A large-scale investigation into a ghost gun factory in the East Village involving 10 government agents, including a disgraced former NYPD officer, conspired to steal more than $1 million by exploiting New York City’s needy residents. prosecutors claimed Thursday that a plan had been uncovered.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office indicted 18 people on a series of charges in a four-count indictment, including conspiracy to manufacture ghost guns, conspiracy to rob the state’s pandemic benefit program, and burglary, all of which will be filed in 2022. It all stemmed from an investigation that began.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated in a statement The fraud scheme was carried out primarily by city employees, including several Department of Homeless Services employees, who “abused their positions of public trust for personal gain.”
Other public officials embroiled in legal trouble included an NYPD school safety officer, an MTA employee, a NYCHA employee, and two U.S. Postal Service employees.
Chard Baker, 35, a former NYPD officer and current DHS employee, along with an anonymous co-conspirator and other employees, stole the identities of unsuspecting victims, including homeless residents under city control, and committed fraud. He is accused of kidnapping hundreds of thousands of people.
Baker and an unnamed co-conspirator are said to be the masterminds of a conspiracy that filed false Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applications in the victims’ names with the state Department of Labor.
After the charges were approved, bank cards were issued, most of which were sent to Upper East Side mailboxes, where another anonymous co-conspirator, a postal worker, intercepted them and accessed the stolen funds. prosecutors said he distributed it to other defendants for the purpose.
In all, 16 suspects, including five DHS employees, grabbed $1.2 million in payouts from more than 170 false claims they submitted, the district attorney’s office announced.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Kelly said at Baker’s arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court that Baker spent time on high-end shopping and traveling abroad during the scheme.
Baker traveled with another co-defendant and “clearly used the fraudulently obtained money for entertainment while on vacation,” Kelly said.
She joined the NYPD in 2022, but was fired the following year and returned to her old job at DHS.
Before joining the NYPD, Kelly claimed that she and her boyfriend, who is also indicted, had planned the robbery because one of her other co-conspirators would not share in the proceeds from the vast scheme. did. Two men then entered the apartment and stole $30,000 in cash.
Baker was charged in two counts of fourth-degree conspiracy and theft. Judge Laura Ward set her bail at $200,000 cash.
School safety officer Shenice Roberts is accused of defrauding seven victims with fraudulent claims in which more than $140,000 was wired to their homes to get pie, Kelly said.
At one point, when she asked Baker for help with her bill, she allegedly said, Give them more income,” the prosecutor said.
Bragg’s office said investigators investigated Operation Ghost Gun and uncovered a large-scale fraud scheme.
The unnamed co-conspirator and his friend Adrian Manigault, 25, collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from eBay and Amazon, including 3D printing machines, printing materials and ghost gun parts, while exchanging text messages about purchased items, the paper said. It is said that he purchased it. The first indictment related to the ghost gun charge.
The district attorney’s office alleges the two sent each other photos and videos of the finished product between May 2022 and January 2023.
In the second indictment filed by prosecutors, co-conspirator Craig Freeman, 56, is accused of manufacturing ghost guns from May 2022 to mid-January of the following year.
The anonymous suspect allegedly shared 3D printing files, templates and other information to help Freeman create his own weapon, including a zip file containing a guide on how to build a .22 caliber pistol. Contains files.
“We see a clear link between people involved in violent crimes and traditional white-collar fraud,” Bragg said in a statement.
Following the investigation by the authorities, a large number of accusations were made in earnest. Investigation into ghost gun factory begins Prosecutors said Cliffie Thompson left her East Village apartment.
He was indicted in January 2023 and pleaded guilty to related charges in November last year.
