The Attorney and His “Flips” – Do your Due Diligence Before Investing!

U.S. Attorneys » Eastern District of New York » NewsSHAREDepartment of JusticeU.S. Attorney’s OfficeEastern District of New York

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWednesday, January 27, 2021

Brooklyn Attorney Charged With Defrauding Real Estate Investors

Defendant Allegedly Misappropriated At Least $4 Million From His Victims

A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Shimon Rosenfeld, an attorney admitted to practice law in the State of New York since 1987, with defrauding multiple investors of at least $4 million by falsely claiming he was investing their funds in real estate opportunities.  Rosenfeld was arrested this morning and made his initial appearance this afternoon via videoconference before United States Chief Magistrate Judge Cheryl. L. Pollak.  The defendant was released on a $200,000 bond.

Seth D. DuCharme, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Patrick J. Freaney, Deputy Special Agent-in-Charge, United States Secret Service, New York Field Office (USSS), announced the charge.

“Through this alleged scheme, Rosenfeld abused his position as an attorney and betrayed his victims’ trust for his own selfish gain,” stated Acting United States Attorney DuCharme.  “Those who commit fraud, including lawyers, must be brought to justice, and this Office will continue to work tenaciously to ensure integrity in the practice of law.”

“As alleged, Rosenfeld solicited investments based on his stated intent to purchase various real estate and ‘flip’ it for substantial profit.  In reality, he didn’t buy any properties, so there were none to sell.  Rather, Rosenfeld used the money he received to make his own financial trades and investments. Today, we’ve flipped the script on him and held him accountable for his fraudulent actions,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney.

“The U.S. Secret Service remains dedicated to investigating those who commit financial fraud and would like to recognize the efforts of our law enforcement partners in helping bring them to justice,” stated USSS Deputy Special Agent-in-Charge Freaney. “This investigation exemplifies the success that law enforcement can achieve when working in a collaborative manner. In this instance, the defendant allegedly perpetrated a scheme to defraud and misappropriated funds from numerous victims for his own personal gain.”   

According to the complaint, between May 2014 and March 2018, Rosenfeld allegedly perpetrated a fraudulent scheme by soliciting and receiving approximately at least $4 million from various individuals (collectively, the “Victims”) based on fraudulent misrepresentations.  Specifically, Rosenfeld induced the Victims to invest their money with the defendant based, in part, on representations that he would purchase real estate and sell it to a prospective buyer at a higher price, also referred to as “flipping” the property.  Rosenfeld further told the Victims that he would split the profits from the real estate transactions with the Victims.  In reality, Rosenfeld misappropriated the investors’ money by directing the funds into bank accounts he controlled and using the money to trade securities out of his brokerage account. Rosenfeld falsely told the Victims that there were problems with the real estate transactions, such as title or appraisal issues, to explain why no properties had been purchased. 

If convicted of wire fraud, Rosenfeld faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment.  The charge in the complaint are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Business & Securities Fraud Section.  Assistant United States Attorney Hiral D. Mehta is in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

SHIMON ROSENFELD
Age:  59
Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 21-MJ-96Attachment(s): Download Rosenfeld ComplaintTopic(s): Financial FraudComponent(s): USAO – New York, EasternContact: John Marzulli United States Attorney’s Office (718) 254-6323

Brooklyn Attorney and $4M Real Estate Scam: Be Careful in Whom you Invest!

Brooklyn Attorney Charged In $4 Million Real Estate Scam: Feds

Shimon Rosenfeld is accused of using millions from real estate investors, including for a Crown Heights project, for his own trading.

BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn attorney who scammed real estate investors out of millions of dollars has been charged with wire fraud, prosecutors announced.

Shimon Rosenfeld, 59, was arrested Wednesday after a federal investigation into his years-long scheme, which included at least $4 million “investments” in properties in Crown Heights, Greenpoint and in Philadelphia, Pa., according to court documents.

Rosenfeld told at least four investors that he would put their money into real estate projects, but instead ended up using the money for his own trades out of a brokerage account, prosecutors said. He is charged with wire fraud and could face 20 years in prison if convicted.

“Through this alleged scheme, Rosenfeld abused his position as an attorney and betrayed his victims’ trust for his own selfish gain,” stated Acting United States Attorney Seth DuCharme. Those who commit fraud, including lawyers, must be brought to justice, and this Office will continue to work tenaciously to ensure integrity in the practice of law.”

To continue reading, click here.

