Columbia student’s body found at Seaport
A body found floating in the water at South St. Seaport’s Pier 17 has been identified as Richard Eng, 22, a Columbia University student who was reported missing on May 9. A boater spotted Eng’s body at 12:53 p.m. on May 16. Police responded and sent the body to the morgue, said police spokesperson Kevin Czartoryski. Ellen Borakove, spokesperson for the medical examiner, said results of the autopsy are expected in about a week. Eng was last seen walking near his dorm at 74 Morningside Drive on the morning of May 7.
— Alex Schmidt
Knifepoint robbery
A man was sitting in his car parked on West Broadway and Franklin St. at about 2 p.m. Sat. May 13 when he was startled by a stranger who put a knife to his chest through the open driver’s side window, police said. An accomplice got in the back seat, held the victim against the back of the seat and the two thieves took $50 in cash and the victim’s credit cards before fleeing, police said. Two unauthorized charges totaling $106 were made before the owner cancelled the cards.
Subway cut
A man got on a southbound No. 1 train at Christopher St. shortly before 4 p.m. on Tues. May 9, dozed off and awoke to find a man standing over him and demanding money, police said. The robber, described as a Hispanic man about 40, pulled a box cutter but the victim kicked him and fled when the train stopped at the Franklin St. station in Tribeca. The victim discovered that he had been cut during the incident but refused medical attention.
Lobby larceny
A guest at the Marriott Financial Center hotel told police that an unknown thief took $1,000 and jewelry from her handbag at about 6:30 p.m. Sun. May 7 while she was in the hotel lobby at 85 West St.
Canal St. ruckus
An argument on the south side of Canal St. between Church St. and West Broadway on Wednesday afternoon ended at 4:15 p.m. when one of the men hit the other in the face and then picked up a vendor’s chair and hit his adversary over the head with it, police said. The assailant fled the scene, police said.
Train struck
A passenger on an A train was taken by surprise at 9:45 a.m. Tues. May 16 when a stranger struck him in the face and left the train at the Chambers St. station, police said.
Fraud indictment
A grand jury indicted a Hudson Sq. resident last week for the theft of more than $3.9 million from 22 investors over a seven-year period as part of a scam, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
The suspect, Alexis Quinlin, 45, of 62 Watts St., was charged with grand larceny, scheming to defraud, criminal impersonation, forgery and criminal possession of forged documents. He pleaded not guilty at his May 11 arraignment an posted a bail bond for $100,000 pending a June 15 court appearance.
Quinlin is charged with luring investment in two companies purporting to export DVDs and flat screen televisions for resale in Europe. The sales never occurred and the two companies were used to perpetuate the scheme, according to prosecutors.
To convince his victims, Quinlin said that celebrities including Richard Branson and Daniel Auteuil, a French actor, were among his investors. He also had “contracts” with false signatures from John Travolta and Jodie Foster and said the two stars were investors when they were not, according to the indictment.
Quinlin is also charged with impersonating Jean-Baptiste Mondino, a French photographer and music video director. Quinlin used money from some investors to pay “profits” to others, but the money paid to investors was almost always less than the amount of their investment, according to the charges. The investigation is ongoing.
—Albert Amateau
WWW Downtown Express
