DISTRICT ATTORNEY - NEW YORK COUNTY

NEWS RELEASE
February 6, 2008

Contact: Jennifer Kushner
212-335-9400

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the indictment of a man for forging and tampering with a parking notice and bankruptcy petition in order to avoid paying judgments. 

The investigation revealed that on January 24, 2007, KEVIN AGUILAR went to the New York City Department of Finance (“Department of Finance”) in order to retrieve his mother’s car, which had been towed due to outstanding judgments for parking violations owed on his mother’s car. AGUILAR met with a Department of Finance enforcement attorney and tried to get his mother’s car released without paying any judgments or fees owed on the car because, the defendant claimed his mother was going through a bankruptcy proceeding. AGUILAR gave the attorney information on a bankruptcy case. After an inquiry, Department of Finance employees discovered that the case had been dismissed and was therefore not valid. Based on this information, the attorney prepared a City of New York Department of Finance Parking Violations Bureau Operations Notice/ release form for the car, which required the payment of all judgments and fees.

The investigation further revealed that the defendant altered the original notice in a number of ways and forged the Department of Finance attorney’s initials on the fraudulent alterations, making it appear as if the car should be released without payment of any of the outstanding judgments and fees. AGUILAR presented the tampered form to a City Marshal’s Office employee who released the car to the defendant without having him pay the required judgments and fees due on the car. The Marshal’s Office retained the forged release as part of their files.

At some point in late winter/early spring 2007, AGUILAR’s mother’s car was towed again. On April 13, 2007, the defendant returned to the Department of Finance in order to get the car released without paying judgments and fees. AGUILAR presented the same Department of Finance enforcement attorney with a forged and altered United States Bankruptcy Court Northern District Bank Petition with two debtors’ names on the form, one of the names was the defendant’s mother. The Department of Finance investigated and determined that the record submitted by the defendant was not valid and refused to give the defendant a release for the car. The Department of Finance retained the forged bankruptcy court petition as part of their files.

The Department of Finance contacted the New York City Department of Investigation, which handled the initial investigation; in the fall of 2007, the case was then referred to the District Attorney’s Investigations Bureau.

AGUILAR is being charged with two counts of Forgery in the Second Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, and two counts of Tampering with Public Records in the First Degree, D felonies, which are punishable by up to seven years in prison. The defendant is also charged with two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree an E felony, which is punishable by up to four years in prison. AGUILAR was arraigned today in New York State Supreme Court, Part 60.

Assistant District Attorney Clara Henderson is in charge of the prosecution under the supervision of Special Prosecutions Bureau Chief Thomas Wornom.

Defendant’s Information: