| Woman
Convicted Of Embezzlement Keeps Judge
Picked Lawyer And Will Testify in EDNY
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
EDNY COURTHOUSE,
Jan 6 – Wafa Abboud was
convicted of stealing from
Human First, in a 2019 trial
in the U.S. District Court for
the Eastern District of New
York. But she has sent to be
sentenced.
Trial judge
Edward R. Korman now largely
working from home due to the
pandemic and age, appointed
defense lawyer Sarah Kunstler
to replace Abboud's trial
counsel, whom Abboud says
"betrayed" her.
On January
6, Judge Korman held a
proceeding with Abboud and
Kunstler, and Inner City Press
covered it.
Kunstler was
asking out of the case,
stating that she and Abboud
have irreconsilable
differences about Abboud's
desire to testify, seemingly
about her prior counsel.
Judge
Korman told Kunstler, You have
a duty to do what the client
wants. Admittedly this is not
about the absolute right to
testify at trial. But it is
still the client's decision,
Judge Korman said.
Abboud
spoke up and said that she
wants to testify, if not for
herself, maybe to help others.
Judge
Korman took the extraordinary
step of saying that even if he
were to conclude that she lied
when she testified, he would
not hold it against her in
sentencing guidelines
calculation or in
sentencing.
You have
made it easy for me, Abboud
said. I will testify even if I
don't have a
lawyer.
But she will have
a lawyer.
Judge Korman
denied Kunstler's motion to be
relieved, telling her had
speficially chosen her rather
than the CJA lawyer on duty
because she is a good writer,
for purposes of appeal.
At the
time of conviction, Richard P.
Donoghue, then United States
Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York, said, 'With
today’s verdict, Abboud has
been held accountable for
abusing her position of trust
as the Executive Director of a
charity and funding her
elaborate lifestyle with
money intended to serve
the needs of vulnerable
individuals in the community.'
Donoghue expressed his
grateful appreciation to the
Federal Bureau of
Investigation, New York Field
Office, the New York State
Office of the Attorney General
and the New York State Office
of the Inspector General for
their work on the case.
From January 2011 until she
was terminated on May 27,
2016, Abboud was Human First’s
Executive Director and
authorized the disbursement of
all of the charity’s
funds. Between May 2011
and February 2016, Abboud
caused Human First to issue
approximately $16,000 a month
in purported consultant fees
to MPB Management Services LLC
(MPB), a company controlled by
co-conspirator Marcelle
Bailey."
Inner City Press
will continue to follow this
case in the EDNY. It is US v.
Abboud, 16-cr-363 (Korman)
***
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