| Jury Convicted Conde of Stealing HRA
Checks Now Co-Defendants Approach Trial in
SDNY
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 31 – Salifou Conde and
others stole NYS Human
Resources Administration rent
subsidy checks from August
2016 through August 2019.
Inner City Press reported on
the trial, below, including
the argument about HRA
negligence.
Conde was found
guilty of bank fraud, wire
fraud, and conspiracy to
commit bank and wire fraud "in
connection with his
involvement in a years-long
scheme to steal over $1.5
million from HRA following a
four-day jury trial before
U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Valerie E.
Caproni.
And
now another
one looms.
On August 17,
Judge Caproni
held an
arraignment of
co-defendant Sylvain
Gnali Gnahore; not
guilty, with a
December 2021
trial then
projected.
Judge Caproni
said to
get
vaccinated: "I
can't order
it, if I
could, I
would." As
Inner City
Press reported,
on August
16, 2021 SDNY
Judge Jed S.
Rakoff
conditioned a
defendants
pre-trial
release on
getting
vaccinated.
On May 31,
Judge Caproni
held a
proceeding on
when the trial
will take
place. She
suggested July
14; the AUSAs
and even case
agent were not
available.
June 20 in
Juneteenth and then a much
mentioned Judicial
Conference. So
June 28
appears to be
the trial
date, at least
for defendants
not on the
lam. Watch
this site.
Back on
June 28, 2021, the previous
trial was ongoing on the 26th
floor of 500 Pearl Street, and
Inner City Press covered it in
person. The government put on
the stand a man on a checkered
shirt who work for the
landlord who never got the HRA
checks (their account was with
Sterling National Bank, who
trying to be bought by
Webster); then a branch
manager from JPMorgan Chase.
Conde
argued to get into evidence of
negligence, that others are
Deluxe Courier Service
committed the crimes and that
"HRA's lack of due diligence
in authorizing, printing and
delivering checks is
relevant."
On July
21, Judge Caproni held a bond
hearing, in which Conde sought
to be released pending
sentencing. Two new bond
co-signers were mentioned, and
family obligations. Judge
Caproni explained that she
could not release Conde;
remand was continued.
On July
27, co-defendant Falikou Kone
had a proceeding before Judge
Caproni, seeking to modify his
conditions for release. Judge
Caproni made detailed
inquired, then denied the
request. She said his
pre-trial motions are due
August 13, with a status
conference on August 9. Watch
this site.
On June 15 Judge
Caproni held a change of plea
proceeding for co-defendant
Issiaga Sylla. Inner City
Press covered it.
Sylla was
pleading guilty to Count 3. He
said he was originally from
Guinea but then became a
naturalized US citizen. His
sentencing will be in
September. He is on the hook,
if only joint and severally,
for $3 million.
Back in
September 2020 on a
co-defendant, Assistant US
Attorney Kedar S. Bhatia said
that Toure should be
sentencing from between 18 and
24 months, arguing that the
loss amount was "a
conservative figure."
Toure's
lawyers at Kaplan Hecker &
Fink LLP argued that "Toure is
a hard-working family man who
is essentially the lone earner
for his wife and four children
who live abroad in
Senegal."
Judge
Caproni after listening to
arguments imposed a sentence
of time served, with time in a
halfway house, so that Toure
can keep his job.
The overall case
is US v. Conde, 19-cr-808
(Caproni).
***
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