The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed. The district court again denied the motion, and Sekhar was sentenced to seventy-five months imprisonment. Sekhar then moved for a judgment of acquittal, arguing that there was insufficient evidence that he attempted to control the actions of the General Counsel in order to benefit himself financially. District Court for the Northern District of New York denied the motion, and Sekhar, proceeding pro se, was convicted by a jury on five of the six counts. Sekhar moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing that what he was trying to obtain through threats (i.e., the General Counsel’s recommendation) was not “property” as required by both statutes. § 1951(a), and six counts of interstate transmission of extortionate threats under 18 U.S.C. Sekhar was indicted on one count of extortion under the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. The FBI was then able to trace the emails to the home of the Petitioner Giridhar Sekhar, a managing partner at FA Technology. The General Counsel was advised by law enforcement to ask for more time, which the emailer granted. Over the next few days, the General Counsel received several more threatening emails. Based on this information, the Comptroller decided on Novemnot to invest in the fund.įour days later, on November 17, the General Counsel received an anonymous email threatening to disclose his extramarital affair if he did not reverse his position and recommend to the Comptroller that he approve an investment in FA Tech III. While investigating the fund, the General Counsel was advised by the office of the New York Attorney General that it was investigating an FA Technology agent associated with a similar fund and that the Comptroller should avoid investing in FA Tech III. In 20, the Comptroller was considering investing in a fund (“FA Tech III”) managed by FA Technology Ventures, which would have garnered $7.6 million in fees for the company. In making these determinations, the Comptroller is advised by his General Counsel. As such, he has sole authority to approve investments for the Fund. The New York State Comptroller is the sole trustee for the Common Retirement Fund (“Fund”), the employee pension fund for state and local government employees in New York State. Is the recommendation of an attorney considered "property" which can be extorted for purposes of federal anti-extortion law?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |