EDNY Edition: In Turkish Birth Tourism Case, Fiordalisa Marte Is Freed On $50000 Bond; Birth Houses ID-ed by Long Island Addresses
In the Marte bail proceeding, suretors gave their addresses, jobs and salaries - the info which in SDNY is being withheld for Michael Avenatti, Inner City Press has moved to unseal
By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Podcast
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN
EDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 2 – An Internet- and Long Island-based "birth tourism" ring resulted in arrests and releases on bail on December 2.
Ibrahim Aksakal, Enes Burak Cakiroglu & Sarah Kaplan are charged with conspiring to commit visa fraud; Fiordalisa Marte and Edgar Rodriguez with conspiring to commit health care fraud, wire fraud and money laundering
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York Magistrate Judge Steven I. Locke held a detention hearing after 4 pm. Inner City Press live tweeted the Marte proceeding, here:
AUSA: We are seeking detention. The defendant submitted false applications for Medicaid, it was the only way the birth tourism scheme was profitable. She is a danger to the community and a risk of flight. She put $40,000 in cash in a Chase account.
Defense lawyer: My client Ms. Marte is 41, a homeowner in Suffolk County, with five children, with no prior record. We can show an innocent source for the cash deposits. Four relatives are here with me. Her aunt owns a home in Amityville [address given]
Defense lawyer: Her relative works at Affinity Health in The Bronx and makes $71,000 a year. Mr. Delcruz is a truck driver based in Dix Hills, p/t at $22,000 a year. If Ms. Marte is remanded, she will be quarantined for 2 weeks.
Magistrate Judge Steven I. Locke: Ms. Marte, if you don't comply with restrictions, they will be left holding the bag for you. Alright, prepare a bond of $50,000, with conditions.
While Inner City Press is voluntarily not publishing the address of the suretors' homes, here are the locations of the “birth houses”
223 Main Street, Center Moriches, NY
673 Outlook Avenue, West Babylon, NY
654 Old Country Road, Dix Hills, NY
Indictment was unsealed charging Ibrahim Aksakal, Indicted Co-conspirator #1, Enes Burak Cakiroglu and Sarah Kaplan with conspiring to commit visa fraud, health care fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, and Fiordalisa Marte and Edgar Rodriguez with conspiring to commit health care fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
Update of 6:45 pm: Kaplan: home detention with electronic monitoring for one night to gather suretors/properties – passport surrender, due back in Court tomorrow at 3 p.m.
Rodriguez freed on a $50,000 bond like Marte
Aksakal and Cakiroglu were ordered detained.