Bedford Park News: Derek Jeter, Kate Moss ‘Sign’ for Troubled Pol

Bedford Park News: Derek Jeter, Kate Moss ‘Sign’ for Troubled Pol: Derek Jeter, Kate Moss ‘Sign’ for Troubled Pol Campaign Workers Indicted for False Petition Signatures BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 27- Di...

Derek Jeter, Kate Moss ‘Sign’ for Troubled Pol

Derek Jeter, Kate Moss ‘Sign’ for Troubled Pol

Campaign Workers Indicted for False Petition Signatures

BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 27- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced that a nine-month long investigation into fraudulent petitions filed with the New York City Board of Elections has resulted in the arrests of three former campaign workers for New York City Council Member Maria Del Carmen Arroyo.

The investigation uncovered no evidence of any criminal conduct by any other persons.

Elbin Lopez, 49, of Alexander Avenue, Betty Julien, 47, of Bruckner Boulevard of Richman Plaza, and Luis Vargas, 45, of Bruckner Boulevard, have been charged with multiple felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, forgery in the second degree, and offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree. The defendants are facing maximum terms of up to seven years imprisonment if convicted.

The charges stem from the defendants’ alleged conduct as employees of Council Member Arroyo’s campaign for re-election in 2013. The defendants were hired by the Council Member’s campaign to gather signatures on petitions to have her name placed on the ballot in the Democratic Primary Election which was held in September 2013.

The defendants were arraigned before Criminal Court Judge Carol Sharpe and were released on their own recognizance.

It is alleged that Lopez, Julien, and Vargas forged nearly 100 signatures on the candidate’s petitions which were then filed with the New York City Board of Elections. The alleged forgeries included the signatures of New York Yankees team captain Derek Jeter, sports announcer Joe Buck, New York Giants defensive tackle Rocky Bernard, and actress Kate Moss. The petitions also contained phony addresses accompanying some signatures including a Citibank branch location and a location for the drug rehabilitation program Odyssey House.

The charges announced today are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Bedford Park News: Fraud Across the Board?

Bedford Park News: Fraud Across the Board?: Fraud Across the Board? Manhattan Coach Loses Dream Gig for Lying on Resume By Rich Mancuso BRONX, NEW YORK MARCH 27- This ha...

Fraud Across the Board?

Fraud Across the Board?

Manhattan Coach Loses Dream Gig for Lying on Resume

By Rich Mancuso

BRONX, NEW YORK MARCH 27- This has happened more than once. A college coaching opportunity is available and the candidate has the supposed credentials to move up the ladder after building a program. In the case of Steve Masiello, who got the Manhattan College men’s basketball team back to the NCAA Tournament, he is a candidate of the latest embarrassment and greed of collegiate sports.

Yes, Masiello lied for an opportunity to land the head men’s basketball coaching job at the University of South Florida. His resume was inaccurate about being a graduate of the University of Kentucky. So, Tuesday it appeared he was moving on, and Wednesday morning he may be without a job.

The truth is, and lesson hopefully learned again, false information on a resume will eventually backfire and that applies for someone like Masiello. And a million dollar opportunity that was at hand now could leave him on the unemployment line.

The bad and, more so, sad aspect of this Masiello mess: Manhattan College has a dilemma. Do, the decision- makers at the school move ahead and begin the process of hiring a new coach, or do they forgive and forget? Another aspect, and it is obvious, how did responsible officials at Manhattan, who hired Masiello three years ago, bypass false information that USF was able to discover?

That aspect may never be known. Masiello was a perfect candidate to rebuild a men’s basketball program at the Metro Atlantic Conference affiliated college that is based in the Bronx, in a section known as Riverdale. He played under current Louisville coach Rick Pitino as a freshman at Kentucky in 1997.

He later learned more on the sidelines as an assistant coach for Pitino at Louisville. So, Masiello had the credentials to land a head coaching job. At Manhattan, Masiello compiled a 60-39 record in three years, and got the Jaspers to a first round game last week in the NCAA Men’s basketball Tournament losing to Pitino and Louisville.

Officials at Manhattan College could not be reached for comment, nor could Masiello. Though a source reached at the school said, “There was every indication that Steve had all the credentials to be here. This has been a shock to all of us as we wished Steve well.”

The source, when asked, did not comment regarding the future for Masiello as to whether his job at Manhattan would be open to him again. And that is something that would be subject to extensive review, because college coaching jobs require in most part credentials of an undergraduate degree or beyond.

In other words, success on the sidelines and compiling a respectable record at a mid-major school (Manhattan) and working under a successful coach, Pitino, does require more of a background check when it comes to credentials.

Perhaps the more significant issue here revolves around college coaches leaving a school to take another opportunity while under contract. In that case, as is with Masiello, the student/athletes become the victims. Those under scholarship and recruits are betrayed and left to consider other options.

Success can be an option, but it has to be accomplished the correct way. We see this time-and-time again. The reputation of college athletics is becoming more like professional sports and big business that includes mega-million contracts with cable television networks and for the coaches.

This is not only an issue for Manhattan College but the entire NCAA community of schools. There is a concern and this goes beyond the status of Steve Masiello and his future.

Comment Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com  Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso   

Bedford Park News: FBI Now Involved in Norwood Double Homicide

Bedford Park News: FBI Now Involved in Norwood Double Homicide: FBI Now Involved in Norwood Double Homicide By David Greene BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 26- A new flyer posted by law enforcem...

FBI Now Involved in Norwood Double Homicide

FBI Now Involved in Norwood Double Homicide

By David Greene

BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 26- A new flyer posted by law enforcement officials shows that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is now involved in an unsolved double homicide that took place last year on Perry Avenue in Norwood. The bodies of Jason and Jennifer Rivera were found inside a white SUV along Perry Avenue near East Gun Hill Road, on January 16, 2013. According to the flyer, both Jason, 30, and Jennifer, his 20-year old niece, were both shot, "execution-style" in the back of their heads. The flier states, "The FBI and the NYPD are seeking information," in the deaths of the pair and offers a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the responsible parties or individual. At the time of the killing, one police source stated that two individuals were seen fleeing the area on home surveillance video obtained by police from a resident of the block, but if investigators have such a video, it has not yet been released to the public.

Police and FBI officials could not immediately say who is posting the reward. A spokeswoman with the FBI confirmed they were working the double murder with investigators from the 52nd Precinct's detective squad. The spokeswoman confirmed, "We had been working with the NYPD on another case," at the time Jennifer and Jason were killed, prompting the FBI's involvement. Residents of the block reported no gunfire that night, leading investigators to believe that the pair were killed at another location and then taken to Perry Avenue. With the street's, "No snitching" motto clearly in effect, the flyer posted by officers at the corner of Perry Avenue and East Gun Hill Road was torn down after just a couple of days. Anyone with any information is asked to call CRIMESTOPPERS at (800) 577-TIPS. Get More Bronx News

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Bedford Park News: Fire Destroys Shopping Strip

Bedford Park News: Fire Destroys Shopping Strip: Fire Destroys Shopping Strip  By David Greene BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 24- Firefighters battled a wind-fueled fire that tore t...