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 FBI WIRE From the Federal Bureau of Investigation. June 6, 2011:

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ERIC S. LIPKIN, a former employee in the investment advisory business of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (“BLMIS”), pled guilty today to a six-count superseding information charging him with conspiracy, falsifying books and records of a broker-dealer, falsifying books and records of an investment adviser, bank fraud, and making false statements to facilitate a theft concerning the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). LIPKIN also agreed to cooperate with the government in its ongoing investigation of BLMIS. LIPKIN pled guilty in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge LAURA TAYLOR SWAIN.

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

LIPKIN was employed by BLMIS from the mid-1980s through December 11, 2008, when the firm collapsed. In 1996, LIPKIN and his co-conspirators, including, among others, FRANK DIPASCALI, DANIEL BONVENTRE, ANNETTE BONGIORNO, JOANN CRUPI, JEROME O’HARA, and GEORGE PEREZ, began falsifying the books and records at BLMIS. For instance, LIPKIN, working with other co-conspirators, created fraudulent account statements detailing the account values of several investment advisory (“IA”) accounts at BLMIS. LIPKIN also prepared letters and statements setting out fake holdings purportedly held in multiple BLMIS IA accounts.

Further, in connection with reviews by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and a European accounting firm, LIPKIN, DIPASCALI, BONVENTRE, CRUPI, O’HARA, PEREZ, and other co-conspirators created false and fraudulent BLMIS books and records as well as false documents purportedly obtained from third parties in the ordinary course of business at BLMIS. For example, LIPKIN and others created fake reports purportedly obtained by the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”). These fake reports purported to show the securities holdings of BLMIS IA clients when, in fact, these holdings did not exist. LIPKIN knew the purpose of these fake DTC reports was to mislead auditors.

LIPKIN was also responsible for processing the payroll and administering the 401(k) plan at the firm, as well as preparing and maintaining internal payroll records. During his tenure at BLMIS, and at the direction of other co-conspirators, including BONVENTRE, LIPKIN created false BLMIS books and records reflecting individuals who did not actually work at the firm. He was aware that there were individuals who did not work for the firm, but who nevertheless received salaries and benefits. Furthermore, LIPKIN included a number of fake employees in the total number of employees that he reported to the DOL.

LIPKIN, 37, of New Jersey, faces a statutory maximum sentence of 70 years in prison. A chart outlining the statutory maximum sentences for each of the charged offenses is attached. He is also subject to mandatory restitution and criminal forfeiture and faces criminal fines up to twice the gross gain or loss derived from his crimes. Pursuant to the cooperation agreement entered into with the government, LIPKIN will forfeit at least $1.4 million as well as his interest in his home and various investment accounts. The net proceeds from the sale of the forfeited property will be used to compensate victims of the fraud.

LIPKIN was released on a $2.5 million bond on the condition that the bond be co-signed by seven financially responsible individuals and secured by $800,000 in cash and property. In addition, LIPKIN’s travel is restricted to the District of Connecticut, the District of New Jersey, and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. He will be subject to strict pretrial supervision. LIPKIN has surrendered his passport. A sentencing control date is set for December 15, 2011, at 11:00 a.m.

DIPASCALI previously pled guilty to several charges in connection with the fraud that occurred at BLMIS and is cooperating with the government in its ongoing investigation. Charges against BONGIONRO, BONVENTRE, CRUPI, O’HARA, and PEREZ remain pending and are merely accusations. They are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Mr. BHARARA praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of Labor Rackeetering and Fraud Investigations of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. He also thanked the SEC for their assistance.

This case was brought in coordination with President BARACK OBAMA’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, on which Mr. BHARARA serves as a co-hair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group. President OBAMA established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

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.

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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR Roving Photographer. June 5, 2011:

 Two representatives of “The Church Visitors”, Martha Conte and Nick Mottern greeted worshippers between the Trinity Lutheran Church and the Baptist Church on North Street and Bryant this morning with a most unusual and ominous prop. They were asked to leave by Trinity Luthern Church representatives.

The prop was A miniature model of an MQ-9  Reaper Drone, used by the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya and Yemen. The objective said Mr. Mottern was to encourage churches and their congregations to take an active public opposition to the five war operations the U.S. is currently conducting. Mottern gave the Roving Photographer a news release saying he has been visiting churches around the county for three years without success in galvanizing religious opposition to the U.S. efforts.

Mottern told WPCNR he made the drone himself to protest its role in enabling the U.S. to make attacks in nations to conduct assassinations in violation of international law.

Mottern’s literature said, “The Reaper is an unmanned killer aircraft used for assassination of suspected enemies, a violation of international law. It is execution without due process and carries with it all the problems of the death penalty….has a history of misidentifying targets, leading to the killing women and children and non-combatant men.”

One of the advantages of the Reaper, Motten notes is it is flown by pilots thousands of miles from the war zones, and is “perfect for out of sight and out of mind wars.”

After WPCNR was finished speaking to Mr. Mottern, persons from the church approached Mr. Mottern and asked him to leave. An hour later, he and Ms. Conte were gone.

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Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA stated: “This office takes violations of the United States’ trade embargo with Iran very seriously. Reza Safarha employed a form of financial legerdemain to circumvent the embargo, and added insult to injury by doing this to conceal what he believed were the proceeds from the sale of stolen property.”

