| Guilty of
Forgery in Angola While
Working for GE Defendant Asks
for Judgment of Acquittal
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Nov 29 – A former GE executive
now detained on wire fraud and
aggravated identity theft
charges appeared on March 26
before U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York Judge P. Kevin Castel.
Inner City Press was there,
the only media in the
courtroom.
Wilson Daniel
Freita Da Costa was in the
green jail jumpsuit of the
Hudson County Correctional
Facility.
His lawyer said
he intends to move to dismiss
the indictment in the next
week, on grounds of the
extraterritorial application
of the wire fraud statute to
conduct in Angola, and
apparently the statute of
limitations.
The lawyer
said the PhotoShop / forgery
charged took place long ago.
On April 5, he
submitted a motion to dismiss,
arguing among other things
that "as a general matter,
statutes are presumed to have
only domestic application, and
that the documents were
allegedly altered on or before
October 12, 2017, beyond the
statute of limitations.
On June 13, his
motion to dismiss was denied:
"OPINION AND ORDER as to
Wilson Daniel Freita Da Costa:
Defendant's motion to dismiss
the Indictment, or
alternatively, for an Order
granting access to grand jury
materials and directing the
government to provide a bill
of particulars is DENIED. The
Court reserves decision on any
renewed bail application. The
Clerk is respectfully directed
to terminate the motion. (ECF
18.) SO ORDERED. (Signed by
Judge P. Kevin Castel on
6/13/2024)."
On June 19 -
Juneteenth - the defense
lawyer asked to partially seal
his motion for release from
custody. This fraud detainee
is supported by a UN
"international civil servant,"
Nawain Kangsen.
On November 3,
the defense wrote in quoting
an April 24, 2018 text
exchange: as friends we got
f*cked.. we can easily look
for someone to replace [AE's
founder] in Ghana, Cameroon
and Angola today"
On November 8,
Inner City Press went to cover
the trial. From the thread:
Witness is shown
his proffer agreement.
Defense: Do you
recall this gave you limited
immunity?
Witness: No
Defense lawyer:
You don't think you did
anything wrong in the deal in
Angola?
Witness: I didn't
Defense:
Even an innocent can be
prosecuted
Judge: Sustained
On November 11 -
Veterans Day - the defense
wrote in that the Court should
not charge the jury on any
crime not charged in the
indictment - specifically, any
uncharged conspiracy.
On November 13,
the trail continued, from the
thread:
AUSA: Did Mr. De
Costa speak untruthfully at
the Lisbon meeting?
Defense:
Objection! Judge: I'll allow
it.
Witness: Yes. I
was CFO of AE at that time.
[One juror in the
box is spinning around in his
chair]
On November 19,
conviction in Manhattan
federal court of WILSON DANIEL
FREITA DA COSTA of one count
of wire fraud and two counts
of aggravated identity theft
for his role in a scheme to
use forged documents on
Angolan Government letterhead
to deceive a subdivision of
the GE Company and the Angolan
Government.
On November 29
defense counsel filed a motion
for a judgment of acquittal,
arguing that "there was
insufficient evidence to
support the jury's finding
that he intended to cause
financial harm to GE Capital
and Angola by using the forged
documents to prompt GE to
issue funds."
The case is
US v. Freita Da Costa,
23-cr-610 (Castel)
***
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