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Winners are Maria Angelica Garcia, Alisa Choubay, and Reyna Chavarria, who will attend Mercy College, Fordham University and SUNY/Cobleskill respectively.  They are shown in the attached photo with Guidance Counselors Jeffrey Hirsch, left, and EnriqueCafaro, right.

Three White Plains High School seniors were awarded Jandon Scholarships by the Westchester County Board of Legislators in collaboration with the Jandon Foundation. They will receive $12,000 each, to be awarded throughout the course of their four-year collegecareers.

These awards are made to academic achievers who meet financial eligibility guidelinesestablished by the Jandon Foundation.  Students must have excellent academic records andSAT scores, involvement in extra-curricular activities and show evidence of good character.

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 CHRISTOPHER GOMEZ Photo, Village of Port Chester

WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL-CHRONICLE EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. June 2, 2015:

The City of White Plains Common Council voted to approve Christopher Gomez, most recently Director of Planning and Development  for the Village of Port Chester to the position of Commissioner of Planning.

John Callahan, City Chief of Staff told WPCNR that Mr. Gomez had accepted the position and will be paid $145,000.

The Planning Commissionership has been vacant since January 15 when the city removed former Commissioner of Planning Elizabeth Cheteny for reasons not officially disclosed.

Gomez, 38, is a resident of Peekskill, NY, where he serves on the Peekskill Planning Commission, in addition to his full-time position with Port Chester.

He joined Port Chester as Director of Planning and Development in 2011 at a salary of $110,000, its first-ever full-time planner.

Prior to serving with the Port city, he worked for the Andrew Spano administration  as a member of the county Planning Department  for six years. His most notable accomplishment was designing the “Westchester 2025″ program.. Westchester 2015 is a computer application that works with local governments and communities to model what developments would look like and analyze infrastructure needed to support the new projects. He is considered an expert at computer modeling  what developments might look like with computer simulations.

Gomez is described by a professional who has worked with him in Peekskill and knows him from Port Chester as “a good man,” and a “good fit” for White Plains

According to the  letter from Mayor Tom Roach requesting Council approval of the hire, he is to begin work with the City of White Plains July 7.

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS WEEK NEWS. MAY 28, 2015:

WHITE PLAINS WEEK Commentator Peter Katz has just uploaded his exclusive video of the Common Council Special Meeting Wednesday evening, that removed the 30 year Commissioner of Public Works from office.

To see this video, go to www.whiteplainsweek.com

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WPCNR FBI WIRE. From the Federal Bureau of Investigation. May 27, 2015 :

A 47-count indictment was unsealed early this morning in federal court in Brooklyn charging 14 defendants with racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracies, among other offenses, in connection with the defendants’ participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer. The guilty pleas of four individual defendants and two corporate defendants were also unsealed today.

The defendants charged in the indictment include high-ranking officials of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the organization responsible for the regulation and promotion of soccer worldwide, as well as leading officials of other soccer governing bodies that operate under the FIFA umbrella. The defendants Jeffrey Webb and Jack Warner—the current and former presidents CONCACAF, the continental confederation under FIFA headquartered in the United States—are among the soccer officials charged with racketeering and bribery offenses. The defendants also include U.S. and South American sports marketing executives who are alleged to have systematically paid and agreed to pay well over $150 million in bribes and kickbacks to obtain lucrative media and marketing rights to international soccer tournaments.

The charges were announced by Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch; Kelly T. Currie, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; James B. Comey, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Diego W. Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge, FBI, New York Field Office; Richard Weber, Chief, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation; and Special Agent in Charge Erick Martinez, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office.

Also earlier this morning, Swiss authorities in Zurich arrested seven of the defendants charged in the indictment, the defendants Jeffrey Webb, Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Eugenio Figueredo, Rafael Esquivel, and José Maria Marin, at the request of the United States.¹

The guilty pleas of the four individual and two corporate defendants that were also unsealed today include the guilty pleas of Charles Blazer, the long-serving former general secretary of CONCACAF and former U.S. representative on the FIFA executive committee; José Hawilla, the owner and founder of the Traffic Group, a multinational sports marketing conglomerate headquartered in Brazil; and two of Hawilla’s companies, Traffic Sports International, Inc. and Traffic Sports USA, Inc., which is based in Florida.