According to the indictment, the evidence at trial, and Judge SULLIVAN’s public findings:

The Iran Trade Embargo, begun by Executive Order in 1995, prohibits U.S. citizens from supplying goods, services, or technology to Iran or the government of Iran. Restricted services include money transmitting services. The Embargo also prohibits any transaction by any United States person or any transaction within the United States that evades or avoids, or has the purpose of evading or avoiding, any prohibition set forth in the Embargo. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) imposes criminal sanctions for violations of the Iran Trade Embargo.

From 2007 to 2008, SAFARHA, 56, a joint United States-Iranian citizen and resident of New York City, provided money transmitting services to Iran by participating in the operation of a “hawala,” a type of informal value transfer system in which money does not physically cross international boundaries through the banking system. In the hawala system, funds are transferred by customers to a hawala operator—also known as a “hawaladar”—or his agent in one country, and corresponding funds are disbursed to recipients in another country by hawaladar associates on that end.

SAFARHA used the hawala network to send wire transfers totaling approximately $300,000 to and from individuals located in, among other places, Iran and the United States. The money laundering conviction arose from SAFARHA’s belief that some of the money he was transferring to Iran using the hawala system was the proceeds of the sale of stolen property, specifically stolen computers and other electronic goods. In fact, the money was the property of the U.S. government, at least $10,000 of which SAFARHA stole and did not transfer to Iran.

In addition to his prison term, Judge SULLIVAN sentenced SAFARHA to two years’ supervised release and imposed a $500 special assessment. Judge SULLIVAN also signed an order imposing a forfeiture money judgment on SAFARHA in the amount of $300,000, which will be deemed satisfied if SAFARHA pays $56,845.89 on or before September 2, 2011.

Mr. BHARARA praised the work of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in conducting the investigation.

This case is being handled by the office’s Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys JUSTIN S. WEDDLE and MICHAEL FERRARA are in charge of the prosecution.

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WPCNR BODY & SOUL. June 2, 2011:

White Plains Hospital  announced the winners of their hospital wide employee Biggest Loser weight loss contest Tuesday, saluting the Day Shift “Fun Buns” team of Carissa, Michelle, Dena and Shannon who lost 8% of their total body weight in 8 weeks over the 3-month Weight Loss Contest; and  ICU Critical Mass (Joan of White Plains, Andrea, Jean and Tanisha who lost 4% of their body weight in 6 weeks.

Ed Aquino, lost the most weight, 16.5% in a White Plains Hospital weight loss program that really works. He was saluted as “The Biggest Loser.” With him at left, WPH Chairman Mike Divney; to his left, Susan Liller of the hospital, and WPH CEO Jon Schandler. 3,000 Delicious Apples are being donated to the School District to promote “healthy snacking,” in the schools and to celebrate the 1,000 pounds lost by hospital employees.

Mike Divney, Chairman of White Plains Hospital Medical Center and its Chief Executive Officer, Jon Schandler introduced the winning teams and Mr. Aquino. They announced the 100 hospital employees participating in the contest had lost a total of 1,000 pounds, and in recognition of this effort that combined nutrition advice, walking exercise, and coaching, the hospital was donating 1,000 pounds red Delicious Apples to the White Plains City School District.

The Fun Buns– Winning Team–lost 8% of their body weight in 8 weeks

ICU MASS — LOSERS OF 4% OF THEIR BODY WEIGHT IN 6 WEEKS.

Jessica O’Donovan, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction and Michele Schoenfeld, Clerk to the Board of Education were on hand to accept the over 3,000 apples that would begin to be available in 8 school cafeterias this week in the district, Schoenfeld said.

Mr. Divney read several coments from employees about the contest, one was particularly insightful: “The Biggest Loser Contest helped me develop a more positive way of life.”

Divney said the program was designed to help people become more healthy  “because we don’t want you in our hospital.”

Susan Liller Director of  Occupational Health Services, said the hospital would be glad to discuss how to set up a Biggest Loser  Contest  and learn more about the hospital’s Wellness as a Way of Life program by calling (914) 681-1119

Over the last three months, teams of four weighed in every Friday, working towards the highest percentage of weight loss, combined. Participating staff members were given pedometers to encourage and track walking, received weekly newsletters that offered tips to stay on task, received free weekly yoga classes and could join group walking excursions through White Plains. The members of the two winning teams receive three-month memberships to New York Sports Clubs.

Aquino said the contest helped him lose weight because it was not just an appearance motivator.It affected his whole mindset. Through the hospital coaching, nutrition advice, and walking exercises, the Biggest Loser Contest got him into making health a habit.

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WPCNR STARS AND STRIPES. Contributed by Carl Albanese. May 30, 2011:

Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

“Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.” — General Logan – May 5, 1868

 We need to remember with sincere respect those who paid the price for our freedoms; we need to keep in sacred remembrance those who died serving their country. We need to never let them be forgotten. However, over the years the original meaning and spirit of Memorial Day has faded from the public consciousness.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping” by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication “To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead” (Source: Duke University’s Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920).

While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860’s tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states.

The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 – 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis’ birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.