WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. Special to WPCNR from County Roving Correspondent Nancy King. November 28, 2011:

Approximately 700 people attended the Westchester County Board of Legislators informational meeting  last Tuesday to hear how the proposed cuts included in County Executive Rob Astorino’s 2012 might affect them.  

The 2012, 1.69 billion dollar budget will eliminate 367 jobs with 210 through layoffs and the rest through attrition.   In addition, there are proposed deep cuts for non-profits, cultural arts, child care subsidies, and community health centers.  Astorino also proposes closing down six nature centers and eliminating the curators of those centers .  

In the matter of those nature centers however and their one and a half curator, the CE’s office failed to tell the public is that some of those nature preserves not only provide trails but are a part of our already vulnerable reservoir system.  These nature centers typically employ one full-time employee and one parttime employee who in addition to their curator duties, act as liasons for the state Department of Environmental Protection.   They are the eyes and ears of watershed safety.  The CE’s office also failed to inform residents that those very nature trails receive matching state monies and in shutting them down will result in the loss of those funds.

Representatives from three community health centers also spoke out against the loss of their grants.  In an already blighted economy, these health centers are seeing more and more people who once they had lost their jobs and with it their health benefits, are turning to community health centers for their  medical needs. 

Also cut from the budget were a wide variety of cultural events ranging from the Sunday Heritage Days at the Kensico Dam to the annual Fourth of July Fireworks.  Cornell Cooperative Extensions and ArtsWestchester will also sustain deep cuts to their funding.

The Astorino administration’s plan is not to raise taxes but at this point it does seem as if programs and services  are going to suffer greatly.  

What was evident last Tuesday night was that public interest in this budget has certainly grown in light of this already fragile economy.   And in an auditorium of 700 people, not one person there was in favor of this budget.  Two more public forums are scheduled for the month of December.  The Westchester County Board of Legislators has until December 27^th to adopt this budget.

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The Holiday Maker

Everything has to be just right

She gets out her cook books the previous night.

Makes copious notes putting together the special day

That remembers the passings of our lives’ way.

The little dynamo proceeds not to be disturbed.

Selecting the keepsakes collected laying undisturbed

Appropriate to the special holiday symbols turning cloudy days to sunnies

From reindeer, to turkeys to Easter Bunnies

No nonsense, no hanging around the kitchen door

No licking bowls, no sampling the dough.

Rules on cooking day were strict and violations were scolded,

As each holiday production unfolded

Trips to markets; journeys to gift shops to flower shops,

She sought to round out menus just right, her holidays were never flops.

As enticing baking aromas filled the old homeplace,

Pesky kitties, furred and human hung about curious at ritual taking place.

Bustling about, red hair frizzed from heat,

Toothpicks ever handy to sample a crust neat,

Rescue strategies to save a sticky cake stubborn in its pan

Always ready to be deployed, she executed with love her holiday plan.

The long holiday table, old leaves stained with memories past,

Long since needing replacing but host to gatherings that still last

In memory as children grow up and leave

Awaited its annual set on holiday eve.

As turkey,ham, lamb, squash,taters, yams beans and sprouts simmered

Old dining room and parlor with seductions of the palate shimmered,

She would lay a clean tablecloth, set candles and deploy

The talismans of the season, the sleigh of holiday cards, the gay bunnies’ joy.

As children grown return to the homeplace,

Uncles and nieces, nephews and cousins, brothers and sisters took their place,

The holiday maker, presided over a reality of love, a feast

Renewing love for one another anew.

I miss the holiday makers, those hostesses of love’s reality

The old homeplace with antiques and sagging old armchair

That would say, come on in, stranger you’re always loved here.

Enjoy the hearty fare and tastes seasoned unique with love’s sincerity.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From the Westchester County Police. November 23, 2011:

A special task force of federal, Westchester County and local law enforcement officers has arrested five people in connection with an ATM skimming scheme that resulted in $1 million in fraud in multiple Westchester communities.

