Two Charged With Attempting To Steal From Billionaire Mayor
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Mayor Bloomberg may have deep pockets, but two men who allegedly tried to dip into them didn’t getting away with it, the Manhattan district attorney’s office says.
The two have been arrested in New Jersey for attempting to steal more than $400,000 from the city’s billionaire leader. Unknown to each other, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office, the two defendants separately gained access to the mayor’s personal banking information this year and allegedly used it to transfer money into their own accounts.
Odalis Bostic of Elizabeth, N.J., allegedly forged two checks, one for $190,000 and another for $230,000, and then deposited them into the accounts of a company he set up, Laderman Development Co. The checks bore the name of the mayor’s financial manager, Geller & Company, prosecutors said, and were drawn from the mayor’s Bank of America account.
The banks held the checks because of the amount of money involved, allowing investigators to uncover the alleged forgery.
Prosecutors said Mr. Bostic may have also tried to steal from another person in New Jersey using the same tactics, but he has not been charged with that crime. He was arraigned yesterday in New York Supreme Court on charges of attempted grand larceny and faces up to seven years in prison. The other defendant, Charles Nelson of Newark, was charged with stealing from the mayor’s accounts by transferring $10,000 online to an E-Trade account in May. He then used a debit card to withdraw money from the E-Trade account and make purchases, the district attorney’s office said.
He could face seven years in prison on charges of grand larceny and identity theft. He is also facing local charges in New Jersey after investigators with a warrant turned up two guns during the course of their investigation into the identity fraud.
Mr. Nelson’s alleged online fraud went unnoticed until Mr. Bostic allegedly tried his scheme to cash the larger checks a month later, the district attorney’s office said.
The district attorney’s office is investigating how the two were able to obtain the mayor’s banking information.
Mr. Bloomberg declined to comment on the matter. The mayor has been the target of theft schemes before, and also had a car stolen in New Jersey last year after carjackers there assaulted one of his employees.
