Archives : witness tampering

NY Restaurant Owners Face Over 400 Charges

Owners of the Saigon Grill restaurants in Manhattan, New York have just been charged with over 400 counts of criminal acts, including fraud, minimum wage violations and witness tampering. Simon and Michelle Nget, the owners of the two trendy Asian eateries, have pled not guilty to all charges.

Details of the Ngets’ Alleged Crimes

According to authorities, the Ngets have committed a series of felonies over the past few years. Among their most prevalent crimes were violating minimum wage laws and creating false business documents.

In the upcoming trial, prosecutors plan on proving that:

• Many of the restaurants’ delivery men were obligated to work over 65 hours each week for less than $2 per hour, a rate that is less than half of New York’s minimum wage, $4.60, for tip-earning food service workers.
• Employees were forced to illegal pay fines when they violated restaurant policy.

While this can be a legitimate practice in particular circumstances, according to prosecutors, the Ngets’ so-called “policies” were absurd, and the associated fees were illegal and obscenely high. Between $20 and $200 would be deducted from workers’ paychecks upon policy violations.

In one notable example, the Ngets allegedly charged a worker for letting a door slam as he left the restaurant.

Defendants Charged With Class E Felonies

Along with these minimum wage violations, each defendant has also been indicted on the following Class E felonies:

• 151 charges of falsifying business records
• 127 counts of failing to keep records
• 46 counts of intentionally filing false information with a government office
• 45 charges of tampering with physical evidence
• 16 counts of accepting bribes
• 11 counts of failure to pay wages.

Defense lawyers for the Ngets have stated that none of the alleged charges is valid and that restaurant employees are lying about such criminal acts. Currently, Simon Nget is free on a $50,000 bail bond. Michelle Nget is free on a $20,000 bail bond.

(Source: New York Times)

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"America's Sheriff" Suspected of Corruption

Sheriff Michael Carona, 53, of Orange County, California was nicknamed “America’s Sheriff” about five years ago by CNN talk-show host Larry King. Carona’s time as “America’s Sheriff” may be coming to an end, however. Corona’s own criminal trial began Oct. 28 after being indicted for fraud and corruption. His charges include:

• Conspiracy
• Mail fraud
• Witness tampering

His wife, Deborah Carona, is also charged with conspiracy and will be tried separately. Carona’s alleged mistress, Debra Hoffman, a lawyer, is charged with conspiracy, bankruptcy fraud and mail fraud; she will stand trial with Carona. Sheriff Carona was in his third term when he was indicted; he stepped down to concentrate on his legal defense.

$700,000 in Bribes

The federal prosecutors’ case against Carona accuses him of accepting cash, gifts, questionable loans and kickbacks amounting to nearly $700,000 in exchange for political favors. Many of the bribes came from Newport Beach businessman Don Haidl, who was made an assistant sheriff by Carona. Haidl agreed to become an undercover informant for the government last year.

Secret Recordings of Conversations

Conversations that were secretly recorded by one of Carona’s former assistant sheriffs, George Jaramillo, are expected to play a major role in the prosecution’s case. Jaramillo, 48, was also Carona’s confidant until he was fired by Carona; he is expected to testify for the prosecution.

“America’s Sheriff”

Sheriff Carona was nicknamed “America’s Sheriff” after a child-kidnapping case (that of five-year-old Samantha Runnion) rocketed him into the national spotlight. In his interview on CNN, Carona looked straight into the camera and told the child’s kidnapper not to eat or sleep — his deputies were hot on his trail. Her kidnapper and murderer, Alejandro Avila, was later apprehended.

(Source: MSNBC)

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