Yonkers Man Arrested on Charges of Impersonating an FBI Agent

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced today that Ayman Rabadi , 52, of Yonkers, New York, was arrested yesterday by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of impersonating a special agent of the FBI. According the complaint, filed in federal district court in White Plains today, from November 2010 to date, Rabadi has, in at least three separate instances, falsely represented to others that he was a special agent with the FBI and offered them various forms of assistance including obtaining identification documents and obtaining the release of their relatives from jail.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Bharara stated, “Rabadi’s ability to prey on vulnerable victims by pretending to be a federal agent came to an end today when he tried to extract money from a real federal agent.”

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Venizelos stated, “Rabadi took the easy road to fast money by impersonating an FBI agent. But the easy road was the crooked path that ultimately led to his arrest by the FBI.”

According to the allegations in the complaint unsealed today in White Plains federal court:

An undercover FBI agent acting as the niece of one of Rabadi’s victims paid Rabadi $10,000 cash yesterday at a Yonkers restaurant. The money was, purportedly, a down payment towards the $300,000 Rabadi had asked for in exchange for obtaining the release of one of the victim’s relatives from jail. Rabadi was arrested immediately after leaving the restaurant and was in possession of the $10,000 cash. Also, Rabadi has an extensive criminal history including a 2008 conviction in the state of New Jersey for the felony of theft by deception. In that case, Rabadi created the false impression that there were criminal charges pending against the victim, that Rabadi was connected to law enforcement and that he could cause the dismissal of the charges against the victim for $75,000.

* * *

At his arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Paul E. Davison in White Plains this afternoon, Judge Davison ordered that Rabadi be held without bail pending his next court appearance, a bail hearing on Tuesday, April 23, 2013, at 10 a.m.

If convicted on the charge in the complaint, Rabadi faces a maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

Mr. Bharara praised the work of the FBI in this investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorney Elliott B. Jacobson is in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty