Queens has reached a level of grand larcenies not seen in 30 years

NY Post 

Queens is being hit hard by a dramatic surge in thefts this year — almost topping levels not seen since the NYPD started compiling statistics decades ago — and business owners are calling on cops to step up.

As of last Sunday, the borough had recorded 1,236 grand larcenies in 2022, which is only a few dozen shy of the tally logged during the same period in 1993, the earliest for which records are available, when 1,326 major thefts occurred, a Post analysis of police data shows.

A store manager of JMart on Main Street in Flushing told The Post his store loses up to $2,000 on any given day.

“I’ve never seen it like this before,” the manager, Lee said. “Maybe it’s the pandemic. It’s bad. Before you’d have one or two [ shoplifters] per week but now it’s like almost every day.”

This year’s tally is more than double what it was in the same time period last year and more than 40 percent over what it was two years ago. It’s also 75 percent more than 12 years ago. 

While grand larcenies have been up citywide, with police data showing a more than 60 percent uptick from last year and a 6 percent increase from pre-pandemic times, businesses owners in just a few Queens neighborhoods have been disproportionately hit harder.

Nearly half of the major thefts in the borough have been recorded in only three of the county’s 16 patrol areas.

Ex-con mortgage broker and his sister opens up immigration legal aid firm

 

Queens Eagle

A once-influential TV personality who was jailed for ripping off South Asian immigrants in a mortgage fraud and identity theft scheme has started a new endeavor: immigrant legal service provider.

Jacob Milton, who hosted a TV show geared toward Queens’ Bangladeshi community, and his sister Nira Niru operate International Legal Services LLC, a legal services provider that conducts free consultations and connects clients with attorneys specializing in immigration, civil and criminal law, according to the company website.

Milton pleaded guilty to grand larceny in 2008 after using his influence in the Bangladeshi community and position as a mortgage broker at the Jackson Heights firm Griffin Mortgage to steal clients’ identities, apply for mortgages worth more than $1 million and rack up credit card bills totaling more than $15,700 in the victims’ names.

“In four instances, the victims declined to proceed with their applications, stating they were too expensive,” said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown after Milton was first arraigned in October 2017. “Little did they suspect how much money their trip to the mortgage company would actually cost them.”

Milton was also charged with additional counts of identity theft and spent more than three years in prison.

Niru, his sister, worked as his secretary at Griffin Mortgage and was also charged in the fraud and identity theft scheme.

Firefighter and wife lied about Sandy damage

From CBS:

An FDNY firefighter and his wife stood accused Monday of lying to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to collect thousands of dollars in Superstorm Sandy benefits.

As CBS2’s Ali Bauman reported, 12-year FDNY veteran Christopher Poje, 43, and his wife, Margaret, 39, walked out of court in Queens after their arraignment Monday afternoon,

Christopher and Margaret Poje both face grand larceny charges, while Margaret Poje also faces forgery charges.

Fraudulent contractor sent to jail

From the Times Ledger:

A Long Island building contractor has entered a guilty plea to defrauding Queens and Long Island homeowners and leaving a trail of unfinished home improvement projects, the Queens district attorney said.

“The defendant has pleaded guilty to having defrauded homeowners out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by taking money for construction and renovation work without finishing much of the work,” said DA Richard Brown.

Brown identified the defendant as Derrick Burrell, 49, also known as James Gray, of Saint Marks Avenue in Rockville Centre, LI, who worked under the name “A Team Property Service.”

He said Burrell pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny and scheme to defraud before Queens Supreme Court Justice Barry Kron, who said he would sentence Burrell to an indeterminate term of 1½ to 4½ years July 20.

The DA said Burrell entered into a contract with nearly a dozen Queens and Long Island residents between February 2009 and July 2015, accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments and leaving residents with unfinished or never-started projects.

