Five Towners, Thomas Branksy and Peter Weiser, charged in more than $8 million fraud case

Thomas Bransky and Peter Weiser, of Woodmere and Lawrence respectively, are accused of defrauding New York City of what federal officials said was more than $7 million in illegal profits and Bransky’s more than $1.2 million as chief executive officer of the nonprofit Childrens Community Services.

As CEO of Childrens Community Services, Bransky, 47, allegedly directed what the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York said were “lucrative contracts ultimately paid for by the city,” to four companies owned and controlled by Weiser, 80.

United States Attorney Damian Williams said that Bransky deliberately hid Weiser’s involvement with CCS and his ownership of the businesses that contracted with CCS, along with “submitting false statements and documents to the city.”

“As alleged the defendants engaged in a years-long scheme to pocket millions in taxpayer dollars through the systematic exploitation of city programs intended to meet the basic needs of some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers — homeless men, women and children,” Williams said in a news release.

According to the indictment filed on Oct. 11, from about 2014 through at least January 2020, Bransky and Weiser, “conspired to defraud the city agencies responsible for the administration of homeless services.”

Starting around November 2014 to about February 2020, CCS was awarded a dozen contracts with the city valued at roughly $913 million. The alleged scheme included Weiser and associates creating Weiser Entities to illegally profit from the city providing services to homeless people.

“The defendants caused the city to pay over $50 million that the city would not otherwise have to paid to entities, including inflated prices and unreasonable mark-ups for goods and services,” Jocelyn Strauber, commissioner of the city investigation department said in the release.    

Bransky and Weiser were each charge with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. Each count carries the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The pair is also charged with one count of embezzlement of government funds, a maximum sentence of 10 years. Weiser is also charged with one count of money laundering, a maximum of 20 years.