People v. Keller

176 Misc. 2d 466, 673 N.Y.S.2d 563, 1998 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 126
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedApril 8, 1998
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 176 Misc. 2d 466 (People v. Keller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Keller, 176 Misc. 2d 466, 673 N.Y.S.2d 563, 1998 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 126 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1998).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

John A.K. Bradley, J.

Among the many mundane cases that pass through this courtroom, occasionally a case more likely found in Hollywood than in New York Supreme Court arises. This is such a case, involving, among other things, high-priced call girls and a tony [468]*468escort service, an allegedly corrupt senior police officer, a vengeful gun dealer and lover, relationship abuse, bigamy, alleged prosecutorial persecution, and much more. Before the court are a number of motions designed to parse through this exciting fact pattern and have this court rule on the efficacy of this prosecution for falsifying business records, money laundering, and promoting prostitution.

FACTS

According to the defendants, Zerin, a well-known Manhattan gun dealer, obtained the services of Stacey Miller, an escort, from the Crown Club, Ltd., an outcall escort service. He began to date her outside the service. Zerin married Miller, but apparently did not reveal that he was still married to another woman at the time. Zerin began to physically abuse Miller, necessitating cosmetic surgery. When Miller threatened to leave, he threatened her with Ms contacts in the police department, saying that he would have her escort service prosecuted for prostitution activities. He told her she and Sue Keller, the alleged madam, would be arrested if she moved out. One of Zerin’s closest friends was Charles Luisi, Deputy Commander of Detectives for Manhattan South. LMsi was allegedly receiving illegal gratuities from Zerin, and has resigned from the force.

Zerin searched and seized Miller’s personal records, purportedly after being advised by Luisi to do so. When Miller moved out, Zerin demanded back a watch he had given as a gift; she refused but wrote a check for the watch, which she subsequently stopped. He filed a criminal complaint based on the stopped check.

Zerin gave the records he took from Miller to Luisi, who conducted a personal, and allegedly unauthorized, investigation. He sent the case to the District Attorney’s Office Squad (DAOS). Luisi put Zerin together with the investigators and attended meetings, without revealing that Zerin had married Miller, and was having a domestic dispute with her. Allegedly, under Luisi’s influence, regular DAOS procedures and safeguards were not followed. Purportedly, information was continually leaked by the authorities to Zerin so that he could harass Miller. Purportedly, Miller was improperly detained in connection with the alleged theft of the watch, deprived of her right to counsel, and pressured to testify against others. Miller was ultimately told to surrender on this charge. When the marriage came to light, the arrest was quietly squelched.

[469]*469Subsequently, Grand Jury subpoenas were issued for Keller’s credit card records, and a search warrant obtained. The media was waiting at her apartment when the warrant was executed. Allegedly, the police tipped off the media. The press allegedly reported secret information in sealed affidavits and warrants.

FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS

The defendants assert that counts six and seven of the indictment, which charge the three defendants with falsifying business records in the first degree, must be dismissed. Defendants assert that this crime requires that a defendant create materially false business records and submit them knowing of their material falsity. While the People have no objection to the dismissal of these counts as to defendant C&A Holding Corporation, because they had nothing to do with the payments to American Express discussed below, they oppose the motion as to the other defendants. In this regard, the People allege that the People must merely show that the defendant falsified a business record with intent to defraud, and that intent to cause pecuniary loss to the recipient of the document is not required.

These counts charge the defendants with submitting fraudulent charge slips to American Express for payment. Defendants instructed their escort employees to list “limousine service” instead of sexual services on the charge slips. The imprint swiped was for Elegance Limousine, and the charge slip indicated it was for “limo” service. Monies received were deposited in Elegance Limousine’s account and then moved to defendant Carlyle. There is no suggestion here that defendants were trying to deprive American Express of money or property. Their intention was for American Express to obtain their usual remuneration for a credit card transaction, and there is no evidence that they did not.

It is well settled that the falsity of the document involved must go to the effectiveness of the writing. (People v Altman, 83 Misc 2d 771; People v Heller, 184 AD2d 657, lv denied 80 NY2d 930.) The defendants did not intend for American Express to be deceived by the writing. They knew and expected that the particular falsity of this writing would be of no moment to American Express. It was only the spouse or other personal or business associates of the defendants’ customer who were apparently the intentional targets of the defendants’ deceit.

The cases cited by the People are all distinguishable. (People v Pymm, 151 AD2d 133, affd 76 NY2d 511, cert denied 498 US [470]*4701085; People v Dossinger, 106 AD2d 661; People v Cantarella, 160 Misc 2d 8; People v Coe, 131 Misc 2d 807, affd 71 NY2d 852; People v Smithtown Gen. Hosp., 93 Misc 2d 736.) In each of those cases, the false form submitted was either intended to deprive the recipient of a benefit it was to receive from the form, imposed a detriment on the recipient which the truthful submission of the form was intended to prevent, or eviscerated the efficacy of the form itself. Here the only alleged detriment visited on American Express was compelling it to deal with escort services which it purportedly would otherwise vigorously avoid. While the court does not suggest that American Express openly cultivates or in any manner endorses this business, the defendants have submitted evidence that numerous escort services openly advertise in print, touting that they accept American Express (along with other specified credit cards), and also often mention that they have discreet billing. Under these circumstances, these counts are dismissed.

MONEY LAUNDERING

Defendants next challenge counts two through five, the money laundering counts, on a simple technical point. The money laundering statute provides:

“A person is guilty of money laundering in the second degree when that person exchanges or receives in exchange, in one or more transactions, one or more monetary instruments which are the proceeds of specified criminal conduct and have a total value exceeding ten thousand dollars for one or more other monetary instruments and/or equivalent property when that person knows that the monetary instrument or instruments exchanged or received in exchange are the proceeds of any criminal conduct and that person:
“1. intentionally makes the exchange to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of such proceeds; or
“2. intentionally makes the exchange to aid himself or another person to commit or profit or benefit from specified criminal conduct”. (Penal Law § 470.10.)

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Related

People v. Norman
6 Misc. 3d 317 (New York Supreme Court, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
176 Misc. 2d 466, 673 N.Y.S.2d 563, 1998 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-keller-nysupct-1998.