Gangs going high tech

From the Epoch Times:

The Van Dyke Money Gang in New York made off with more than $1.5 million this year—but it wasn’t in gunpoint robberies or drug running, it was a Western Union money order scheme. In New Jersey, 111 Neighborhood Crips used a machine to make dozens of fake gift cards for supermarkets, pharmacies and hardware stores. In South Florida, gangs steal identities to file false tax returns.

These aren’t members of an organized Mafia or band of hackers. They’re street crews and gangs netting millions in white-collar schemes like identity theft and credit card fraud—in some instances, giving up the old ways of making an illicit income in exchange for easier crimes with shorter sentences.

“Why would you spend time on the street slinging crack when you can get 10 years under federal minimums when in reality you can just bone up on how to make six figures and when you get caught you’re doing six months?” said Al Pasqual, director of fraud security at the consulting firm Javelin Strategy and Research.

Law enforcement officials say they see increasingly more gangs relying on such crimes. This year, more than three dozen suspected crew members have been indicted in separate cases around the country. Grand larcenies in New York City account for 40 percent of all crime last year—compared with 28 percent in 2001. About 5 percent of Americans nationwide have experienced some kind of identity theft, with Florida leading the country in complaints.

NYPD cop charged with stealing house

From NBC:

A 45-year-old NYPD officer has been indicted on multiple felony counts, including grand larceny, for allegedly forging a deed to a home in Brooklyn and stealing the property from the rightful owner.

Blanche O'Neal, 45, assigned to the 83rd precinct, allegedly submitted a deed in July 2012 indicating she had bought a property on Vernon Avenue for $10,000. The deed said she purchased the property from Colie Gallman, Jr., the sole heir of Lillian Hudson, who had owned the property before she died.

About three years later, O'Neal called authorities to report someone had transferred her property to a corporate entity without her permission and alleged she was the victim of deed fraud. O'Neal told detectives she had won a $5,000,000 lawsuits against the estate and was awarded the home as part of a settlement from the person she claimed was the sole heir, Colie Gallman.

As part of their investigation into O'Neal's allegation, detectives began looking into the deed transfers on the property going back to the ownership of Lillian Hudson. They determined the deed filed by O'Neal was fraudulent, according to prosecutors.

Fraudulent contractor busted

From the Queens Courier:

A Flushing contractor has been charged with scamming $10,000 in down payments from Queens homeowners for work he never performed, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.

Alfred Lakas, 57, allegedly took money from three homeowners for air-conditioning and other work to be done at their residences which he failed to do, and did not return any of the money. Lakas, who operates Al’s Heating on 172nd Street in Flushing, is also being charged with misrepresenting himself as being licensed to do the work, although he is not.

Lakas was arraigned on Tuesday before Queens Criminal Court Judge John Zoll on ten counts, charging him with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and scheme to defraud, among other offenses.

He was ordered to be held on $5,000 bail, and will return to court on Sept. 15. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.

According to Brown, Lakas is accused of misrepresenting himself as a licensed professional to perform air-conditioning, heating, and other contracting work from February 2012 to June 2015. His complaining victims are three homeowners respectively from South Ozone Park, Douglaston-Little Neck and Kew Gardens.

Crime on the rise before summer kicks off

From DNA Info:

Serious crime increased in three-quarters of the city's neighborhoods last month as New York heads into a summer that may be long, hot and violent, DNAinfo New York has learned.

Fifty-seven of the city's 76 NYPD precincts reported spikes in serious crime during a four-week period ending May 24 compared to the previous four weeks, according to NYPD statistics compiled on a new DNAinfo crime mapping system.

The other 19 precincts reported overall crime remained steady or declined during the period, compared to the previous month.

While it has long been police lore that crime rises with warmer weather, the trend is even more disturbing because it is not confined to the two eye-catching categories — murder and shootings — that Mayor Bill de Blasio and police brass have blamed on localized gang activities.

Serious crime includes rape, robbery, assault, burglary, grand larceny and auto theft.

