A child molester who moved from New York to Israel as he was being sought on a new misdemeanor assault charge has turned to the Israeli court system to quiet a Rockland County rabbi intent on spreading the word about his crimes on the internet and in Jerusalem.
Here’s my story with reporter Adrienne Sanders:
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/investigations/2016/08/04/molester-sues-rabbi/87699914/
Here I am on video talking about the Westchester Community College men’s basketball transcript fraud scandal. My investigation, along with reporter Mike Zacchio, prompted players to be ruled ineligible for NCAA Division 1 competition, caused WCC to cancel two consecutive men’s basketball seasons and sparked an NJCAA investigation going back years. The former WCC coach was charged with 17 felony counts.
Here’s a link to the video:
http://www.lohud.com/videos/news/local/2016/07/28/87671896/
Photo by Ricky Flores/The Journal News
There has been a significant development in my investigation into transcript fraud in college basketball that prompted players to be ruled ineligible for NCAA Division 1 competition. Ty Mushatt, the former head coach at Westchester Community College, has been charged with 17 felony counts. He is also facing a conspiracy charge. The indictment says others knew of his alleged conduct. Here’s the story:
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2016/07/28/wcc-basketball-coach-bogus-transcripts/87654170/
Rabbi Zalman Beck and state Sen. Malcolm Smith FBI photo
My reporting forced a local rabbi to surrender his badge to the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office. I exposed that Rabbi Zalman Beck obtained straw donations for state Sen. Malcolm Smith while Smith was under FBI investigation. This is my latest story on the FBI sting targeting Smith and others and the New York Jewish Communications Channel.
Here’s the link:
Here are posts by other outlets about this with comments:
http://www.monsey.com/rocklands-da-jewish-community-liaison-surrenders-badge/152521
Here’s a video of me talking about my investigation exposing that an FBI cooperator helped elect a judge. The cooperator, Moses Stern, testified that he engaged in crimes to help elect Rockland Family Court Judge Sherri Eisenpress.
Here’s a link to the video:
http://www.lohud.com/videos/news/investigations/2016/07/06/86715240/
Photo by Peter Carr/The Journal News
My investigation, along with reporter Jon Bandler, revealed that an FBI cooperator testified that he engaged in crimes to help elect a judge. The cooperator is Moses Stern, who said he set up an illegal campaign finance scheme using her money and bribed a public official not to support her opponents.
Here’s the story:
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/investigations/2016/07/06/eisenpress-campaign-deal/86333748/
Here’s a video of me talking about how the FBI secretly used an Orthodox Jewish radio show to target politicians seeking the ultra-Orthodox bloc vote. One of the key guests was state Sen. Eric Schneiderman, who was elected attorney general. Within days of the FBI announcing arrests in the Malcolm Smith sting, Schneiderman gave more than $100,000 in campaign donations to charity. I uncovered that federal prosecutors failed to disclose the radio show to defense lawyers at trial.
Here’s a link to the video:
http://www.lohud.com/videos/news/investigations/2016/03/16/81887840/
My investigation has revealed that the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office used an Orthodox Jewish radio program in an elaborate sting operation that helped the government convict Malcolm Smith and other New York politicians.
It’s unclear whether there are other targets including New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
Schneiderman, while a state senator, appeared on the show with Moses Stern, who defrauded Citigroup out of $126 million and was later revealed to be an FBI cooperator. Stern testified he was involved in Schneiderman’s campaign.
Here’s the story I broke about the radio program, the New York Jewish Communications Channel, hosted by Talkline Communications Network. The NYJCC had a website, put out news releases and published a campaign strategy booklet for Schneiderman.
Stern used the show to gain credibility with targets of the investigation, who wanted the ultra-Orthodox bloc vote.
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/investigations/2016/03/16/jewish-radio-show-fbi-sting/81870884/
Want to listen to clips of the shows? You can do that here:
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/investigations/2016/03/16/radio-show-fbi-sting-audio/81865898/
Here’s a list of people involved:
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/investigations/2016/03/16/radio-show-fbi-sting-whos-who/81859496/
Here’s a timeline of events.
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/investigations/2016/03/16/radio-show-fbi-sting-timeline/81856664/
I have since interviewed Rockland County Legislator Charles Falciglia, who is calling for the FBI or D.A.’s office to investigate the sources of tens of thousands in campaign contributions to Family Court Judge Sherri Eisenpress’ 2011 campaign. He wants the results of any investigation to be made public.
http://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/2016/03/28/eisenpress-campaign-donations/82251954/
The New York Times gave me credit for my coverage of the Westchester Community College men’s basketball transcript fraud scandal.
“Lee Higgins, a reporter for The Journal News, conducted an expert investigatory dig and unearthed the scandal in its many tawdry details,” says the column by Michael Powell.
You can read the Times piece here:
My work was also recently cited in the Sporting News. Here’s the link:
Ray DiFrancesco Photo by Frank Becerra/The Journal News
Charges against this man were withdrawn, but the judge refused to seal the case. Here’s my story:
Lee Higgins (Investigative Reporter) 