Giving Retailers A Bad Name: State's Attorney General
Goes After More Than Counterfeiters
On Canal Street
Goes After More Than Counterfeiters
On Canal Street
February 24, 2010
And you thought it was just those shady stores selling fake designer handbags that the State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was hammering.
David Cohen, owner of seven boutiques in lower Manhattan, was arrested yesterday and charged with 19 counts of “falsifying business records” in the first degree and 19 counts of “offering a false instrument for filing,” for allegedly failing to pay his employees proper legal wages, falsifying tax and business records and “trying to impede the attorney general’s investigation", WWD reports. Both charges are Class "E" felonies carrying prison terms of up to four years in prison for each count, (which would amount to about 76 years).
His stores include Mystique boutiques at 547 Broadway, 324 Fifth Avenue and 412 Broadway; Madness at 315 Canal Street; Exstaza, at 491 Broadway, and Amsterdam boutiques at 454 Broadway and 365-367 Canal Street. If you thought they looked sleazy to you when you walked by, then give yourself a gold star.
You were right!
According to the Attorney General's office, employees were not paid proper overtime wages and damages of $1.5 million will also be sought. By allegedly misrepresenting his correct payroll, he deprived the Unemployment Insurance Fund and increased the burden on other employers. Essentially, Cuomo appears to be throwing the book at this guy, partly, one might guess, to set an example and warning to other employers in New York who may not be as scrupulous in their business practices and tax reporting as they should be. Of course, that is not to say that Mr. Cohen may not deserve every alleged charge.
It's nice to know that Cuomo is protecting exploited store employees as well as multinational luxury brands, although if this keeps up it looks like Canal Street may wind up full of nothing but empty storefronts.
New York Boutique Owner Arrested (WWD)
David Cohen, owner of seven boutiques in lower Manhattan, was arrested yesterday and charged with 19 counts of “falsifying business records” in the first degree and 19 counts of “offering a false instrument for filing,” for allegedly failing to pay his employees proper legal wages, falsifying tax and business records and “trying to impede the attorney general’s investigation", WWD reports. Both charges are Class "E" felonies carrying prison terms of up to four years in prison for each count, (which would amount to about 76 years).
His stores include Mystique boutiques at 547 Broadway, 324 Fifth Avenue and 412 Broadway; Madness at 315 Canal Street; Exstaza, at 491 Broadway, and Amsterdam boutiques at 454 Broadway and 365-367 Canal Street. If you thought they looked sleazy to you when you walked by, then give yourself a gold star.
You were right!
According to the Attorney General's office, employees were not paid proper overtime wages and damages of $1.5 million will also be sought. By allegedly misrepresenting his correct payroll, he deprived the Unemployment Insurance Fund and increased the burden on other employers. Essentially, Cuomo appears to be throwing the book at this guy, partly, one might guess, to set an example and warning to other employers in New York who may not be as scrupulous in their business practices and tax reporting as they should be. Of course, that is not to say that Mr. Cohen may not deserve every alleged charge.
It's nice to know that Cuomo is protecting exploited store employees as well as multinational luxury brands, although if this keeps up it looks like Canal Street may wind up full of nothing but empty storefronts.
New York Boutique Owner Arrested (WWD)
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