Kings County Dems and 12 Hour Zoom Call Fiasco – More Votes Tallied Than Voters! And… These Guys Choose Judges

Kings County Democratic Committee Meeting – 12 Hours

“THE CORRUPTION IN THE BROOKLYN DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS LEGENDARY AND I THINK IT HAS NEVER, EVER BEEN WORSE THAN WHAT HAS HAPPENED TODAY. IT IS OUTRAGEOUS. YOU ARE HIDING THE RESULTS OF A VOTE THAT YOU KNOW YOU LOST. JUST COME CLEAN. YOU LOST!”

@ 8:25:23

Lost Messiah has been publishing articles for nearly 5 years as a labor of love, without the benefit of financial gains or advertising. The reason: WE DID NOT WANT TO BE BEHOLDEN, NOT TO POLITICS, NOT TO MONEY AND NOT TO HALF-TRUTHS OR MISPERCEPTIONS. Lost Messiah’s blogger needs your help defending a defamation lawsuit wherein the Plaintiffs are represented by partners at the law firm who are, in large part, responsible for choosing the judges who decide these cases. The case is about a lot more than just freedom of speech and press and the rulings could be used to set precedent going forward.

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Dear Reader:

You may ask why this is relevant. Well, the Kings County Democratic Committee largely decides who is given the opportunity to run for political, legislative and legal positions which include Judgeships, if they want to run on the Democratic ticket. Given the history of allegations of corruption, the lack of transparency and the lack of “full disclosure.” Something has to give.

Democrats generally win in Kings County, particularly on the judicial slate.

It should be clear to anyone reading this that if you control the legislative branch and the judicial branch of Kings County, New York, you control the county. If you are a leader in the KCDC, you have significant power in Kings County, power that is not illegal but highly political and may raise questions of conflicts of interest. If you are also head of the Bar Association, you are effectively a “Macher” – a Rainmaker, a god among men in Kings County.

Many of the people responsible for the decisions regarding who gets a political, legislative and judicial presence on a Democratic ticket are attorneys who practice in Kings County in the very same courtrooms, before judges whom they were responsible for choosing. They work with the same legislators in creating legislation, which includes but is not limited to the most recent “Granny Killer Immunities” that prevent nursing home owners from any liability for their acts, conducts and omissions which led to the death of thousands of nursing home patients. The list goes on and on. But these are the issues that grace the pages of this blog.

While the somewhat incestuous relationship between the members of the KCDC and those who they determine will sit on the elective slate has been going on for years, it is the opinion of this blogger that there is no way on this earth that victors from the slate can avoid feeling beholden to those who made certain that they were elected for their seats. This blogger contends that there is no way that legislators do not favor those who gave them their political place on the Democratic ticket, it would be highly surprising if judges did not feel beholden to those who seated them, if not uncomfortable with the backlash were they to rule unfavorably; and there is no way that the system is fair and just, not for litigants, not for residents of the county and not for the ordinary people who need a fair and just system.

To compound this binary relationship between attorney members of the Kings County Democratic Committee and the judges chosen to run for judicial office, the hierarchical placement of judges is also decided by the KCDC, and many of the judges have allegedly given the attorneys who got them seated a padded caseload of guardianship cases, housing cases, foreclosure cases and others for which an attorney is appointed and there is a lot of money to be made.

Lost Messiah leaves you with this final thought – something to munch on: it is the opinion of this blogger that the alleged corruption plays a role in the trajectory of many lawsuits, particularly where big money and power players are involved.

It is the opinion of this blogger that the seemingly incestuous relationship between party politics and judges in Kings County must change; so even an inkling of impropriety would be utterly unheard of.

ADDITIONAL READING:

‘LAUGHING STOCK OF THE CITY’: BK DEMS’ FIRST FULL VIRTUAL MEETING DEVOLVES INTO 13-HOUR ZOOM CALL FROM HELL

The false tally that counted 26 more votes than there are Brooklyn Democratic members during the virtual meeting on Dec. 16.

Judge blocks Brooklyn Democrats’ illegal power play

Brooklyn state Justice Edgar Walker ruled that party chairwoman Rodneyse Bichotte and the executive board violated election law by unilaterally appointing Democrats to newly created positions as well as other existing committee vacancies.

He nullified the 2,400 appointments.

There are 2,100 elected members on the county committee whose views were ignored, the judge said.

From The New York Post

“The Brooklyn Democratic Party has been abusing its power, undermining democracy, and violating the Election Law. It’s time for this to stop,” said Ali Najmi, the election lawyer who represented 11 plaintiffs in the case.

