HE'S BACK ! ... in the slammer. see newsday article.

http://www.newsday.com/cosmo-sent-back-to-jail-to-await-fraud-trial-1.1512972

A federal judge found Friday that accused Ponzi scheme operator Nicholas Cosmo can't be trusted and ended his house arrest after less than three months and returned him to jail to await trial.

"It seems to me that he is unlikely to abide by any conditions of release," said U.S. District Judge Denis Hurley. "Mr. Cosmo is the type of individual - he will bend the rules if he thinks it advances his interests."

Cosmo, of Lake Grove, is charged with defrauding thousands of people out of more than $400 million through his Hauppauge firm, Agape World. He was arrested in January and was in jail until he posted $1.25 million bail in July.

But Hurley found that Cosmo violated three conditions of bail - that he used a computer, asked his girlfriend to access the Internet on his behalf and lied to his federal Pretrial Services officer about what he was doing on the computer. In addition, Hurley said he was troubled by evidence that Cosmo orchestrated the sale of an expensive watch, in violation of two court orders not to sell or transfer any of his assets.

Several of Cosmo's investors said they were relieved to see Cosmo remove his tie and be taken into custody by U.S. marshals.

"It's about time," said firefighter Michael Casey of Long Beach.

Earlier, as Hurley's decision approached, there was tension between Cosmo's sister, Fran Kegel, and another investor, Lou Piccoli, a Center Moriches contractor who said he's on the verge of losing everything he owns.

Piccoli said he was about to get on an elevator with Cosmo and Kegel when Kegel called for security. Later, Piccoli approached Kegel in the courtroom to explain himself and she told him sternly, "I don't want you near my brother."

In an attempt to keep her client out of jail, defense attorney Stacey Richman of the Bronx argued that Cosmo's violations were inconsequential and posed no risk to victims or to the public. All he was trying to do by accessing Agape documents was prepare for trial, she said.

"There has been no aspect of economic crime to any individual at all since Mr. Cosmo's release," Richman said. She noted that Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff gave away millions of dollars in jewelry after his arrest, but was allowed to stay out of jail until he pleaded guilty.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Grace Cucchissi said that Cosmo could easily victimize people again if he was allowed to gain access to investors' personal information. Putting him back in jail would protect the public from Cosmo's willingness to ignore the rules, she said.

Piccoli said later he was frustrated with the slow pace of the case - and Richman said with her client in jail again, it probably would be even slower.

Piccoli noted that foreclosure and repossession proceedings against him haven't slowed, and he said there ought to be a way to put those proceedings on ice until the criminal case is resolved and he gets any restitution he may be owed.

Going home Friday ???

Nicholas Cosmo may be one step closer to returning to jail to await trial on charges of running a phony investment scheme that bilked investors of more than $400 million.
U.S. District Judge Denis Hurley found Thursday night that Cosmo had violated several conditions of his bail, which allow him to live under home detention at his parents' home in Wantagh. Hurley put off deciding until Friday whether to return Cosmo to jail or to modify his bail conditions and allow him to remain under house arrest.
"He should be prepared for the possibility that he'll be remanded tomorrow," Hurley told Cosmo's attorney, Stacey Richman of the Bronx.
After two days of testimony and argument, Hurley found that Cosmo, of Lake Grove, violated three conditions of bail: He used a computer, asked his girlfriend to access the Internet on his behalf and lied to his federal Pretrial Services officer about what he was doing on the computer.
"It was a blatant violation of the court's order," Hurley said.
Richman characterized the violations as "technical" and said Cosmo stopped using his parents' computer after she told him to stop. She noted that the point of his actions was to prepare for his defense by going through documents and e-mails from Agape World, Cosmo's now-defunct Hauppauge firm that federal officials say has devoured the savings of numerous Long Islanders.
"It was a violation of the letter of the conditions, but not the spirit," Richman said after Hurley ruled, saying there's no reason to put Cosmo in jail again. "He's not a danger to the community."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Grace Cucchissi emphatically disagreed, noting the wreckage he's made of people's lives. "He's an economic danger to society," she said.
One of his former investors, who would not identify herself, agreed. She said the company documents that Cosmo reviewed had Social Security numbers on them, allowing him to commit identity theft or further steal from victims.
Cosmo was arrested in January and charged with running a Ponzi scheme through Agape World. He stayed in jail until a bail agreement was reached in July.
Earlier Thursday, Hurley heard testimony about another possible violation of bail conditions. Cucchissi said taped phone conversations from when Cosmo was jailed showed he was trying to sell an expensive watch, in violation of court orders not to transfer any of his assets.
Hurley, noting that this happened before Cosmo posted bail, wondered whether it was relevant. "I'm not sure if he can be deemed in violation of the terms of his release before his release," he said.
Cucchissi played the tapes of more than a dozen often vulgar phone conversations from April to June between Cosmo and either his girlfriend, Shamika Luciano, or his sister, Fran Kegel.
On the tapes, Cosmo is heard saying the watch could fetch as much as $12,500 and pushes Luciano and Kegel to sell it. Ultimately, it didn't have the value Cosmo believed. Kegel told him it sold for less than $3,000.

