2013 Legislative Breakfast Book - Queens County District Attorney

Cases of Interest
LONG ISLAND CITY RESIDENT GUILTY IN PONZI SCHEME
IN WHICH 30 VICTIMS LOST MORE THAN $1.3 MILLION
Defendant Sentenced to Indeterminate Term of 3 to 9 Years in Prison
A Long Island City woman who pleaded
guilty in connection with a “Ponzi” scheme
that targeted the Latino community in
Queens has been sentenced to 3 to 9 years
in prison. A second defendant charged
in the case is still at large. The defendant
admitted bilking 30 people out of their life
savings by pretending to invest the money
in a corporation that bought and sold real
estate and offered above-market returns on
it. Many of the victims of this scheme lost
their entire life savings.
Between September 30, 2003,
and October 1, 2008, the defendants
purported to operate a corporation known
as Buyersnet Real Estate Corporation with
offices in Elmhurst, in Jackson Heights,
and in Long Island City.
The complainants in the case gave
the defendants various amounts of money
which was to be used by Buyersnet to
either purchase, renovate or sell real estate.
They were allegedly informed by the
defendants that depending on the date of
the investment, they would be guaranteed
to earn 10, 12 or a 14 percent return
interest on their monies which could
either be received by the complainant or
reinvested. Each time the complainants
invested monies they received certificates
that were alleged to represent the amount
of their investments and which were
referred to as “GIOS” or Guaranteed
Interest Options. The certificates allegedly
reflected a guaranteed interest rate which
was much higher than the rates being paid
by reputable financial institutions.
The investors contributed various
amounts – in some instances as much as
$500 a month – and suffered individual
losses ranging from approximately $5,000
to as much as $50,000. The total losses
suffered by the 30 complainants are alleged
to be approximately $1.365 million. Finally,
it is alleged that none of the money invested
by the complainants was invested in real
estate. Instead, the defendants allegedly
used new investor money to pay interest
dividends to earlier investors but during
the later part of 2008 the scheme collapsed
and the defendants stopped making interest
payments, refused to return principal
requested by various complainants and by
the end of that year the business was closed.
MOTORIST PLEADS GUILTY TO VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER
IN DEATH OF GRAND CENTRAL PARKWAY WORKER
A motorist has pleaded guilty to
vehicular manslaughter in the death of
a 63-year-old highway worker killed this
past July on the Grand Central Parkway.
According to the charges, the
defendant was driving a 2002 Audi A6
at an unsafe speed westbound in the
left lane of the Grand Central Parkway
near Jewel Avenue on the morning of
July 10, 2012. Just ahead of him a large
construction vehicle was parked in the
left lane with its arrow light flashing,
indicating that the left lane was closed
and directing motorists to the center
lane. Directly behind the construction
vehicle, Frank Avino, 63, of Long Island,
was placing orange traffic cones in the
left lane when the defendant’s Audi
struck him, causing Avino to hit the
Audi’s windshield and then fly into the
air and land on top of the construction
vehicle. Avino, who worked as an electrician
for Welsbach Electric Corp., of College
Point, Queens, was pronounced dead at the
scene. Based on skid marks at the scene it
was determined that the minimum speed of
the Audi was 58 miles per hour at the time
of the collision and that the posted speed
limit is 50 miles per hour.
Police responding to the
scene observed that the Audi had
front end damage and a shattered
windshield and that the defendant
had bloodshot watery eyes and
a strong odor of alcohol on his
breath. The defendant was taken
to Jamaica Hospital, where he
consented to have his blood drawn
and which resulted in a blood
alcohol content reading of .18
percent – above the legal limit of
.08 percent in New York.
Upon request of police officers the
defendant was unable to produce a valid
New York State driver’s license and in
a statement to police he admitted to
drinking from 12:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.
that morning and that he was driving
the Audi because his friends were too
drunk to drive.
2013 Legislative Breakfast
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