Feds: Massapequa Park man part of alleged scheme to rip off homeless nonprofit

A Massapequa Park man and another employee at a nonprofit helping homeless New Yorkers allegedly steered the organization toward certain subcontractors in exchange for more than $1 million in financial kickbacks, according to a superseding indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court.

Jonathan Velazquez, 54, of Massapequa Park, and Gary DSilva, 46, of Manalapan, New Jersey, both face charges of conspiracy, money laundering, wire fraud and bribery, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella, Jr. announced in a news release Wednesday. Velazquez and DSilva allegedly received financial compensation from two companies awarded contracts from the Brooklyn-based nonprofit. The release did not provide the name of the nonprofit.

Two business owners, one from the Bronx, the other from New Jersey, were also charged in connection with the alleged scheme.

Velazquez and DSilva were both employees of the nonprofit's management information systems department. The organization serves "numerous services to indigent New Yorkers, including administering multiple homeless shelters" according to the release from Nocella’s office. The two men were tasked with soliciting vendors for multiple projects regarding information technology.

Velazquez and DSilva allegedly steered the organization toward a contract worth about $1.6 million to a company owned by Luis Camarena, 57, of the Bronx, "for installing and/or replacing security cameras" at homeless shelters, according to the U.S. attorney. In exchange, Camarena allegedly paid the two men about $500,000.

In a second, similar "scheme," Velazquez and DSilva allegedly received more than $700,000 in kickbacks from Pradeep Nigam, 63, of Edison, New Jersey, whose company was paid about $2 million for "the installation and maintenance of telephone, Internet and network services at homeless shelters" operated by the nonprofit, according to Nocella. The three men allegedly agreed to split proceeds from the nonprofit’s payments three ways.

"These defendants, employees of a city-funded nonprofit and principals of the nonprofit’s subcontractors, engaged in kickback schemes in return for millions of dollars in contracts, as charged," Jocelyn E. Strauber, commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation, said in a statement Wednesday. "These funds were intended to provide technology services in homeless shelters operated by the nonprofit, instead the defendants exploited these arrangements to benefit themselves."

The indictment unsealed Wednesday charged Velazquez, DSilva, also known as Pankaj DSilva, Camarena and Nigam with "conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bribery, as well as substantive counts of wire fraud and federal-program bribery," according to Nocella’s release. Velazquez and DSilva were also charged "with money laundering conspiracies," the release reads.

Stacey Richman, the defense attorney representing Camarena said there are no new charges brought against her client from the previous indictment to the one unsealed Wednesday.

"We're still getting discovery and learning about the situation," Richman added. "I perceive my client to be more of a victim."

Defense attorneys for DSilva, Velazquez and Nigam did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday.

Nigam was arraigned Wednesday and pleaded not guilty in federal court, said John Marzulli, a spokesperson for the Eastern District, in an email. Velazquez, and DSilva will be arraigned at a later date, Marzulli said.