Commissioner O’Neill shown with mayor De Blasio. Photo-Flickr
[Open Letter Police NYPD Commissioner]
January 10, 2018
James O’Neill, Police Commissioner
New York Police Department
1 Police Plaza
New York, N.Y., 10038
Dear Commissioner O’Neill,
1. On September 13, 2017, I was interviewed by two detectives from IAB, Yesenia Guerrero and Edwin Jerez. I had sent a letter on September 12, 2017 to Queens DA Richard Brown and copied to Mayor Bill de Blasio, IAB and to your attention at NYPD about NYPD Officer James Wilfinger who started having sex with my wife, around November 2016 and on one occasion, she told me, raped her anally.
In addition to IAB, I was interviewed by Morgan Galloway and Vanessa Rosen of CCRB.
I have enclosed two articles from Black Star News about the case. Wilifinger, and subsequently an NYPD detective named Davinder Singh, are being used to retaliate against me by having sex with my wife and ruining my marriage and destroying my family.
2. Wilfinger started coming to my home around November 2016. I bought the property valued at the time at $800,000 in 2007 in Howard Beach.
Wilfinger was fishing for information about a lawsuit I had filed in 2015 against Thomas Pasquale for wrongful arrest on my property. At the time Pasquale was commander of 106 precinct. He is now NYPD Deputy Inspector and he is with Internal Affairs– IAB.
3. Wilfinger seduced my wife into sex by giving her drugs and alcohol. My wife never took drugs or alcohol before. He even started having sex with her in cars and vans in parking lots of bars. I hired a private investigator and he helped document all of these incidents with photographs and recordings
4. When I moved to Howard Beach, my family, ethnic-Indian Guyanese immigrants, we faced a racist attack from a neighbor who called us “niggers” and swung a bat at us. The incident was covered by several media. One New York Daily News article dated August 24, 2007 was under the headline “Family Haunted By Hate in Queens.”At that time then City Council member Joseph Addabbo (now State Senator) told the media that I was the one who played the race card. He later prevented me from putting a fence around my my property. My family had police protection for six months. When the police protection was removed the retaliation started.
5. As part of the retaliation, I started receiving hundreds of tickets for violations that did not exist to my private property and the four buildings I owned. When The Daily News wrote about it on August 25, 2007 the fines already totaled $10,500. The violations later added to hundreds and thousands of dollars. The City started withholding payment of rent for my section 8 tenants because of the fake violations. This retaliation destroyed my business and my rental buildings were forced into foreclosure. I have documented all these fake violations. When a reporter from The Black Star News called a City lawyer about one $40,000 violation it was reduced to $0.
6. I started getting arrested by officers from the 106 precinct. All a neighbor had to do was call and complain about me. I was arrested more than 8 times and prosecuted by the Queens DA. On each occasion the case was later dismissed. Tying me up in the courts had negative impact on my ability to earn a living. I have attached stories written in The Black Star News about some of those cases.
7. As part of the retaliation campaign City and State agencies sent armed agents to my property numerous times based on annonymous calls. I have documented all the visits and taken photographs of the agents and have badge numbers. In addition to NYPD, armed agents came from FDNY, D.O.T., DSNY, Coast Guard, D.E.P., D.E.C, D.O.B. and ACS.
8. In 2014 I was arrested by officers of the 106. The officers tried to get my wife to claim that I had hit her which was a total lie. I complained to Internal Affairs. Detective Davinder Singh contacted me numerous times by phone throughout 2014 to discuss the case. The charges against me were dismissed. But nothing ever happened about my IAB complaint about the police. I filed a Notice of Claim against the City and police and one of the officers I listed was IAB’s Detective Singh.
9. In 2015 I was arrested on my property by officers from the 106 including Pasquale claiming I was “blocking” a road that ran through my property. This was false. Neighbors used to drive through the property under its previous owner but there is no such road and a court had already ruled in may favor confirming there is no road. I later sued the City and Pasquale for the false arrest.
10. On March 29, 2016 during another false arrest on my property I was assaulted by Officer Ryan Kenny of the 106. I lost two teeth and injured my lower spine.
I became fearful that officers from 106 would one day kill me for something like “resisting arrest.” My wife and I have been married since 2004. We have three children now ages 11, 10, and 4. Who would provide for them if I was killed? So I moved to my grandmother’s house which is about 15 minutes away. I would stay at my Howard Beach property in the day and then go to my grandmother’s.
11. My lawsuit against the City and Deputy Inspector Pasquale reached the courts in fall of 2016. Just before I deposed Pasquale Officer Wilfinger started visiting my Howard Beach property to ask my wife about the lawsuit. Then he started taking her to bars and giving her alcohol and drugs and engaging in sex. I gave the names of the bars to IAB detectives Guerrero and Jerez when they interviewed me on September 13, 2017.
12. On November 16, 2016 I came to our Howard Beach property and caught Wilfinger in bed with my wife. Wilfinger was naked except for underwear and sex. My youngest son who was three at the time was also on the same bed. I confronted Wilfinger and demanded to know why he was having sex with my wife. He seemed to be under the influence and was groggy. I videotaped the encounter.
