December 8, 1999

NEW YORK- PUERTO RICO STOLEN JET SKI DISTRIBUTION NETWORK SMASHED;

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, joined by New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir and officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service, United States Customs Service, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New York State Insurance Department, announced today the indictment of 55 individuals, including the owners of a lucrative recreational vehicle dealership in Howard Beach, Queens, and the owners of a similar dealership in Puerto Rico, in connection with the operation of a stolen jetski distribution network. Fifty-two jetskis and three jetboats which had allegedly been stolen or which were allegedly "given up" to the ring to defraud insurance companies and which were shipped from the New York metropolitan area and resold to purchasers in Puerto Rico have been traced. Twenty-seven of those (21 in Puerto Rico and 6 in the New York metropolitan area) have been recovered to date.

District Attorney Brown said, "Over the last several summers, police officers assigned to the NYPD's Harbor Unit's Vessel Theft Unit noted a significant increase in the number of jetskis and jetboats reported stolen and never recovered from waterfront communities in Brooklyn and Queens. After alerting the appropriate police precincts and with the assistance of members of the NYPD's Patrol and Detective Divisions, the Vessel Theft Unit developed further information about the widespread theft of watercraft in Queens and Brooklyn. Thereafter, a year ago last August, a joint investigation was undertaken by the NYPD and the Queens District Attorney's Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau, assisted by agents and investigators of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Customs Service, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New York State Department of Insurance."

New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir said, "Today's enforcement action is the culmination of a seventeen month investigation which has resulted in 40 arrests so far. Theft and insurance fraud are far from being victimless crimes. These types of cases send a clear message to potential offenders that we will make it as difficult as possible for anyone engaged in illegal activities, no matter what the magnitude of the activity is. Additionally, these arrests should serve as a reminder to the public that we all pay the price when individuals commit fraud. We will continue these types of enforcement efforts with the Queens District Attorney's Office and other law enforcement agencies in aggressively pursuing anyone engaged in these types of illegal activities."

District Attorney Brown said, "Our investigation -- which has lead us from the New York metropolitan area to the island of Puerto Rico -- has resulted in the indictment today of 55 individuals. Ten of the defendants are charged in a 103 count indictment with operating a criminal enterprise, the goal of which was to steal or obtain by insurance fraud or other illegal means jetskis and jetboats from the New York metropolitan area and ship them to Puerto Rico for re-sale. Two corporate defendants are also named in the indictment -- Cross Bay Honda Suzuki, Inc. a lucrative recreational vehicle dealership in Howard Beach, Queens, and Caribbean Central Sport, Inc., a similar dealership in Puerto Rico. In addition to the 10 defendants charged with enterprise corruption, 45 other individuals are charged separately or in pairs with insurance fraud and other crimes in 42 additional indictments."

According to the enterprise corruption charges, from September 1996 to November 1998, the defendant Kim Aiello, Jr., 21, of 2292 National Drive, Mill Basin, Brooklyn, coordinated the theft of 52 jetskis and 3 jetboats from the Howard Beach, Mill Basin and Sheepshead Bay communities. Aiello is alleged to have coordinated the activities of various thieves or those who gave up their watercraft to defraud their insurance companies, stored the jetskis and jet boats at his former residence until they could be shipped to Puerto Rico and made the shipping arrangements with the assistance of the owners/operators of Cross Bay Honda Suzuki, the defendants Michael Cirasola, 41, of 3000-51 Stevens Street, Oceanside, N.Y. and Salvatore Cirasola, 32, of 355 Hamilton Avenue, West Hempstead, New York. The jetskis and jetboats were then allegedly shipped to defendant Wascar Valenzuela, of Calle Wesser 210, San Juan, Puerto Rico, the owner of Caribbean Central Sport, Inc. in Levittown, Puerto Rico who would sell the watercraft to unsuspecting buyers.

District Attorney Brown said, "So far we have been able to trace 55 watercraft worth $412,000, 31 of which we believe were stolen 'on order' by the defendants and 24 of which were so-called 'insurance give-ups' -- instances in which the owner of the craft falsely reported that it was stolen when in fact, they had sold it to the defendant Aiello and his associates. Last week investigators executed a series of 32 search warrants in Puerto Rico and recovered 21 jetskis believed to be stolen or given-up for insurance purposes."

