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Real Estate Developer Pleads Guilty In White Plains To Voter Fraud Scheme

A real estate developer pleaded guilty Thursday in White Plains Court to an alleged scheme to submit false voter registrations in early 2014 to advance projects in the Hudson Valley.

A Hudson Valley real estate developer pleaded guilty Thursday in White Plains Court in an alleged scheme to submit false voter registrations in early 2014 to advance real estate projects in Bloomingburg, a village in Sullivan County.

A Hudson Valley real estate developer pleaded guilty Thursday in White Plains Court in an alleged scheme to submit false voter registrations in early 2014 to advance real estate projects in Bloomingburg, a village in Sullivan County.

Photo Credit: Google Maps Street View

Kenneth Nakdimen, 64, of Monsey in Rockland County was charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States -- in particular, to corrupt the electoral process by submitting false voter registrations, buying voter registrations, and offering bribes for voter registrations and votes, according to Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

“Fair elections are the bedrock of democracy," Kim said. "As he has now admitted, Kenneth Nakdimen devised a scheme to advance his real estate project by falsely registering voters and corrupting this sacred process. We will not allow greed to influence elections at any level.” 

Nakdimen's sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 9. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to corrupt the electoral process before U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti in White Plains federal court.

The count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. 

Court documents stated and alleged the trio sought to build and sell real estate in Bloomingburg, a village in Sullivan County, beginning in 2006. But their first development was met with local opposition, and in 2014, it was still under construction and uninhabitable. So they decided to corrupt the democratic electoral process in Bloomingburg by falsely registering voters and paying bribes for voters who would help elect public officials favorable to their project, Kim said.

Kim praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI-Hudson Valley White Collar Crime Task Force, the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office, the Sullivan County Sherriff’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Mr. Kim also thanked the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section, Election Crimes Branch, for its assistance in the case.

This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorneys Kathryn Martin, Benjamin Allee, and Perry Carbone are in charge of the prosecution.

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