Four individuals have admitted to engaging in a conspiracy to misappropriate funds from a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the homeless in Brooklyn. Among them, Luis Camarena acknowledged his role in a kickback scheme tied to installing surveillance cameras at homeless shelters managed by the organization. "Camerena’s schemes enriched himself, DSilva, and Velazquez at the expense of the non-profit Organization, showing glaring disrespect towards the honest work of others," United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. stated, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York release.
Camarena, who was the final defendant to plead guilty, profited from contracts through his business and gave kickbacks to employees of the non-profit who authorized the payments. When the time comes for sentencing, he could face up to five years in prison—the same potential sentence that awaits his co-defendants Gary DSilva, Jonathan Velazquez, and Pradeep Nigam, who have all pleaded guilty to similar charges earlier this month. The Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber denounced the defendants for having "enriched themselves at the expense of a City-funded nonprofit; two employees of the organization pocketed kickbacks in exchange for steering contracts worth millions to the businesses of two co-conspirators," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The charges stem from two separate schemes where DSilva and Velazquez, working in the Management Information Systems department of the non-profit, were responsible for finding and paying vendors for IT and surveillance work. Instead, they steered contracts to companies owned by Camarena and Nigam in exchange for a piece of the profits. This collusion was not disclosed to their employer, effectively defrauding the organization out of significant sums of money.
Total authorized payments from the non-profit to the defendants' businesses reached around $1.6 million to Camarena's venture and approximately $1.9 million to Nigam's firm. The agreed forfeiture amounts come to approximately $714,000 each for DSilva and Velazquez, around $413,000 for Nigam, and roughly $224,000 for Camarena, reflecting their respective ill-gotten gains from the scheme. In her role overseeing the prosecution, Assistant United States Attorney Laura Zuckerwise aims to ensure that the defendants are held accountable for their actions, as noted by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Besides the prison sentences they face, the defendants have agreed to pay a total of $1,025,647.78 in restitution to the non-profit organization, which is yet another step towards redressing the financial damage inflicted upon an entity that serves some of the most vulnerable inhabitants of New York City.