"During the course of our investigation", District Attorney Brown said, "it was discovered that the alleged scheme was facilitated by the fact that Bombardier and other recreational vehicle manufacturers typically sold jetskis at the New York Boat Show in January on terms which required no down payment and no other payments until September and helped buyers obtain financing and insurance for the watercraft. These arrangements, it is believed, made it easier for Aiello to recruit people willing to claim that their watercraft had been stolen because it spared the owners the expense of storing the watercraft over the winter, gave them the money to pay off the loan and receive money from the defendant Aiello's crew as well. Moreover, it is believed that it also increased sales to Cross Bay Honda Suzuki since the jetski owners could then buy a brand new jetski the following Spring and repeat the scheme which allowed them the use all summer of a jetski at no cost to them.

"In addition to participating in the operation of a theft and insurance fraud ring," said District Attorney Brown, "the owners of Cross Bay Honda Suzuki -- Salvatore Cirasola and his brother Michael Cirasola -- and other defendants are charged with having participated in an unlawful warranty scheme and performing false warranty repair work. It is charged that Cross Bay Honda Suzuki, a licensed dealer of Bombardier jetskis, sold 59 Bombardier jetskis to Caribbean Central Sport in violation of their agreement with Bombardier and that the defendants Cirasola and Wascar Valenzuela forged warranty agreements filed with Bombardier to falsely state that the 59 jetskis were sold and registered for use in New York when, in fact, the jetskis were sold and in use in Puerto Rico. A number of these jetskis, it is alleged, were registered in the names of employees of Cross Bay Honda Suzuki.

Federal Bureau of Investigations Assistant Director Lewis D. Schiliro said, "This investigation once again demonstrates the value of the law enforcement community working together to solve a specific crime. The FBI's ability to conduct investigations across state and national borders is an important aid to state and local law enforcement in a criminal landscape that increasingly knows no borders."

Neil D. Levin, Superintendent of Insurance said, "These arrests prove that aggressive multi agency efforts are working to protect New York State consumers. Multi-agency efforts like this also give us the opportunity to step up our efforts to eliminate insurance fraud. We would also like to thank Hartford Insurance for making this a success for the Department."

The 10 defendants charged with enterprise corruption face a maximum penalty of up to 25 years in prison. Those charged with Insurance Fraud, a Class D felony, face penalties of up to seven years in prison.

The investigation was carried out by Police Officers James Beck and Michael Murphy and Sergeant Peter Woods of the New York City Police Department Harbor Unit - Vessel Theft Unit, which is under the supervision of Captain John T. Cassidy; Detective Kenneth Williams of the Major Case Squad and Detective Kevin Cashen of the Detective Borough Queens, under the command of Deputy Chief Patrick Timlin; FBI - Special Agents George Wright, Mike Sear and Jason Randazzo of the New York Division; FBI Special Agents Juan Molina, Luis Quesada, Alberto Cases, Carmelo Rivera, Hector Gonzalez, William Ortiz, Alma Munoz, Juan Miranda, Rafael Ruiz, Angel Rodriguez, Edwin Lopez, Carlos Marchand of the Puerto Rico Division which is under the supervision of Jose Figueroa; United States Customs Service Special Agent Carl Brownholtz; United States Postal Inspections Service Inspector Vincent Cinnamo; New York State Insurance Frauds Bureau Investigator Vito Bruno; New York City Port Authority Police Officer Frank Esposito, Puerto Rico Police Department Officers Melvin Vega, Angel Negron, Richard Rivera, Miguel Rodriguez, Mercedes Torres, Juan Roman and Carlos Rodriguez under the supervision of Detectives Miguel Falcon and Amparo Alvarado

Assistant District Attorneys Meryl A. Lutsky and Bill Gianaris of the District Attorney's Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau which is under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Brian J. Mich and the overall supervision of the Executive Assistant District Attorney of the Investigations Division Robert D. Alexander is in charge of the case.

District Attorney Brown acknowledged the assistance of the Acting United States Attorney for Puerto Rico Guillermo Gil and Assistant United States Attorneys Maria Dominguez and Edna Rosario.

It should be noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that a defendant should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.