MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced the arrest of a custodian from Hempstead for allegedly receiving more than $50,000 in bribe payments in exchange for the promise of custodial work.
Dane Williams, 29, of Hempstead, was arraigned yesterday by Judge Scott Siller and charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a C felony), Identity Theft in the First Degree (a D felony) and Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree (an A misdemeanor). Bail was set at $10,000 cash or $5,000 bond and a Stay Away Order of Protection was issued for the victim. The defendant is due back in court on March 8. If convicted of the top charge he faces up to five to 15 years in prison.
“This defendant allegedly preyed on a coworker’s desire to get a better job by allegedly scamming the man out of more $50,000 with promises of work in two local school districts,” DA Singas said. “My office takes financial frauds cases very seriously and we will vigorously prosecute this case and seek restitution for the victim.”
DA Singas said that a complainant informed the NCDA that, between January 2018 and January 2019, he allegedly paid the defendant more than $50,000 to obtain employment as a janitor in the Hempstead and Uniondale School Districts. According to the complainant, the defendant was supposed to forward the money to several local elected officials and janitorial supervisors for the districts, who would, in turn, give the complainant a job.
During the period of the alleged fraud, to gain more money from the victim, the defendant allegedly sent death threats via text message to the victim. The victim then contacted a person whom he believed to be his attorney, but that person was allegedly the defendant posing as the attorney. The “attorney” then allegedly asked for more money from the victim in exchange for police protection and to perform other legal services.
The complainant and defendant worked together for seven years at a center for rehabilitation and nursing in Uniondale. To pay the defendant, the complainant borrowed money from his friends and family – and came forward to the NCDA after his friends and family realized he had likely been the victim of a scam.
Senior Assistant District Attorney George Smit of DA Singas’ Rackets and Enterprise Crime Bureau is prosecuting this case. Legal Aid Society represents the defendant.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.
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