We need more participants.

The prosecutor will get more support from the judge if more victims show up.
we had some twenty or more show up yesterday, but most of us cant do two days in a row.
If you have the time or can make the time.. please do.
the time and place are the same as posted for yesterday (see prior posting).
thanks

Home again.

Photo credit: James Carbone | Nicholas Cosmo leaves federal court in Central Islip on Wednesday. (Oct. 7, 2009

• Nicholas Cosmo

Nicholas Cosmo went home last night from federal court in Central Islip, something that displeased about 20 people whom the government says he defrauded with a phony investment scheme that cost investors more than $400 million.

U.S. District Judge Denis Hurley allowed several of Cosmo's former investors at Agape World of Hauppauge to speak before a hearing began on whether Cosmo had violated the terms of his $1.25-million bail. The government claims Cosmo, who is under home detention at his parents' house in Wantagh, has done so by using a computer, asking his girlfriend to access the Internet and by trying to sell an expensive watch.

Cosmo, of Lake Grove, was arrested in January and charged with running a Ponzi scheme through Agape World. He stayed in jail until a bail agreement was reached in July.

"I don't know how home detention helps the victims," Dominick DiColandrea said in court. "If it did, I would invite him into my house for Thanksgiving."

As he did last month, Hurley suggested that the explanation Cosmo attorney Stacey Richman offered for accessing e-mails wasn't sufficient. Richman, of the Bronx, said her client asked girlfriend Shamika Luciano to print out 57 pages of e-mails to prepare for his defense.

Hurley noted that the ban on computer use was clear and that Cosmo should have asked Richman to seek permission from him to make an exception.

"No party has the right to unilaterally adjust" the conditions, he said.

In court, Hurley heard a tape - at times garbled and apparently incomplete - of a phone conversation between Cosmo and Donna Mackey, the federal Pretrial Services officer who supervised him. Mackey asked him about a flash drive that was used to transfer computer files concerning the case.

"I use it to play chess a lot," he told Mackey on the tape.

Prosecutor Grace Cucchissi later noted that even playing chess on a computer violated the bail conditions.

Mackey testified that Cosmo never mentioned asking Luciano to download or print e-mails. And even if Cosmo's hands never touched a keyboard in seeking the e-mail, asking Luciano to do it for him was a problem, Mackey said.

"He is trying to circumvent his way into using the Internet," she said. "He is not being truthful."

At the end of the day, Richman asked Hurley to tell Cosmo's former investors to stop making rude or threatening gestures in court toward Cosmo's family.

"I recognize the loss" they've suffered, Richman said, but asked that Cosmo's family members be left alone.

The hearing will resume this afternoon in Central Islip.

My Apology. the date is Wednesday October 7th 1:30pm

A hearing before Judge Denis Hurley is scheduled for October 7, 2009, 01:30 PM in U. S. District Court, EDNY, Long Island Courthouse, 100 Federal Plaza, Central Islip, NY 11722-4438 regarding the detention or release of the following defendant(s): NICHOLAS COSMO

Is he going Back? Victims need to come to court on Wednesday to support the prosecutor.

Internal Case Number: 2008R01592
Court Docket Number: 09-CR-00255

A hearing before Judge Denis Hurley is scheduled for October 7, 2009, 01:30 PM in U. S. District Court, EDNY, Long Island Courthouse, 100 Federal Plaza, Central Islip, NY 11722-4438 regarding the detention or release of the following defendant(s): NICHOLAS COSMO.

Unless you have received a subpoena to attend as a witness in this matter, your attendance is not required. Because of the Court's schedule, hearing dates could change on very short notice. If you plan on attending, you may want to call the VNS Call Center or check the web site to confirm the date and time. On September 25, 2009, the government made a bail application to have the defendant's bail revoked due to what it believes are violations of the bail conditions. At the October 7, 2009 hearing, the judge will determine whether or not to revoke the defendant's bail or for him to remain out on bail and subject to home confinement. Your attendance is not required, but if you would like to attend this event, please call our office one business day before to confirm date and time.