Had Mohammed Gebeli not been viciously murdered -- allegedly by New York's latest serial killer, Sal Perrone -- he probably would have continued to pay the electric bill at the Brooklyn store he owns, which just so happens to be the scene of his grisly murder. But Gebeli was murdered -- and now Con Ed wants his family to pay up.

In a letter dated November 6, four months after Perrone allegedly murdered Gebeli, Con Ed alerts the shopkeeper's family that they're on the hook for a $734 electric bill for the 77 days his Valentino Fashions clothing store was an active crime scene.


More »

Joseph Sdao is basically grounded for 12 weekends.

A city judge essentially sentenced Joseph Sdao -- a corrupt former project manager for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, who defrauded the city out of more than $30,000 -- to a 12-weekend timeout yesterday.

Judge Martin Marcus of Bronx County Supreme Court sentenced Sdao, 69, of Westbury, New York, to 12 weekends in jail and five years probation for a second-degree felony bribery charge that Sdao plead guilty to in August.

Apparently Sdao was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. So "justice" was theoretically served.

"Corruption is insidious, especially when a city manager betrays the public trust by sharing confidential contract information in order to pad his pockets with cash," Rose Gill Hearn, New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner, says. "This defendant's corrupt conduct earned him a conviction and jail sentence."

More »

Willard "Ross" Lanham, 58, learned yesterday that embezzling millions of dollars in funds meant to bring Internet access to kids is not only a despicable thing to do, but it will also earn you more than three years in prison.

A Manhattan federal court judge sentenced Lanham to 37 months in jail for orchestrating an embezzlement scheme that netted him $1.7 million from the New York City Department of Education.

Lanham served as a consultant for the DOE from 2002 to 2008 on three projects designed to upgrade the technological infrastructure in city public schools. It was through the Power Connect project, which the DOE launched to bring Internet access to city public schools, that Lanham devised a scheme to skim the city out of the large sum of money.

More »

via NY Post

In real lives that sound like potential HBO series: Felix Lanting, an 83-year-old doctor, was arrested yesterday by police for running a large-scale narcotics operation out of his home medical offices. Dr. Lanting operated his facility out of the first floor of his Staten Island home, where 50 to 100 "patients" a day would come to get their fix. Since April, the good doc has apparently written 3,029 prescriptions for Oxycodone.

More »

The New York State Department of Labor, New York City Department of Investigation, and Manhattan DA's office say they just busted 37 New Yorkers for stealing more than $300,000 in unemployment and section 8 housing benefits from city and state agencies. Jerks.

More »

Remember Steven Slater's impostor, the chubby blond man who fooled Page Six (who corrected today) and a whole boatload of partying gay guys? He's apologized for his actions! We obtained an email from "I'm-Not-Slater" to Daniel Nardicio, the Playgirl VP whose birthday he showed up at.

More »

Our question last October, posed by James Lieber: "When Do We Go After the Crooks Behind Our Financial Collapse?" Now we know the answer: Never.

Why aren't you more pissed off? Why is this story being underplayed?

More »

Sometimes crime is just tragic. Tragic like Hamlet. Tragic like Jell-O. Tragic like, in fact, the case of the Clements, an East Northport couple in their 60s arrested yesterday for purchasing packages of Jell-O pudding mix, filling them with sand, and returning them to the store for refunds, where the boxes were summarily restocked and sold to unwitting Jell-O-loving customers.

More »

If the question How's Bernie Madoff doing in prison? has ever crossed your mind at any point, well, now we know. The answer is sad, hysterical, and kinda poignant.

More »