| After Computer Fraudster Was
Detained Amid Airbnb Questions He Pleads
Guilty in SDNY
By Matthew
Russell Lee
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 21 – Two members of a trio
charged with elder fraud were
presented late on May 23, 2019
with one released on bond and
the other ordered detained by
U.S. District
Court for the
Southern
District of
New York
Magistrate Judge
Debra Freeman.
While
the charges involve
defrauding elderly customers
with unneeded
computer repairs,
one of the
defendants is
a 54-year old
taxi driver
from Astoria, Queens
named Jas Pal.
Judge Freeman released
him on
$150,000 bond
and the
condition that he
not use an
internet-enabled
smartphone but
rather
"satellite"
technology for
GPS for his
cab driving.
Pal's
co-defendant who
was
(and is) still
detained is Gunjit
Malhotra,
who was
described as a
resident of
Ghaziabad,
India. That
was one of the
problems he
faced,
showing Judge
Freeman where
he would stay
in New York in
light of the
indictment. Malhotra
had
in the past
stayed with Jas Pal
in Astoria but
has paid Pal for
as an
Airbnb.
Judge
Freeman
noted several
times
that many
Airbnb's
are not
long term.
Judge
Freeman
said she
wasn't
comfortable
with the
arrangement.
Judge Freeman told
the government not
to copy the
passport, but
continued
detention for
Malhotra.
Now
it is two
years later,
and Malhotra
has pleaded
guilty. On May
21, 2020 the
assigned
District Judge
Andrew L. Carter
held a
proceeding and
Inner City
Press covered
it.
Judge
Carter invited
a filing by
Pal's counsel
by May 25, and
Malhotra's by
June 1, to
see if an
evidentiary hearing
is needed, and
if Malhotra will
want an in-person
sentencing.
The case
is US v.
Malhotra,
19-cr-411
(Carter)
***
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