1. #1
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    gambling granny finally arrested !

    Crooked ex-city workers get prison time for day-care scam

    By BRUCE GOLDING
    Last Updated: 3:06 PM, September 23, 2011
    Posted: 3:04 PM, September 23, 2011




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    A gambling granny got slapped with four years in the slammer today for accepting $100,000 in bribes while supervising a city welfare program.
    Aurora Villareal pocketed the payoffs for helping a ring of fraudsters obtain permits for sub-standard, publicly subsidized day-care centers that officials say defrauded taxpayers of $18 million.
    Defense lawyer Stephen McCarthy Jr. blamed Villareal's crimes on a late-in-life gambling addiction, saying: "Often the form of the bribes would be money placed in her purse on the way to Atlantic City."
    But Manhattan federal Judge William Pauley III blasted Villareal for her "really pathetic" corruption, noting that she "compromised the safety of children" and enlisted some of her underlings into joining the scheme.
    Daniel Shapiro
    Aurora Villareal




    Pauley also imposed a 40-month prison term on co-defendant Leonid Gutnik, a former Human Resources Administration worker who helped the fraud ring obtain subsidies for "phantom" kids who never received any care.
    The judge also slammed Villareal and Gutnik -- naturalized citizens from the Philippines and Russia, respectively -- for betraying the United States after they were "welcomed" into the country and given positions of public trust.
    In addition to the time behind bars, both were also ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution and a $10,000 fine.
    In statements to the court, Villareal said she was "so sorry" and "ashamed," while Gutnik lamented that "everybody is pointing fingers at members of my family and saying all of them...are criminals."
    Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn -- whose office uncovered the scam -- said: "These city employees were supposed to protect the interests of children, instead they ignored them for their own personal gain."
    "Their scheme had a heavy price: felony conviction in federal court and a prison sentence -- a strong message that there is no tolerance for city employees who abuse their access, take bribes, and steal public funds."


    Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/c...#ixzz1YtYtbmoT
    Last edited by SBR Jonelyn; 03-19-15 at 05:09 PM. Reason: image does not exist

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