According to the Gazetto they were "well respected"? By who? They knew all the right people-they had outrageous parties-they paid heavenly bills. OMG!
About time the Attorney General investigated how City positions are filled. This absolutely stinks to high heaven. And of course nobody knew from nuthin, nobody suspected nuthin {where have we heard that one before?} and Son of Sam keeps her on the planning commission! Another only in Schenectady.
SCHENECTADY -- The lawyer for a well known member of Schenectady's Guyanese community, convicted over the summer for her role in a money laundering and bank fraud scheme involving her husband and a downstate bank executive, said he plans an appeal.
Attorney E. Stewart Jones said Friday that Kamla Sahabir was convicted in federal court in August on six counts related to bank fraud and laundering cash through American Seva International, a Hindu temple in Schenectady of which she and her husband, Baldeo Sahabir, are members. He is from Trinidad.
Kamla Sahabir was acquitted of the remaining four bank charges, Jones added. Her husband, however, was convicted of all 10 charges, according to attorneys.
Authorities have said the husband and wife, with the help of Lal B. Singh, who worked as a manager at Bank of New York in Manhattan overseeing unclaimed funds, funneled more than $2.4 million in unclaimed funds from 2003-07 to an account associated with the temple. The cash was later split among the three. The total amount stolen, authorities say, is $3.5 million. Authorities say Singh committed the fraud by setting up phony payouts to the Sahabirs and other accomplices.
Singh was arrested in August 2007 on charges including conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He later pleaded guilty to a related charge which called for him to testify against the Sahabirs at trial before U.S. District Court Judge David Hurd in Utica.
Kamla Sahabir never took the stand, though her husband did.
On Friday, Kamla Sahabir referred all questions related to the criminal trial to Jones. She instead touted all the good she had her husband have done in the community since moving to Schenectady.
Kamla Sahabir, an agent with Prudential Manor Homes on Route 7, has been active in the community, including work to bring Guyanese immigrants from downstate to Schenectady. She formerly served on the Schenectady Planning Commission.
"We are very honest, decent, hard working people," she said, adding they have the support of clients and friends and plan to stay in Schenectady. She said she teaches yoga at the temple while Baldeo Sahabir presides over some of the services and teaches Indian music.
"I'm confident in the end, we will be clean and clear of all the charges," she added.
The Sahabirs face lengthy prison time when they are sentenced Dec. 9.
According to the Gazetto they were "well respected"? By who? They knew all the right people-they had outrageous parties-they paid heavenly bills. OMG!
About time the Attorney General investigated how City positions are filled. This absolutely stinks to high heaven. And of course nobody knew from nuthin, nobody suspected nuthin {where have we heard that one before?} and Son of Sam keeps her on the planning commission! Another only in Schenectady.
Will she continue to "serve the people" from prison? You can't make this stuff up. Had enough -YET? This is what Mayor SOS seeks for the planning commission. No wonder they wouldn't approve Walgreen's. Did you hear the one about the Muni golf pro?
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According to the Gazetto they were "well respected"? By who? They knew all the right people-they had outrageous parties-they paid heavenly bills. OMG!
Will she continue to "serve the people" from prison? You can't make this stuff up. Had enough -YET? This is what Mayor SOS seeks for the planning commission. No wonder they wouldn't approve Walgreen's. Did you hear the one about the Muni golf pro?