“The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States,” said Attorney General Lynch. “It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. And it has profoundly harmed a multitude of victims, from the youth leagues and developing countries that should benefit from the revenue generated by the commercial rights these organizations hold, to the fans at home and throughout the world whose support for the game makes those rights valuable. Today’s action makes clear that this Department of Justice intends to end any such corrupt practices, to root out misconduct, and to bring wrongdoers to justice—and we look forward to continuing to work with other countries in this effort.” Attorney General Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the authorities of the government of Switzerland, as well as several other international partners, for their outstanding assistance in this investigation.

“Today’s announcement should send a message that enough is enough. After decades of what the indictment alleges to be brazen corruption, organized international soccer needs a new start—a new chance for its governing institutions to provide honest oversight and support of a sport that is beloved across the world, increasingly so here in the United States. Let me be clear: this indictment is not the final chapter in our investigation,” stated Acting United States Attorney Currie. Mr. Currie extended his thanks to the agents, analysts, and other investigative personnel with the FBI New York Eurasian Joint Organized Crime Squad and the IRS Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office, as well as their colleagues abroad, for their tremendous effort in this case.

“As charged in the indictment, the defendants fostered a culture of corruption and greed that created an uneven playing field for the biggest sport in the world. Undisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks, and bribes became a way of doing business at FIFA. I want to commend the investigators and prosecutors around the world who have pursued this case so diligently, for so many years,” said FBI Director Comey.

“When leaders in an organization resort to cheating the very members that they are supposed to represent, they must be held accountable,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Weber. “Corruption, tax evasion, and money laundering are certainly not the cornerstones of any successful business. Whether you call it soccer or football, the fans, players, and sponsors around the world who love this game should not have to worry about officials corrupting their sport. This case isn’t about soccer, it is about fairness and following the law. IRS CI will continue to investigate financial crimes and follow the money wherever it may lead around the world, leveling the playing field for those who obey the law.”

The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The Enterprise

FIFA is composed of 209 member associations, each representing organized soccer in a particular nation or territory, including the United States and four of its overseas territories. FIFA also recognizes six continental confederations that assist it in governing soccer in different regions of the world. The U.S. Soccer Federation is one of 41 member associations of the confederation known as CONCACAF, which has been headquartered in the United States throughout the period charged in the indictment. The South American confederation, called CONMEBOL, is also a focus of the indictment.

As alleged in the indictment, FIFA and its six continental confederations, together with affiliated regional federations, national member associations, and sports marketing companies, constitute an enterprise of legal entities associated in fact for purposes of the federal racketeering laws. The principal—and entirely legitimate—purpose of the enterprise is to regulate and promote the sport of soccer worldwide.

As alleged in the indictment, one key way the enterprise derives revenue is to commercialize the media and marketing rights associated with soccer events and tournaments. The organizing entity that owns those rights—as FIFA and CONCACAF do with respect to the World Cup and the Gold Cup, their respective flagship tournaments—sells them to sports marketing companies, often through multi-year contracts covering multiple editions of the tournaments. The sports marketing companies, in turn, sell the rights downstream to TV and radio broadcast networks, major corporate sponsors, and other sub-licensees who want to broadcast the matches or promote their brands. The revenue generated from these contracts is substantial: according to FIFA, 70% of its $5.7 billion in total revenues between 2011 and 2014 was attributable to the sale of TV and marketing rights to the 2014 World Cup.

The Racketeering Conspiracy

The indictment alleges that, between 1991 and the present, the defendants and their co-conspirators corrupted the enterprise by engaging in various criminal activities, including fraud, bribery, and money laundering. Two generations of soccer officials abused their positions of trust for personal gain, frequently through an alliance with unscrupulous sports marketing executives who shut out competitors and kept highly lucrative contracts for themselves through the systematic payment of bribes and kickbacks. All told, the soccer officials are charged with conspiring to solicit and receive well over $150 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for their official support of the sports marketing executives who agreed to make the unlawful payments.

