"The founder of the Queens Defenders, the borough-based organization that provides legal services to low-income clients, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring with her husband to embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars from the public defense nonprofit. Lori Zeno returned to court Tuesday morning, after a prior plea hearing broke down, to admit that she conspired with her husband and Queens Defenders employee Rashad Ruhani to defraud the group she helped create in the 1990s."
"Prosecutors said the pair, who were wed in a religious ceremony, not legally married, stole at least $300,000 from the organization over a year and a half, though Zeno only stipulated to taking at least $150,000 as part of her plea. From June 2024 and January 2025, the couple diverted the legal service funds, which are primarily generated through city, state and federal contracts to provide services to low-income New Yorkers, to finance a luxurious lifestyle, including spending on foreign travel, meals, luxury shopping and rent for a penthouse apartment."
"The pair allegedly used the company credit cards to spend over $10,000 on a vacation to Bali, $3,300 for an 85-inch smart television to be installed at the Penthouse Apartment and $4,000 for a Louis Vuitton designer handbag, among other expenses. Zeno repeatedly mischaracterized personal payments as business expenses to get reimbursed, prosecutors said. To pay for her apartment, Zeno and Ruhani fraudulently collected over $39,000 in rent by submitting false receipts."
Lori Zeno admitted conspiring with her husband and a Queens Defenders employee to embezzle funds from the public defense nonprofit she founded. Federal prosecutors seek a 51- to 63-month prison sentence. Prosecutors allege the couple stole at least $300,000 between June 2024 and January 2025, while Zeno stipulated to at least $150,000 in the plea. The couple used corporate credit cards and false receipts to finance luxury travel, high-end shopping, an 85-inch television, penthouse rent, and other personal expenses. Zeno mischaracterized personal payments as business expenses to obtain reimbursements.
Read at www.amny.com
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