by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Nov 13 – A former GE executive now detained on wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges appeared on March 26 before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge P. Kevin Castel. Inner City Press was there, the only media in the courtroom.
Wilson Daniel Freita Da Costa was in the green jail jumpsuit of the Hudson County Correctional Facility.
His lawyer said he intends to move to dismiss the indictment in the next week, on grounds of the extraterritorial application of the wire fraud statute to conduct in Angola, and apparently the statute of limitations.
The lawyer said the PhotoShop / forgery charged took place long ago.
On April 5, he submitted a motion to dismiss, arguing among other things that "as a general matter, statutes are presumed to have only domestic application, and that the documents were allegedly altered on or before October 12, 2017, beyond the statute of limitations.
On June 13, his motion to dismiss was denied: "OPINION AND ORDER as to Wilson Daniel Freita Da Costa: Defendant's motion to dismiss the Indictment, or alternatively, for an Order granting access to grand jury materials and directing the government to provide a bill of particulars is DENIED. The Court reserves decision on any renewed bail application. The Clerk is respectfully directed to terminate the motion. (ECF 18.) SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge P. Kevin Castel on 6/13/2024)."
On June 19 - Juneteenth - the defense lawyer asked to partially seal his motion for release from custody. This fraud detainee is supported by a UN "international civil servant," Nawain Kangsen.
On November 3, the defense wrote in quoting an April 24, 2018 text exchange: as friends we got f*cked.. we can easily look for someone to replace [AE's founder] in Ghana, Cameroon and Angola today"
On November 8, Inner City Press went to cover the trial. From the thread:
Witness is shown his proffer agreement.
Defense: Do you recall this gave you limited immunity?
Witness: No
Defense lawyer: You don't think you did anything wrong in the deal in Angola?
Witness: I didn't
Defense: Even an innocent can be prosecuted
Judge: Sustained
On November 11 - Veterans Day - the defense wrote in that the Court should not charge the jury on any crime not charged in the indictment - specifically, any uncharged conspiracy.
On November 13, the trail continued, from the thread:
AUSA: Did Mr. De Costa speak untruthfully at the Lisbon meeting?
Defense: Objection! Judge: I'll allow it.
Witness: Yes. I was CFO of AE at that time.
[One juror in the box is spinning around in his chair]
The case is US v. Freita Da Costa, 23-cr-610 (Castel)
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.
Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