Most of the schemes alleged in the indictment relate to the solicitation and receipt of bribes and kickbacks by soccer officials from sports marketing executives in connection with the commercialization of the media and marketing rights associated with various soccer matches and tournaments, including FIFA World Cup qualifiers in the CONCACAF region, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the CONCACAF Champions League, the jointly organized CONMEBOL/CONCACAF Copa América Centenario, the CONMEBOL Copa América, the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores, and the Copa do Brasil, which is organized by the Brazilian national soccer federation (CBF). Other alleged schemes relate to the payment and receipt of bribes and kickbacks in connection with the sponsorship of CBF by a major U.S. sportswear company, the selection of the host country for the 2010 World Cup, and the 2011 FIFA presidential election.

The Indicted Defendants

As set forth in the indictment, the defendants and their co-conspirators fall generally into three categories: soccer officials acting in a fiduciary capacity within FIFA and one or more of its constituent organizations; sports media and marketing company executives; and businessmen, bankers, and other trusted intermediaries who laundered illicit payments.

Nine of the defendants were FIFA officials by operation of the FIFA statutes, as well as officials of one or more other bodies:

• Jeffrey Webb: Current FIFA vice president and executive committee member, CONCACAF president, Caribbean Football Union (CFU) executive committee member, and Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) president.
• Eduardo Li: Current FIFA executive committee member-elect, CONCACAF executive committee member, and Costa Rican soccer federation (FEDEFUT) president.
• Julio Rocha: Current FIFA development officer. Former Central American Football Union (UNCAF) president and Nicaraguan soccer federation (FENIFUT) president.
• Costas Takkas: Current attaché to the CONCACAF president. Former CIFA general secretary.
• Jack Warner: Former FIFA vice president and executive committee member, CONCACAF president, CFU president, and Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) special adviser.
• Eugenio Figueredo: Current FIFA vice president and executive committee member. Former CONMEBOL president and Uruguayan soccer federation (AUF) president.
• Rafael Esquivel: Current CONMEBOL executive committee member and Venezuelan soccer federation (FVF) president.
• José Maria Marin: Current member of the FIFA organizing committee for the Olympic football tournaments. Former CBF president.
• Nicolás Leoz: Former FIFA executive committee member and CONMEBOL president.

Four of the defendants were sports marketing executives:

• Alejandro Burzaco: Controlling principal of Torneos y Competencias S.A., a sports marketing business based in Argentina, and its affiliates.
• Aaron Davidson: President of Traffic Sports USA, Inc. (Traffic USA).
• Hugo and Mariano Jinkis: Controlling principals of Full Play Group S.A., a sports marketing business based in Argentina, and its affiliates.

And one of the defendants was in the broadcasting business but allegedly served as an intermediary to facilitate illicit payments between sports marketing executives and soccer officials:

• José Margulies: Controlling principal of Valente Corp. and Somerton Ltd.

The Convicted Individuals and Corporations

The following individuals and corporations previously pled guilty under seal:

On July 15, 2013, the defendant Daryll Warner, son of defendant Jack Warner and a former FIFA development officer, waived indictment and pled guilty to a two-count information charging him with wire fraud and the structuring of financial transactions.

On October 25, 2013, the defendant Daryan Warner, son of defendant Jack Warner and a businessman, waived indictment and pled guilty to a three-count information charging him with wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and the structuring of financial transactions. Daryan Warner forfeited over $1.1 million around the time of his plea and has agreed to pay a second forfeiture money judgment at the time of sentencing.

On November 25, 2013, the defendant Charles Blazer, the former CONCACAF general secretary and a former FIFA executive committee member, waived indictment and pled guilty to a 10-count information charging him with racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, income tax evasion, and failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). Blazer forfeited over $1.9 million at the time of his plea and has agreed to pay a second amount to be determined at the time of sentencing.

On December 12, 2014, the defendant José Hawilla, the owner and founder of the Traffic Group, the Brazilian sports marketing conglomerate, waived indictment and pled guilty to a four-count information charging him with racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Hawilla also agreed to forfeit over $151 million, $25 million of which was paid at the time of his plea.

On May 14, 2015, the defendants Traffic Sports USA, Inc. and Traffic Sports International, Inc. pled guilty to wire fraud conspiracy.

All money forfeited by the defendants is being held in reserve to ensure its availability to satisfy any order of restitution entered at sentencing for the benefit of any individuals or entities that qualify as victims of the defendants’ crimes under federal law.

The indictment unsealed today has been assigned to the Honorable Raymond J. Dearie, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York.