JFK workers busted for stealing from luggage

From CBS 2:

Seven John F. Kennedy International Airport baggage handlers were arrested Wednesday, on allegations that they stole out of travelers’ luggage.

As Dick Brennan reported, CBS2 got an exclusive look at the loot that baggage handlers were allegedly taking for themselves. The items included cellphones, iPads, laptops, jewelry and other items worth a grand total of more than $20,000.

The items were taken from travelers’ checked luggage between March 2012 and June 2014, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said Wednesday.

“The defendants have been caught red handed and will now face the consequences of their alleged illegal acts,” said Brown.

“The defendants — who were hired to handle the baggage of those traveling in and out of Kennedy Airport — are alleged to have stolen computers, cell phones and other items from checked luggage with many of them selling the pilfered items to a pawn shop or to a ‘fence’ who was actually an undercover police officer,” Brown said.

The suspects are identified as Khaleed Maynard, 28, Sheldon Theodore, 22, and Ryan Phillips, 35, who worked for Swissport at Terminal 4; Levi Miller, 47, Romero Hendricks, 30, and Tihafade Esdaile, 29, who were employed by Aircraft Services International Group at Terminal 4; and Keston Austin, 31, who worked for G.S.I. at Terminal 7.

Each of the suspects face grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property charges, Brown said.

Con man tossed from stolen house by judge

From the Daily News:

A Queens judge on Wednesday denied a bid by an ex-con accused of stealing a 70-year-old woman’s house to stay in the home — and gave him 10 days to clear out.

Darrell Beatty, 49, was arrested on grand larceny and other charges last month for allegedly forging a deed to Jennifer Merin’s Laurelton home — and then moving into the three-bedroom house with his two sons and their pit bull.

As the Daily News first reported Tuesday, Beatty posted his bail Oct. 22 — and moved right back in.

Both Beatty and Merin were in Queens Housing Court on Wednesday for a hearing before Judge Inez Hoyos.

Hoyos had previously ordered Beatty out of the house, but the supposed squatter filed emergency court papers to stay there while he continued to fight the eviction.

FMCP still worst park in city for crime

From the Queens Chronicle:

With a recent holdup at the Queens Zoo and hot rodders speeding at a Meadow Lake parking lot, crime at Flushing Meadows Park has been in the spotlight lately.

But talk to Parks Department and NYPD officials and you’d never know that Queens’ premier greenspace has been rated the worst for crime out of 30 parks throughout the city.

Since earlier this year, the NYPD has been mandated to compile quarterly crime statistics on parks over one acre. That would total about 100, but Geoffrey Croft, who heads NYC Park Advocates, a city parks watchdog group, said the police are taking too long to add the 70 additional facilities. Nevertheless:

“Flushing Meadows, Central Park and Randall’s Island Park accounted for more than 60 percent of the crimes in all the parks,” Croft said. “They are mostly grand larceny and robbery.”

Deputy Inspector Ron Leyson, commanding officer of the 110th Precinct, which has the main jurisdiction of Flushing Meadows, explained that the grand larcenies include theft of valuables left in cars, unattended purses in public spaces and from lockers at the Aquatic Center.

He noted that year-to-date overall crime is down 13 percent in Flushing Meadows, although there has been a 6 percent increase in felonies — more serious crimes — usually involving assault.

One case involved an intoxicated man who assaulted a police officer during a game at Citi Field.

According to the NYPD park statistics, Flushing Meadows had 27 crimes in three months: two robberies, four felony assaults, 15 grand larcenies and six auto thefts.

College Point burglar at large

From NY1:

Police are searching for a man they say is responsible for dozens of burglaries in Queens.

Police say the suspect is behind 25 break-ins in College Point since March.

Investigators say he enters through the front or rear of the houses and makes off with jewelry, electronics and cash.

He's described as being between 170 and 180 pounds and was last seen wearing a green-hooded sweatshirt with a zipper in the front.

Investigators say so far he's stolen $12,000 dollars in cash and $3,000 worth of foreign currency.

Ex-DA Hynes in major hot water

From the Daily News:

Former Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes may have committed larceny by using funds seized from crooks to pay for his failed bid for reelection, a stunning investigation revealed Monday.

A scathing report by the city’s Department of Investigations said Hynes paid a consultant more than $200,000 — money that may have been seized from drug dealers and other felons — for political counsel.

He also allowed senior staffers to help in his reelection effort during their work hours, the report found.

The DOI probe revealed that Justice Barry Kamins — then Brooklyn’s administrative judge and now the state’s chief of policy and planning — gave Hynes improper advice about the campaign and pending criminal matters.

Kamins has been relieved of his duties, and the findings have been referred to several agencies, including the attorney general, officials said.

Since Hynes’s humiliating defeat in the election in the fall, his legacy was further tarnished with the release of multiple inmates who were wrongfully convicted of murder during his tenure and with revelations of alleged unlawful tactics employed by his office.
But the damning DOI report may be the most critical indictment to date.

Please hide your electronic devices

From the Wall Street Journal:

New York City became a much safer place in the past 12 years—unless you're the owner of an iPhone or iPad.

While the city saw dramatic decreases in most major crimes during the tenure of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, one category has remained nearly unchanged: grand larcenies.

One driving force, experts and police said, is thieves snatching cellphones and electronic devices—especially Apple AAPL +0.52% products. That type of crime is usually classified as grand larceny in the fourth degree, experts said.

Many of the thefts happen on public transportation, where most people are buried in their devices and aren't paying attention to their surroundings, said Joseph Giacalone, a retired New York Police Department detective. "It's easy pickings," he said.

The number of those crimes reported to police decreased about 1% when comparing 2002 figures to preliminary 2013 figures, according to data provided by the NYPD.

For those same years, which bookend Mr. Bloomberg's administration, murders decreased about 43%, robberies dropped about 30% and vehicular thefts decreased about 72%, according to the data. The number of grand larcenies has steadily increased each year since 2010, the data show.

Nationwide, grand larcenies are decreasing: There was a nearly 13% drop in the crime comparing 2002 and 2012 figures compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The trend in New York City is notable because it seemed to resist Messrs. Bloomberg's and Kelly's data-driven approach to crime reduction. A spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg pointed to past comments of the former mayor and NYPD officials saying that thefts of Apple devices play a major factor in the yearly number of grand larcenies.

Baggage handlers in trouble

From CBS New York:

The investigation began after El Al Airlines passengers sounded the alarm. Jewelry, computers, iPads, iPhones and more had disappeared from checked luggage.

The thefts amounted to tens of thousands of dollars over a five-month period and prompted the airline to root out an apparent ring of thieves that had inside access to luggage, CBS 2′s Dave Carlin reported Friday.

A camera placed inside the belly of a 747 led to the arrests of contract baggage workers Tristan Bredwood, Julio Salas, Oshaine Christie, Romaine Smith, Nikosi Cunningham, Dashawn Schooler, and Udhoo Doonauth, police said.

Video shows the suspects rifling through luggage and pocketing items on planes that were making regular flights between Kennedy Airport and Israel, according to prosecutors.

Astoria landlord in deep doo-doo

From DNA Info:

A Queens landlord was indicted Monday for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from prospective tenants for rent on apartments that were deemed uninhabitable after the space was illegally converted into a nine-family building, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.

Hinyoung Limtung, 55, is facing charges for allegedly pocketing $44,050 from would-be renters for apartments at 31-70 Crescent St., near Broadway, in Astoria — despite the fact that a vacate order had been issued at the property for unsafe and illegal conditions.

According to the Queens DA, the Department of Buildings had issued the vacate order in December of 2012 after an inspection found the two-family building had been illegally converted into a five-family building, and that the first and second floors had no sprinkler system and no secondary means of egress.

A second inspection of the building in February of 2013 found tenants still living at site, despite the vacate order, and that the property had been illegally converted again, this time into a nine-family dwelling, the Queens DA said.