The five suspects were arrested in recent weeks by a multi-agency ATM Skimming Task Force made up of police officers from the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Secret Service and nine local police departments in Westchester. The task force is continuing its investigation into a number of additional ATM skimming cases.

     Public Safety Commissioner George N. Longworth created the task force following incidents of ATM skimming fraud that were occurring around Westchester.  Along with the county police and U.S. Secret Service, the Pelham, Rye, Greenburgh, Bronxville and Yorktown police departments assigned officers to the task force.

“This is a large-scale fraud being perpetrated by a sophisticated group of thieves,” Longworth said. “We decided to bring together some of the best and brightest investigators from multiple agencies to address this problem.”

     County Executive Robert P. Astorino praised the work of the task force and said it reinforced the benefits of partnership and teamwork among Westchester’s law enforcement community. He also urged consumers to be especially alert to fraud during the upcoming holiday shopping season.

     “Whether it is ATM skimming or other schemes, criminals are always looking for ways to take advantage of shoppers during the busy holiday season,” he said. “The police are working hard to stay ahead of criminals but shoppers need to be vigilant as well. Suspicious activity should be reported to local or county police.”

    In the ATM skimming fraud, thieves attached a device known as a “dip reader” over the legitimate device installed on ATMs for customers to insert their ATM, debit or credit cards. The “dip reader,” which appears identical to the legitimate device and fits over it, then captures all the information contained on a bank card’s magnetic strip.

     The thieves also install a pinhole camera above the ATM key pad to capture the customer’s personal identification number (PIN).

     With the information from the magnetic strip and the PIN, the thieves are then able to withdraw cash from their victims’ bank accounts.

     “Thieves using an ATM skimmer and pinhole camera obtained the full information from 350 customers on a recent Sunday at a single bank ATM.  They later withdrew $1,000 from each victim’s account – resulting in $350,000 in loses on a single day,” Longworth said.

     Noting that thieves need both the magnetic strip information and the PIN, Astorino said bank customers could protect themselves by taking simple precautions.

     “When you type in your PIN, use your other hand to shield the keypad and block the view of any hidden camera that may be there,” he said.  He also urged customers to be aware of people standing behind them who may be trying to watch them type their PIN.

          The five people arrested recently were each charged with Criminal Possession of Forgery Devices, a felony. They are:

·        Richard Merca, 19, of Palatine, Ill., who was arrested Nov. 13 in connection with an attempted skimming fraud at a bank inside the Jefferson Valley Mall in Yorktown Heights;

·        Victor Vdila, 21, of Astoria, Queens, who was arrested Oct. 16 in connection with an attempted skimming fraud at a bank on Central Park Avenue in Yonkers;

·        Istvan Casplar, 29, and Florinel Gavat, 40, both of Astoria, Queens, who were arrested Oct. 23 in connection with an attempted skimming fraud at a bank on East Hartsdale Avenue in Greenburgh.

·        Ionut Vasilas, 23, of Chicago was arrested Nov. 6 in connection with an attempted skimming fraud at a bank on South Broadway in Tarrytown.

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. November 22, 2011 UPDATED NOVEMBER 23, 2011:

Adam Bradley, former Mayor of White Plains who resigned in February of this year, after being convicted in December, 2010 of attempted assault on his wife, Fumiko Bradley appeared in City Court Wednesday and pled not guilty to a charge of contempt of court in the second degree for violating his probation conditions where he was instructed not to contact his wife. City Judge Brian Hansbury allowed Bradley to stay free on bail in his own recognizance until his return date of December 12. 

Bradley allegedly called his wife four times by contacting her, he said accidentally with his cellphone which dialed his wife inadvertently.

The specific complaint refers to only one call on November 12. The District Attorney’s Office asked Bradley be held on $10,000 bail until his next court appearance,December 13.