The indicted and convicted individual defendants face maximum terms of incarceration of 20 years for the RICO conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, money laundering, and obstruction of justice charges. In addition, the defendant Eugenio Figueredo faces a maximum term of incarceration of 10 years for a charge of naturalization fraud and could have his U.S. citizenship revoked. He also faces a maximum term of incarceration of five years for each tax charge. The defendant Charles Blazer faces a maximum term of incarceration of 10 years for the FBAR charge and five years for the tax evasion charges; and the defendants Daryan and Daryll Warner face maximum terms of incarceration of 10 years for structuring financial transactions to evade currency reporting requirements. Each individual defendant also faces mandatory restitution, forfeiture, and a fine. By the terms of their plea agreements, the corporate defendants face fines of $500,000 and one year of probation.

The government’s investigation is ongoing.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Evan M. Norris, Amanda Hector, Darren A. LaVerne, Samuel P. Nitze, Keith D. Edelman, and Brian D. Morris, with assistance provided by the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Organized Crime and Gang Section.

The Indicted Defendants:

• ALEJANDRO BURZACO
• Age: 50
• Nationality: Argentina

• AARON DAVIDSON
• Age: 44
• Nationality: USA

• RAFAEL ESQUIVEL
• Age: 68
• Nationality: Venezuela

• EUGENIO FIGUEREDO
• Age: 83
• Nationality: USA, Uruguay

• HUGO JINKIS
• Age: 70
• Nationality: Argentina

• MARIANO JINKIS
• Age: 40
• Nationality: Argentina

• NICOLÁS LEOZ
• Age: 86
• Nationality: Paraguay

• EDUARDO LI
• Age: 56
• Nationality: Costa Rica

• JOSÉ MARGULIES, also known as José Lazaro
• Age: 75
• Nationality: Brazil

• JOSÉ MARIA MARIN
• Age: 83
• Nationality: Brazil

• JULIO ROCHA
• Age: 64
• Nationality: Nicaragua

• COSTAS TAKKAS
• Age: 58
• Nationality: United Kingdom

• JACK WARNER
• Age: 72
• Nationality: Trinidad and Tobago

• JEFFREY WEBB
• Age: 50
• Nationality: Cayman Islands

The Convicted Defendants:

• CHARLES BLAZER
• Age: 70
• Nationality: USA

• JOSÉ HAWILLA
• Age: 71
• Nationality: Brazil

• DARYAN WARNER
• Age: 46
• Nationality: Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada

• DARYLL WARNER
• Age: 40
• Nationality: USA, Trinidad and Tobago

• TRAFFIC SPORTS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
• Registered: British Virgin Islands

• TRAFFIC SPORTS USA, INC.
• Registered: USA

E.D.N.Y. Docket Numbers:

• United States v. Daryll Warner, 13 Cr. 402 (WFK)
• United States v. Daryan Warner, 13 Cr. 584 (WFK)
• United States v. Charles Blazer, 13 Cr. 602 (RJD)
• United States v. José Hawilla, 14 Cr. 609 (RJD)
• United States v. Traffic Sports International, Inc., 14 Cr. 609 (RJD)
• United States v. Traffic Sports USA, Inc., 14 Cr. 609 (RJD)
• United States v. Jeffrey Webb et al., 15 Cr. 252 (RJD)

¹ Also this morning, a search warrant is being executed at CONCACAF headquarters in Miami, Florida.

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WPCNR  THE GRILLING LIFE. By The American Grillman. Reprinted from The CitizeNetReporter Archives. July 5, 2008: 

Monday is  the come home day of another Memorial Day Weekend in White Plains, coming home for that Memorial Day picnic. After Monday’s Memorial Day Parade starting at 10 AM in downtown White Plains tomorrow,  it is time to usher in summer officially.

Thanks to the chimney charcoal starter and its glowing orange coals, the backyard American barbeque DNA macho in the amateur chef is once again the equal of the overpriced steak cooked indoors at any restaurant.

Steak was raised outside, it was born to be cooked outside, and the barbequed steak on orange charcoal’s glow puts the Cartier- priced steakhouse in its place!

In this griller’s opinion, ourdoor grilling proves once again to be the equal and superior to the overpriced artificial-tasting steak that sleek decor and atmosphere cannot duplicate backyard orgins. The economy may be a press secretary’s fantasy, your home price declining, your taxes going up,  but remember,  even the hobo can grill!

