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FRIDAY,
OCTOBER 18, 2019
VOLUME 113, No.38.
www.thevincentian.com
Media Owen Ralph’s workers focus legacy on children ensured Page 2 Page 13
We have transgressed Page 14
EC$1.50
Scotia workers get overtime Page 14
CTAWU donates brooms Page 17
VINCENTIAN JURIST CHARGED WITH OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE Right: Justice Sylvia Ash has served as a judge in the New York court system since 2006.
by NELSON A. KING
THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE in the Southern District of New York in Manhattan has charged a Vincentian jurist, Justice Sylvia Ash, 62, with conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. Geoffrey S. Berman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on Friday that the charges against Justice Ash, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago to Grenadian and Vincentian parents, arose from “a scheme to seek to influence and impede an ongoing federal investigation into fraud and corruption at MCU (Municipal Credit Union), a non-profit, multibillion-dollar financial institution.” Justice Ash, a Brooklyn, New York resident, is the daughter of the late Rudolph “Fire” Ash of Kingstown Hill,
who was renowned for pioneering the pre-Labor Day Vincentian festivities at East 95th Street and Church Avenue in Brooklyn. Ash is also the niece of the late Henry Ash, who was among the architects of the Christmas Lighting festival in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Justice Ash is a presiding judge of the Kings County Supreme Court, Commercial Division, and a former chair of the New York-headquartered MCU’s Board of Directors. Berman also announced that Joseph Guagliardo, 62, also known as “Joseph Gagliardo,” a former New York City Police Department Officer and former member of MCU’s supervisory committee, was charged separately with embezzlement, fraud and controlled substance offenses “arising from abuse of his
position as a member of the supervisory committee.” Berman said Ash was arrested at La Guardia Airport in New York last week Friday morning, after arriving from Miami, and appeared before Magistrate Judge Wang in Manhattan federal court Friday afternoon. “The charges announced today reflect the latest in our ongoing work to uncover criminal conduct at the highest levels of MCU, a multibillion-dollar, federally insured credit union,” said Berman in a statement. “As alleged, Sylvia Ash, a sitting state court judge, took repeated steps to obstruct a federal investigation into significant financial misconduct at MCU during Ash’s tenure as chair of the board of directors,” he added.
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