From The New York Post

Division Within Brooklyn Democratic Party Apparent As Former Party Boss Says “F—ing Progressives” Should Be Overcome

On Monday, the Kings County Democratic County Committee sued the state in Brooklyn federal court over the court order forcing the county committee to hold an organizational meeting, alleging that forcing the party to follow election law by holding a virtual meeting “restricts and limits their discretion in how to organize themselves,” and “infringes upon the party’s right to free association.” (The same day, however, the county committee sent a notice to members that a a virtual organizational meeting would move ahead on December 16th at noon).

The latest lawsuit comes after months of divisions—centered on members pushing for more inclusion within the party’s county committee—that intensified last week during heated discussions over recent rule changes. The most recent changes have resulted in accusations of a “power grab” among district leaders, leading Frank Seddio, the former party boss who still functions as a district leader, to say out loud what his critics have long accused him of doing:

“We need all of the county committee members we can get to overcome these fucking progressives when we have the meeting,” Seddio said at a December 2nd meeting.

From The Gothamist

“Is the Grand Rabbi Going to Be Responsible?” Covid-19 – Dov Hikind [VIDEO]

“In this case, it is the leadership in Satmar making this wedding.”

“They are literally endangering the lives of people.”

“What kind of Judaism is this?”

“This is beyond comprehension, beyond understanding.”

“It is not sanctifying G-d’s name. It is desecrating His name.”

Journalist at the Center of a Storm, His Public Service and Covid-19

theJC.com

Charedi reporter at centre of a storm

There are two men at the centre of the febrile Brooklyn street demonstrations by strictly Orthodox Jews, protesting against a coronavirus crackdown by the Democratic governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, and his mayoral colleague, Bill de Blasio.

One is homegrown local Harold “Heshy” Tischler, host of a populist pro-Trump radio programme, now facing a court case on charges of inciting a riot and unlawful imprisonment.

And the other, improbably, is a softly-spoken Orthodox Jew, Jacob Kornbluh, born and brought up in Stamford Hill, London and now a political reporter for the Jewish Insider website, a national Jewish publication rather than a Charedi, local, one.

Since the beginning of the pandemic — and Kornbluh himself fell victim to the disease early on — he has been one of the loudest voices calling for the strictly Orthodox community to observe the rules of masks and social distancing. He has lost both relatives and friends to the virus.

But last week matters turned ugly when a crowd of mainly young men and boys — apparently urged on by Tischler — turned on Kornbluh and began screaming “moiser” — “traitor” — in his face. Though there was no actual physical violence, Kornbluh, 39, requested and received a police escort to his home in the Brooklyn neighbourhood of Boro Park, where he lives with his wife and five children.

He and his family now have to deal with intimidation on the street and on social media, directed at Kornbluh for apparently “siding” with the mayor and the governor, and for pressing charges against Heshy Tischler. “As a reporter, I never want to be the story”, says Kornbluh, “I always want to be the one presenting the accurate facts, the government guidelines and so on. Unfortunately there’s so much misinformation and miscommunication”. He is as critical of the mayor and governor for “failure to reach out to the community and educate about the virus”, as he is of the community for flouting the regulations.

Public service is central to Kornbluh’s family. His father, Isaac, ran for local council in Stamford Hill and was one of the founders of the area’s Hatzolah and Shomrim groupings, forming tight bonds with police and hospital authorities. Jacob, the fifth of seven siblings, told a Haaretz webinar this week that his memories of home life included his father “being almost never there” on Shabbat or even seder night, because of being on call for emergencies. “My father was always pretty vocal about his core mission, to save lives”, Kornbluh told the JC, “that’s how I grew up, and that’s how I feel”.

To continue reading in theJC.com, click here.

Hershy Tischler defying social distancing and mask mandates

Covid-19 Cluster Crackdowns and Heshy Tischler

Heshy Tischler Confronts Jacob Kornbluh

NYC – “Test and Trace” – Covid-19 and NYC Partnerships

#NYCTestandTrace Corps partners @ParCare is in Crown Heights and Borough Park today to bring free and quick #COVID19 testing to the community. To find testing near you, call 212-COVID19 or visit https://t.co/M8ZZyvPp48. pic.twitter.com/XXID78MtZg

— NYC Health + Hospitals (@NYCHealthSystem) October 9, 2020

A “WOW” Moment – Covid-19 and the “Manhattan Jewish Experience”