Officials say Limtung collected rent from 10 prospective tenants between December 2012 and April 2013, despite the vacate order.

Astoria scammer in the slammer

From the Queens Courier:

An Astoria landlord has been charged with taking thousands of dollars from potential tenants after posting a Craigslist listing for an apartment and room at his home that were never vacant.

According to a criminal complaint, Mario Lalicata, also known as Mario Lamagra, posted a rental listing on Craigslist for a basement apartment or room at his 48th Street home in Astoria. Between March 23 and August 13, Lalicata allegedly took security deposits ranging from $500 to $2,000 from prospective tenants and collected first month’s rent in two cases. Afterwards, as the move-in dates got closer, Lalicata allegedly suspended the moves after making up numerous excuses. When the tenants tried asking for their money back, the landlord allegedly promised to return the money or said the money was being used for repairs. Lalicata allegedly then stopped answering and returning the tenants’ calls.

On August 13, Lalicata was arraigned on a 22-count criminal complaint with ten counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, two counts of first-degree scheme to defraud and ten counts of petit larceny.

Another head connected to Huntley rolls

From the Daily News:

The president of a Queens, N.Y., nonprofit with ties to former state Sen. Shirley Huntley was charged Tuesday with stealing more than $85,000 in taxpayer money.

Van Holmes, head of the Young Leaders Institute in Laurelton, pocketed the cash between March 2007 and September 2012 after creating dozens of bogus records claiming reimbursements for overnight youth trips that never happened and job mentor programs that didn't exist, authorities said. He allegedly used the money to buy clothes and theater tickets and to get work done on his car.

The stolen cash was allegedly directed to Holmes' charity by Huntley and other City Council members.

Huntley is headed to prison this month after pleading guilty to charges that she looted nonprofits she controlled.

Holmes, who surrendered Tuesday morning, was arraigned on charges of grand larceny and falsifying business records. He pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance.

If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Flushing Meadows is 2nd most dangerous park in City

From Eyewitness News:

Crime statistics over the last four years from the NYPD and compiled by the Park Advocates revealed the five parks with the highest number of incidents:

Central Park had 649 serious crimes, including 13 rapes and 415 grand larcenies.

Flushing Meadows had 387 serious crimes including five rapes and 40 robberies.

Prospect Park had 192 serious crimes including two murders and 92 robberies.

Riverside Park had 194 serious crimes including five rapes and 95 robberies.

And, Crotona Park had 102 serious crimes including 14 assaults and three rapes.

Food fraud charges for senior center founder

From CBS New York:

The founder of the United Hindu Cultural Council Senior Center was arrested Monday and charged with stealing more than $50,000, allegedly by filing false invoices for lunches that were never served.

Chan Jamoona, who also serves on the Queens General Assembly and on numerous boards and leadership roles in New York City, was arrested Monday morning at her Ozone Park, Queens, home.

She was charged with grand larceny in excess of $50,000, falsifying business records, and conspiracy, 1010 WINS reported.

An investigation by the city Department of Investigation and the New York State Attorney General’s office found numerous fraudulent transactions involving Jamoona, 66, according to a news release.

Jamoona allegedly was involved in a scheme where fraudulent invoices from the senior center were sent to the city Department for the Aging for lunches that were never actually served to seniors at the center, the Attorney General’s office release said.

Also charged were Jamoona’s daughter – Veda Jamoona; and Steven Rajukumar, owner of Sonny’s Roti Shop, which provided food to the senior center, the release said.

Authorities said from 2004 until 2010, Jamoona ordered a senior center employee to make false entries on the lunch sign-in sheets, and offered to put together false invoices that would result in higher payments to the Sonny’s Roti Shop, the publication reported. Rajukumar agreed to split the payments with Jamoona, the release said.

Veda Jamoona also allegedly created false invoices as part of the scheme, the release said.

One of those arrested works for John Liu.