13. On November 27, 2016 at 5AM my wife called me to come to our Howard Beach property immediately. She was in pain when I got there. She told me Wilfinger had raped her anally. She refused to call 911 and begged me not to. My wife was afraid of what Wilfinger would do. She also refused to go to hospital Emergency room. The private investigator told me to document the rape so I photographed my wife’s anal area. I did so on November 27 and December 4, 2016 to compare the bruises. My wife told me that Wilfinger told her to sell our house and move away with him away from New York. She said he told her I was going to either be killed by the police or end up in prison. My wife had never taken drugs or alcohol and now she had become addicted because of Wilfinger. Wilfinger even gave my wife a PBA Card ID # 31561 which she was to use in case she was ever stopped by police for DWI when she was coming home after they went bar hopping. Wilfinger told my eldest son that his gun was for dealing with “crazy ex-husbands” like his father even though my wife and I are married.
14. Even though no action had been taken in the past I continued to call IAB and leave messages hoping something would be done about Wilfinger.
15. I again confronted Wilfinger in my bed on New Year’s Day 2017. When I was videotaping him he drew out a gun on me and I ran away. The video did not catch the gun as I had already turned my phone and ran. I soon received a text message from Officer Valerie Cincinelli of the 106 precinct. I told her about Wilfinger having sex with my wife and pulling out a gun on me. Being it was the 106 precinct I was not surprised when she said she knew nothing about Wilfinger. She asked me to come and surrender. I was afraid that I could be beaten and even killed at the 106. Officers from the 106 also erased content from my phone in the past and I could not risk them destroying my evidence against Wilfinger.
16. In February, I was in court to deal with another case initiated by the 106 precinct. As soon as the judge adjourned it three officers from the 106 tackled me and arrested me roughly in front of the judge. One of the officers was Valerie Cincinelli. When I asked to be shown a warrant and why I was being arrested Cincinelli said: “You should have surrendered when I told you to come in.”
17. Later I was charged with forcible touching, third-degree sexual abuse and second degree harassment of my stepdaughter, inappropriately. She is my wife’s 23 year old daughter from a previous marriage. It was completely made up charge. I have notarized affidavits from my wife and one from her mother (my mother in law) to show that no such incident occurred. On December 18, 2016 I had argued with my stepdaughter about her bringing a boyfriend into the Howard Beach property and sleeping with him in the same room that was shared with my eldest son and his sister who is one year younger. It so happens that I had my cell phone recorder running and I can prove there was no incident of any sexual nature. Just a loud argument. When the 106 made up the charges and forced my step daughter to go along with it they must not have known that I was recording. I have learned from the many incidents where the 106 has tried to set me up using my own family.
18. Late last year when it became clear the 106 precinct wanted to railroad me so as to cover up for the crimes by Officer Wilfinger against my family, I wrote the letter on September 12, 2017 to Queens DA Richard Brown detailing the numerous wrongful arrests against me by the 106, the retaliation, and about Wilfinger. I wrote about the bogus rape allegations and Home Depot price-tag switching charge from 2015. I copied the letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio, and to your attention Commissioner O’Neill. I also copied it to IAB, CCRB and to media. It was after I sent that letter that detectives Guerrero and Jerez from IAB came to interview me on September 13, 2017.
19. My trial on the sex charge and the Home Depot price-tag switching charge was supposed to start before Judge Michelle A. Johnson on September 14, 2017. The Black Star News published an article about the cases. The next day the DA asked for an adjournment. Most of the cases against me by the 106 precinct have ended before Judge Johnson. The Queens DA charged me with a sex crime without any ADA or investigator from the Queens DA’s office interviewing my stepdaughter or other people who live in the Howard Beach property including my wife and Ms. Sati Mohan my mother in law. Both gave me notarized affidavits that show no such incident happened. The Queens DA is simply going by the words of officer Andrew Schneider from the 106 precinct.
20. In October 2017 I traveled to Florida where my mother lives. I got two phone calls from someone who said he was Detective Vargese from 107 precinct on October 20, 2017. He said he wanted to interview me about my allegations against Wilfinger and the 106 precinct. We spoke for about 30 minutes in one call and 45 in the other call. I recorded the interview. On October 23, when I was still in Florida my home office in my grandmother’s property was broken into. I had a friend call 911 and officers from the 106 responded. They told him they could not conduct a crime scene investigation because I was away.
21. When I returned I found that two computer hard drives had been stolen and I took pictures of the scene. When the reporter from The Black Star News called the 107 precinct for a followup story he was told there is no such detective or officer by the name Vargese.
