By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell Book
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 20 – Issak Almaleh and Antoaneta Iotova were charged in 2017 with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud and making false statements to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
As Judge Edgardo Ramos put it at sentencing, they pretended to be Deutsche Bank.
They were, five years later, on trial before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Edgardo Ramos.
On March 7 witness Julie Rivera was called the witness stand and described trying to rent an efficiency apartment from the defendants at 1730 Rodman Street in Hollywood, Florida.
Witness Rivera was asked if she say the woman who showed the apartment, and the man in the van outside (who she described as "fat") in the courtroom.
It was said, Everyone but the jurors should take off their masks. Inner City Press' reporter, nearly alone in the gallery, took off his.
But Julie Rivera, squinting, at first could not make the ID.
She asked to get closer; she put on her mask and walked over to the defense table. Then she made the identifications, the lady in the blue blazer, "the man in the little hat."
The two were convicted on March 17. Then in April they wrote to the US Attorney's Office against for investigation of their lawyers. The Office filed it with Judge Ramos.
Jump cut to September 2022: counsel Ezra Spilke, of Anna Sorokin and Ghislaine Maxwell juror "Scotty David" fame, has written to seeking to be relieved. The two client sued him, and have appealed. "Anything we say to our clients can be used in their lawsuit(s) against us, rendering effective communication nearly impossible." You might say. Sentencing was postponed.
It occurred on January 20, 2023. New counsel did well: both defendants got time served. Almaleh's counsel Richard Rosenberg emphasized his client's precarious health and said, This is not Bernie Madoff and his wife.
Judge Ramos noted that they had served 32 and 29 months in prison, and that before Booker, a "lack of sophistication" downward variance might be applicable.
At the end, Almaleh asked if they will be able to visit their children in Florida. Iotova's counsel Sabrina Shroff, after preserving an issue for appeal, tried to get the AUSA to commit, but was rebuffed. It will be up to Probation. We'll revisit this issue as necessary.
The case is US v. Almaleh, et al., 17-cr-25 (Ramos)
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