New York State In-depth

Northern Borough of New York | Brooklyn man convicted of disability

ALBANY, NEW YORK — Jacques Laventure, 36, of Brooklyn, New York, was today sentenced to 10 months in prison for obstructing an official proceeding by selling a mansion and estate that U.S. Attorneys have identified as part of a Criminal wanted to forfeit proceedings against his brother.

The US Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

Laventure is the brother of Jean Lavanture from Saugerties, New York. Jean Lavanture was indicted in October 2020 for fraudulently obtaining nearly $5 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) intended to help legitimate businesses during the pandemic. As part of this prosecution, US Attorneys sought to forfeit a mansion and estate in Byram Township, New Jersey, that Jean Lavanture had purchased for approximately $850,000 in fraud proceeds.

In a previous guilty plea, Jacques Laventure admitted that between January and March 2021 he planned to sell the Byram Township property, knowing that US Attorneys were trying to forfeit it. He also admitted that on March 10, 2021 he had completed the sale of the property for $443,920 with no fees and knew that by selling the property to a third party he was avoiding forfeiture in the criminal case against his brother.

United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby ordered Laventure to forfeit $443,920 already seized by the government and pay $331,080 in restitution. Judge Suddaby also imposed a two-year sentence for supervised release after detention.

The FBI investigated this case. Assistant US Attorneys Michael Barnett and Joshua R. Rosenthal were prosecuting this case.

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