Bradley turned himself last Friday evening at 7  P.M.at White Plains Police Headquarters after his whereabouts was unknown throughout Friday, sparking two White Plains police searches (authorized by court-obtained search warrants) of premises of acquaintances Bradley knows, in hopes that Bradley was there.

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WPCNR FBI WIRE. Special to WPCNR From the Federal Bureau of Investigation. November 21, 2011:

David L. Kugel, a former senior trader in the Market Making and Proprietary Trading operations of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS), pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court to a six-count superseding information related to his conduct while employed at BLMIS, announced Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Kugel admitted that, beginning in the early 1970s, he helped create fake, backdated trades for the purpose of defrauding BLMIS’s investment advisory (IA) clients. Kugel pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain to two counts of conspiracy, as well as substantive counts of securities fraud, falsifying books and records of a broker-dealer, falsifying books and records of an investment adviser, and bank fraud. In addition to pleading guilty, Kugel agreed to cooperate with the government in its ongoing investigation of the fraud that occurred at BLMIS.

According to the superseding Information, plea agreement and other documents filed in connection with the case:

Kugel was employed at BLMIS from 1970 through Dec. 11, 2008. Beginning in 1970, Kugel was a trader in BLMIS’s Proprietary Trading and Market Making operations. In the late 1990s, he assumed a managerial position on the trading floor and later took on the role of “trading floor compliance analyst.”

From the 1970s through the collapse of BLMIS, Kugel provided historical trade information to other BLMIS employees, including Annette Bongiorno and Joann Crupi, which allegedly enabled them to create fake trades. Beginning in the early 1970s, Kugel provided certain historical information to Bongiorno so that she could select particular stocks and purchase prices to be used for each IA client, in order to meet the rate of return pre-determined by Bernard Madoff for that client.

The information that Kugel provided included stock names; the buy and sell dates of potential trades; as well as the historical price ranges of those stocks for the respective dates that Bongiorno could allegedly use to make a profit. Kugel’s information often mimicked trades previously executed in connection with BLMIS’s proprietary trading operation.

Beginning in the early 1990s, Kugel similarly provided Crupi with historical price information to enable her to allegedly create false, backdated trades for IA clients. These false, backdated trades were used to defraud IA clients because, when included on their account statements and trade confirmations, they gave the appearance of profitable trading when none, in fact, had occurred.

In addition, Kugel, and allegedly Crupi and others, defrauded numerous banks by using false financial information to obtain loans. On multiple occasions, Kugel and allegedly Crupi, submitted false and misleading information to banks concerning Kugel’s assets and the assets of others, in order to obtain loans for the purchase and construction of homes. With the assistance of Crupi and others, Kugel obtained multiple million-dollar loans based on the submission of this fraudulent information.

Kugel, 66, faces a total statutory maximum sentence of 85 years in prison. A chart identifying the maximum penalties for each of the charged offenses is attached to this release.

Kugel is also subject to mandatory restitution and criminal forfeiture and faces criminal fines up to twice the gross gain or loss derived from the offense. According to the agreements entered into with the government, Kugel has agreed to forfeiture of more than $170 billion, including his interests in homes, a luxury car, various accounts at financial institutions and other specific assets. The net proceeds from the sale of the forfeited property will be used to compensate victims of the fraud, consistent with applicable Department of Justice regulations.

Following the guilty plea, Judge Swain released Kugel on a $3 million bond on the condition that the bond be co-signed by six financially responsible individuals and secured by $900,000 in cash and property. In addition, Kugel’s travel is restricted to the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey. He will be subject to strict pretrial supervision. Kugel has surrendered his passport.

Judge Swain set a sentencing date for Kugel of May 4, 2012, at 11:00 a.m.

Charges against Bongiorno and Crupi remain pending and are merely accusations. They are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the FBI. He also thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its assistance.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lisa A. Baroni, Julian J. Moore, Arlo Devlin-Brown, Barbara A. Ward and Matthew L. Schwartz are in charge of the prosecution.

United States v. David L. Kugel, S4 10 Cr. 228 (LTS)