of Albany — is owned and run by a controversial international religious cult called Twelve Tribes.

The cult has been fined by New York authorities at least twice before, in 2001 and 2006, over child labor-law violations.

Its charismatic octogenarian leader, Gene Spriggs, preaches a home-spun fundamentalism that promotes corporal punishment, racism, homophobia, and a return to 1st century Christian values.

“They preach peace and love. But there’s another side of these people they don’t want you to see,” says a promo for the “Inside Edition” report, which airs 7 p.m. Frida
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Ex-member Sarah Williams, 34, “rejoined” the group to record hidden-camera footage of children, ages 9 and 10, working an assembly line for the factory, which packages soaps for major brands, including Savannah Bee and Acure.

Williams recorded a girl who said she was 11 pulling small white boxes from a larger box and lining them up on a conveyor belt.

Upstate religious cult allegedly beats kids, forces them into labor

See also::  
Twelve Tribes is subject of upcoming investigative podcast

Yellow Deli's Twelve Tribes back in the spotlight as subject of new podcast, documentary

'Spiritual healer' arrested, accused of sex abuse, abortion in the Bronx | abc7ny.com

Robles is accused of making his clients drink oils that would incapacitate them. Then, he would allegedly cut off their clothing with a knife and sexually abuse them.

Police say Robles also walked on a woman's stomach and back who was six-weeks pregnant. She suffered a miscarriage.

Among his many charges, Robles is also charged with abortion.

The so-called treatment is a form of practice known as Santeria.

'Spiritual healer' arrested, accused of sex abuse, abortion in the Bronx | abc7ny.com