On Wednesday the 20th, convicted Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Sylvia Ash and former board member of the now conserved $4.9B Municipal Credit Union of New York, received a year and three months prison sentence for her part in the attempted cover-up of an estimated $18 million in embezzled credit union funds. And it all started with $6M embezzled for the now former CEO to but lottery tickets.
Ash, 64, of Brooklyn, New York, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, which carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison; one count of obstruction of justice, which carried a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; and one count of making false statements, which carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Judge Lewis Kaplan, who also sentenced Ash and also convicted her in December on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making a false statement to a federal agent in an investigation of the Municipal Credit Union stated; “These crimes struck at the heart of the criminal justice system,” he said of the now former judge who stepped down from her judicial position only last month.
“But you lost it all,” he said, citing her “dishonest, corrupt and frankly outrageous actions.”
Prosecutors claimed that convicted CEO, Kam Wong needed a cover story for federal investigators who were questioning him in 2018, so he turned to Ash to help sell his cover story.
Ash’s defense attorney, Carrie H. Cohen, had claimed that her client had never lied to the government, deleted emails or withheld text messages in an effort to obstruct the investigation. Cohen claims that Ash trusted Wong and was duped by him to cover up his crimes.
Prosecutors were quick to point out that while Wong was embezzling millions, Ash was rewarded with plenty of perks and reimbursed for any expense that she submitted.
While Ash served on the MCU board, she received tens and thousands of dollars of perks, flying around the world for conferences, all expenses paid to the Greek Islands, England and the Caribbean.
MCU also reimbursed her personal internet, cable and phone bills. Wong also rewarded Ash with all the latest Apple devices, and, whenever requested, tickets to any sporting events including seats to the U.S. Open. Ash regularly used the MCU suite at a baseball stadium to host her birthday parties, billing all the food and alcohol to MCU as well.
Ash is the third person to fall in this massive fraud.
On June 4, 2019, Wong was sentenced to 66 months in prison for embezzlement from MCU and was ordered to forfeit $9,890,375 and to pay restitution in the same amount to MCU.
On July 23, 2020, Former Supervisory Committee Chair and head of MCU’s Fraud and Security Department, Joseph Guagliardo was sentenced to 27 months in prison for embezzlement from MCU and was ordered to forfeit $425,514 and to pay $468,189 in restitution to MCU.
More than a dozen board members were also investigated with no charges currently known.
In July of 2021, Municipal Credit Union and the NCUA reached a settlement in a lawsuit against CUMIS Insurance Society after its refusal to pay a $9.8 million insurance claim to cover the losses tied to fraud and corruption that led to the $4.9B MCU’s conservatorship.
Ash did show contrition after her conviction and stated; “Because of my actions, the reputation I spent a lifetime building has been destroyed and I have no one to blame but myself,”.
Convicted CU Board Member and Supreme Court Judge gets 15 Month Sentence – NCUA
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