Bloomingburg developer pleads guilty to voter fraud

FRITZ MAYER
Posted 5/31/17

WHITE PLAINS, NY — Developer Kenneth Nakdimen on May 25 pled guilty to a charge of conspiracy to corrupt the electoral process through a scheme that included voter fraud. Nakdimen was a partner …

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Bloomingburg developer pleads guilty to voter fraud

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WHITE PLAINS, NY — Developer Kenneth Nakdimen on May 25 pled guilty to a charge of conspiracy to corrupt the electoral process through a scheme that included voter fraud. Nakdimen was a partner with Shalom Lamm in the development of the controversial Villages at Chestnut Ridge project in Bloomingburg.

Lamm, Nakdimen and a third man, Volvy Smilowitz were arrested in December 2016 and charged. Lamm and Smilowitz are still fighting the charges. Nakdimen, 64, reportedly agreed to a six-to-12-month prison term, along with a fine ranging from $2,000 to $20,000, but the agreement must be approved by a judge. He will be sentenced in September.

Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim stated: “Fair elections are the bedrock of democracy. As he has now admitted, Kenneth Nakdimen devised a scheme to advance his real estate project by falsely registering voters and corrupting this sacred process. We will not allow greed to influence elections at any level.”

Kim said Nakdimen started purchasing land in Bloomingburg in 2006, “but by late 2013, the first of their real estate developments had met local opposition, and still remained under construction and uninhabitable. When met with resistance, rather than seek to advance their real estate development project through legitimate means, Nakdimen and others instead decided to corrupt the democratic electoral process in Bloomingburg by falsely registering voters and paying bribes for voters who would help elect public officials favorable to their project.”

William Hermann, supervisor of the Town of Mamakating, who has been entangled with multiple legal battles with the developers, said in a statement, “Kenneth Nakdimen’s guilty plea to the federal voter fraud charges for committing this terrible injustice against our community represents the beginning of the unraveling of a major corruption scandal. This is the first step in vindication for the entire community that has fought so hard to expose the efforts of Nakdimen and his co-conspirators, Shalom Lamm and Volvy Smilowitz. The fraud they committed on our community must be fully revealed. Something very wrong went on here.

“This town board was elected by the citizens of Mamakating regardless of political persuasion with the clear mandate to stop corruption in our town. We are pleased that the public, law enforcement and now the judiciary are seeing the bad actors who sought to pillage and plunder our town for what they are. We are confident that justice will prevail and that all these developers and their co-conspirators will pay the price for all the damage they have done.”

According to the U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case, the investigation is ongoing and may result in revised charges.

The Sullivan County Legislature, which agreed to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought by Lamm. That led to significant changes to the way voters may be challenged in Bloomingburg, issued a statement saying in light of Nakdimen’s guilty plea, “the Sullivan County Legislature will be reviewing its legal options with the County Attorney’s Office, which continues to monitor the case and will advise the legislature accordingly.”

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