22. I was informed that another officer who also had a weapon had started coming to my Howard Beach property and having sex with my wife. I went to the property once and the officer came out charging from my home. I was afraid he could shoot me and I left. I have since found out from my mother in law that he is Detective Davinder Singh. This would be the same individual whom I listed as a defendant in my Notice of Claim against the City, date January 26, 2015 (copy attached). He is the same IAB detective who had called me on numerous occasions in 2014 for information about my complaint against the 106 precinct. (I have recordings of those conversations from 2014). He is now sleeping with my wife as part of the continuing acts of retaliation while also obtaining any information to undermine my complaints against the City and NYPD. I have attached a photograph of Detective Singh taken from my bedroom at the Howard Beach property. As of today Detective Singh continues to come to my Howard Beach property. I believe his main duty is to monitor my wife to prevent her from speaking to independent investigative authorities — practically holding her hostage.
23. At this point I am not confident that any investigation into my allegations are being carried out by IAB. To begin with there is conflict of interest since Deputy Inspector Pasquale who I have a pending case against –it was dismissed and I am appealing– is assigned to IAB. More importantly I have not been contacted by detectives Guerrero or Jerez since September 13, 2017 or by any other investigators.
24. Given the fact that I was “interviewed” by someone who may have been a fake detective (or may have been a rogue officer) and the break in into my home office I am fearful for my life and that of my 87 year old grandmother.
25. Meanwhile the Queens DA has resurrected the Home Depot price-tag switching case against me from August 2015. I am alleged to have switched tags and bought an item for $80 less than its true value. This is another bogus charge yet the trial started in Queens Criminal Court on November 30, 2016. On that same date the ADA Brian Cox told the Judge Michelle A. Johnson that the people was lowering charges from A to B misdemeanor. This maneuver which I objected to allows for a bench trial and denies me a jury trial. There are other problems with the case (a) It should have been time barred since it dates to August 2015 and judges had allowed the DA to get about 15 adjournments denying me speedy trial (b) A legal aid attorney informed me in 2015 that the DA had decided not to pursue the case (c) My current legal aid attorney Leonard Ressler told me the ADA said the second ranking ADA in the DA’s office put me on the “shit list” because the reporter from The Black Star News contacted them and wrote about the case and that they are seeking no resolution except for a conviction (d) The DA said he had a copy of surveillance film from Home Depot that would prove that I switched price-tags. I demanded for a copy of the video. When the trial started the ADA Cox now says he does not have the video.
This is destruction of evidence. A video would in fact prove that I never switched price tags and prove my statement that this is another set-up by the 106 precinct. Judge Johnson has already denied my motion to dismiss the case on the ground that it is time-barred, and that the DA destroyed evidence. The sex-related charges was not even brought up again when the trial started as it is now clear that concoction would not withstand scrutiny.
I am filing a motion for Judge Johnson to recuse herself and for a jury trial.
26. I am concerned that I could be convicted on false charges, imprisoned and then harmed in order to derail the investigation into my allegations against Pasquale, the 106 precinct, Wilfinger and Singh. My trial on the Home Depot price-tag switch case has been adjourned until January 18, 2018.
Commissioner O’Neill:
-Is it normal and legal for a police officer –Wilfinger– to go to fish for information about a lawsuit in the home of someone who has filed the lawsuit against the NYPD and City and give drugs and alcohol to the plaintiff’s wife, initiate sexual relations, sleep on the same bed with his wife and son, and even anally rape his wife?
-Is it normal and legal for an NYPD detective –Singh– who once supposedly investigated allegations against the NYPD and was named in a Notice of Claim against the Police and City to years later start having sex with the complainant’s wife and move into his home?
-Is it normal and legal for one precinct –the 106– to harrass a civilian, arrest him more than 8 times and subject him to frivolous charges that are later dropped –burdening him with court appearances and arrest records and making him unemployable?
-Is it normal and legal for multiple City and State agencies to send armed agents to the home of someone who has done nothing wrong to write him up with fake tickets and burden him with fines that ruin his business by pushing his residential and rental buildings into foreclosure? Who was behind sending those armed agents from multiple City and State agencies abusing taxpayers resources to ruin one family and drive them away from one community?
-Is it normal and legal for a home owner to be arrested for blocking a non-existing road on his property?
-Is it normal and legal for the home owner who worked hard for years and saved his money to buy a home valued at $800,000 to be forced away from his home for fear that police from one precinct –the 106– who have harrassed him for years –with multiple arrests and an assault– may one day kill him and take him away from his wife and children?
-Is it normal and legal for an investigation of this nature to be carried out by the agency where one of the accused (Deputy Inspector Pasquale) is a senior officer?
These are some of the questions an investigation can also address.
I believe my civil rights are being violated and once again demand for a transparent investigation into my allegations by appropriate neutral departments of the NYPD. I am also seeking for an investigation by the Department of Justice.
Sincerely,
Kris Gounden
cc: Mayor Bill de Blasio
Corey Johnson, Speaker New York City Council
Donovan J. Richards, Chair New York City Council Committee on Public Safety
Richard Brown, Queens District Attorney
Jonathan Darche, Executive Director, CCRB
Jeff Sessions, Attorney General
Richard P. Donohue, U.S. Attorney, Eastern District
Geoffrey S. Berman, U.S. Attorney, Southern District
Eric Schneiderman, N.Y. Attorney General
N.Y. Times
N.Y. Daily News
N.Y. Post
The Black Star News