To do real steak right , you have to do it outside on charcoal.

The instinct of generations of the American backyard barbeque tradition passed up from  the cave, enjoyed at Valley Forge, bit into by cowboys  around chuck wagons on the prairie and up from the Southland  barbeque inbred and passed on from American father to American son – cutting across nationality and station – gives you real steak – not $100 technology  enhanced cuts. Flaming charcoal makes steak a living thing in your mouth!

I think America can pull itself out of this temporary hiccup in the American economy and “anything-but-the-issues-politics”. as long as the American grilling tradition is handed down, the pioneer “can-do” spirit lives!

Why pay $100 for a  steak dinner unless your company or your political contributor  is paying for it, when you can tap your inner griller and say I can cook steak better?  The difference is the air, the smoke, the way marinade just drips down into the coals and gets into the meat. It’s chemistry!  Fire and flame and meat become one in a mystical, before time experience.

What is it about the American Grillman that’s so special that his or hers backyard cuts beat the insider  professionals’ inflation-friendly ostentatious steaks?

It’s the unique chemistry of being American and charcoal flame.  You’re not really part of America unless you’re grillin” like an American.

And on Independence Day Weekend coming up, it’s not really chillin’ on July 4 unless you’re grillin’.

There’s just something about the searing intensity of glowing charcoal combining mystically with the testosterone and instinctual synergy between red meat and the dedicated outdoor griller —  it beats in taste, juiciness and texture the contrived technology of the most expensive restaurant equipment.

No matter how tasty the megabuck meat is in the swank sticker shock steak palaces, there’s always that articificialness packaged taste that marks the indoor steak. The butteryness. The soft crust of the black topped surface of the indoor steak just does not have the nubile grizzled roughhewn flamed yield of the outdoor one-on-one grilled steak that fights your bicuspids every cillemeter.It is like a showgirl seen from a distance who looks older the closer you get.

Only one whose money is easily parted would pay $50 and up for a buttery indoor steak dinner when you can do it yourself in the backyard even in 20 degree weather even in the rain – the steaks done to perfection with the juices sealed  in.

The chimney starter – the secret to the hot start. No more charcoal fluid needed. Take a copy of The Journal News and scrunch up the news section or the sports section in the bottom of the Chimney Starter. (Experience shows that copies of the Journal News — any Gannett paper — burn better than the New York Times which is very slow-starting)

Pour in a helping of those ultimate black beauties, Kingsford charcoal briquettes into the chimney top. Fifteen minutes before the wife has the sides ready, take a wooden match to the aperatures in the base of the starter and light up the edges of the newsprint. Within 10-15 minutes you’ve got coals a firey orange red. You’re ready to outcook the pros.

Eat Your Heart Out, Mr. or Ms. Professional Food Designer and Celebrity Chef!  After the Griller’s wife has marinated the meat –  these Stop and Shop trimmed New York Strips sizzling in the caressing deep searing heat of glowing orange briquettes – 3 minutes a side and deft turning and surgical rareness checks – the seasoned grillista simply has a feel for the meat – passed genetically down from generations of American grillers. The combination of cauldron, flavored steel grill rods coated in the char of former grillings, and perfect licking flames create the branded grillmarks that deliver the natural taste of the backyard steak – impossible to achieve for any price in the tehnologically nuanced, high tech steam tables of today.  No one can do a great cut like you can, Mr. America!

FEEL THE BURN!

As any redblooded American Grillman will tell you when doing a steak – you can’t deliver a steak by manual or instructions. You have to feel the meat. Feel it cook. You just know its time.

Every cut is not the same. The American Grillman becomes one with the meat. With eye and knowledge of the hue of red – you just  know  by instinct when she’s done. Cooking is slowed down by moving the meats to the side off the heat to keep the American beauties warm

With the wife’s deft presentation, sweet potato fries, corn pudding, fresh beans and mushrooms without the sog of infrared glare, the Grillman’s natural art relegates the indoor steak out of the taste sweepstakes.

Gentlemen, start your grils and   fire up to get that taste of summer you cannot get in any indoor steakhouse no matter how much you pay.

And–gas grills, are you kidding me?

Only charcoal does it the American Way!