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Ramapo and former finance official and whistleblower Melissa Reimer settle lawsuit for $2.4M

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Photo of Melissa Reimer at one of the Ramapo hearings.

Melissa Reimer Photo: Joe Larese/ The Journal News

“Former town finance official Melissa Reimer — credited as a whistleblower in a federal investigation that brought down former Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence — and Ramapo have settled her lawsuit for retaliatory dismissal for more than $2.4 million.

The Town Board approved the agreement on Wednesday night, more than two years after three board members voted to fire Reimer on disciplinary charges after she had been suspended with pay from her $170,000 job in June 2013. [Read more…]

Pascack Ridge builder seeking zone change donated $2,500 to Ramapo re-election campaign

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Alex Goldberger Monsey Developer (left), talks with his attorney before public hearing on zone change in Ramapo Town Hall on Aug. 15  (Photo: Steve Lieberman)

“The Pascack Ridge builder seeking a Town Board zone change for high-density housing donated $2,500 in March to the re-election campaign for three board members who will vote on his proposal, according to state Board of Elections records and a board critic.

Alex Goldberger’s Monsey Affordable Homes Inc. made the donation on March 15 to Team Ramapo, the re-election campaign for Supervisor Michael Specht, Deputy Supervisor Brendel Logan-Charles, and Councilman Michael Rossman. The campaign reported the donation in its July filing with the state. [Read more…]

Tonight–Monday Jan 7–Public Hearing as Ramapo Discusses Selling Open Space Properties

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Ramapo Sign For Sale by OwnerTonight at 7pm, the Town of Ramapo Asset Review Commitee (TARC) will hold a meeting to gather public input on its intention to sell the following properties:

Tilcon Quarry, 15 Tilton Road, Suffern;
40 Pinebrook Road, Chestnut Ridge;
Hamlets of Ramapo, Lake Street, Hillburn;
Ramapo Cultural Arts Center, 66 Main St. Spring Valley; and
96 Camp Hill Road, Pomona.

No doubt, these properties are likely to end up in the hands of developers. If you would like to be heard, or further informed on what the Supervisor and Board have in mind, be there at 7 tonight.

Pressure mounts for Rockland Boulders to fill seats at stadium as Ramapo loses money

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Boulders Stadium Photo: Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News

“No one, it seemed, wanted the Rockland Boulders.

Certainly not the people of Ramapo who, by a ratio of three to one, voted down a 2010 resolution that would have guaranteed $16.5 million in long-term bonds to build the 5,300-seat stadium where the Boulders play today.

That didn’t deter former Ramapo town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence. Federal prosecutors say St. Lawrence, while in office, masterminded a scheme to funnel public money to the stadium project, despite his assurances that the stadium would be built with private funds. [Read more…]

Ramapo to Sell the Quarry and 8 Acres in Chestnut Ridge

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Ramapo Sign For Sale by OwnerLast week, The Journal News reported that the Town of Ramapo has begun the process to sell two large tracts of land: the quarry property in Suffern and eight acres on Pinebrook Road in Chestnut Ridge. These same properties were described as “protected” by the currently imprisoned Christopher St. Lawrence and recently fired chief attorney, Michael Klein. [Read more…]

SEC Settles Muni Bond Fraud Claims with Three Town Officials

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Law 360 LogoThis notice appeared on the Law 360 website June 5, 2018.

“Three officials of the town of Ramapo, New York, have agreed to civil fines and a permanent injunction barring them from municipal bond offerings to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations they perpetrated a bond fraud, according to consent judgments filed in New York federal court Monday. [Read more…]

Ramapo’s Christopher St. Lawrence: Done in by vanity: JN Editorial

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“For those who had followed former Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence’s rise and fall, and years of ironclad rule in between, there was scant satisfaction in the sentence handed down Wednesday for his 20 federal corruption-related convictions: Two and a half years in prison; three years supervised release; a $75,000 fine.

Even his uncharacteristic apologies after his federal sentencing Wednesday — that he was “deeply ashamed” — provided a rather hollow and unsatisfying denouement to this final chapter of his political life.

What did him in? Vanity, it seems. His 20 convictions on fraud and conspiracy stemmed from an elaborate scheme to cook the books and fudge revenue to put a shine on the town’s sinking finances. [Read more…]

St. Lawrence sentencing hearing continues Monday; Troodler’s sentencing off until January

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Indicted Supervisor St. Lawrence

Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence

“Former Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence’s sentencing hearing continues Monday in White Plains on how much money investors may have lost from a fraudulent bond scheme to build the baseball stadium and hide the town’s financial malaise.

One result of the continuing hearing is that the sentencing of former Ramapo assistant town attorney Aaron Troodler has been rescheduled for Jan. 2.

Troodler pleaded guilty to securities fraud and conspiracy in March and cooperated with prosecutors for a lesser sentence by testifying against St. Lawrence during his trial from April to mid-May. Troodler potentially faces two to four years in prison. [Read more…]

Christopher St. Lawrence faces prison term Monday for corruption

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Indicted Supervisor St. Lawrence

Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence

“When U.S. Judge Cathy Seibel is scheduled  to sentence Christopher St. Lawrence on Monday, the jurist will likely settle the disagreements  between prosecutors and St. Lawrence’s attorney on the former Ramapo supervisor’s motivations to commit fraud and how much prison time he deserves.

However, Monday’s sentencing could be adjourned until December.

St. Lawrence’s attorney asked Seibel in court papers filed Wednesday for additional time to analyze the prosecution’s updated estimation of the financial loss suffered by investors who bought Ramapo bonds based on false information from St. Lawrence. [Read more…]