Founder of N.Y.C. Public Defender Office Is Charged With Fraud

New York Times

2 days ago

A founder of the Queens Defenders, a public defender office in New York City, has been charged with diverting tens of thousands of dollars from the organization and using it for personal expenses including a vacation in Bali, rent for a luxury apartment and teeth-whitening procedures.
The founder, Lori Zeno, and her husband, Rashad Ruhani, were charged with wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and theft of funds, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday by federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York.
Starting in 2024, prosecutors said, Ms. Zeno and Mr. Ruhani used at least $60,000 of the organization's funds to pay for luxury vacations, expensive dinners and a penthouse apartment that they said was being used for 'client defense.'
Ms. Zeno helped found the organization in 1996 and served as its executive director from 2018 to 2025, earning more than $400,000 in 2023. Mr. Ruhani joined Queens Defenders in 2023 as a client advocate and later entered a romantic relationship with Ms. Zeno, prosecutors said.
Ms. Zeno was forced out as executive director in January by the agency's board of directors, after numerous complaints from employees about her management of the organization, the Queens Daily Eagle reported at the time.
The Queens Defenders is one of several nonprofit organizations that is paid through city, state and federal contracts to represent criminal defendants who cannot afford to hire a lawyer.
In March, the Brooklyn Defenders, another public defender organization in the city, announced that it would oversee the services behind the Queens Defenders' $32 million annual city contract, at the direction of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice.
Mr. Ruhani, 55, was arrested Tuesday night at Kennedy Airport. He is set to appear Wednesday afternoon in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. Ms. Zeno, 64, has not yet been arrested.
Lawyers for Ms. Zeno and Mr. Ruhani could not immediately be reached for comment. Neither could a representative of the Queens Defenders. A spokesman for the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice declined to comment, citing 'active investigations and litigation.'
This is a developing story and will be updated.