Shereen Bobrowsky, the disabled Yonkers woman, a senior, who claims there’s an ongoing attempt to wrongfully foreclose on her property-and to harass and intimidate her-wants to know why Judge Paul I. Marx, who’s presiding over the case hasn’t sanctioned the opposing party for violating deadlines set by the court for delivery of documents.

Separately, after reviewing some of the documents that are on the docket in the State Supreme Court, Westchester County, White Plains, New York, in light of past reports about compromised records in various court jurisdictions, in New York and elsewhere, this reporter is curious as to why there were no decisions and orders of the many motions Ms. Bobrowsky entered that requested important items such as “the accounting” and the Pooling and Servicing Agreement (PSA).

Ms. Bobrowsky, who is in her 70s, also believes a campaign to intimidate her has escalated and now become dangerous. Recently, after a short drive from her home, she realized she had a flat front tire. When she got out to inspect the flat, she discovered that a nail had been stuck into the tire.

“It’s one thing to send someone to snoop around my property or to steal my garbage,” Ms. Bobrowsky says, describing past incidents. “But to start puncturing my tire, knowing that I have to drive down a steep slope as soon as I leave my property, that’s something else,” she says.

Ms. Bobrowsky was sued by US Bank Trust National Association, Not In Its Individual Capacity But Solely As Owner Trustee for REO Trust 2017-RPL1, in the New York State Supreme Court, Westchester County, White Plains, New York.

This is a second article by Black Star News covering her ordeal, which she says keeps her awake at night and leaves her sick with a migraine headache, sometimes for days.

Ms. Bobrowsky says she has not missed a single mortgage payment since January 2003, and she has her records as proof. Yet, she is facing what she calls a third “wrongful, fraudulent, and illegal foreclosure” lawsuit. The first two-one in 2016 and the second in 2020-were both voluntarily discontinued by the bank, for no reason except to stall, causing her harm, Ms. Bobrowsky says. “In December, governor Hochul signed a bill into law called the foreclosure abuse prevention act that’s meant to prevent the type of abuse I’m enduring,” she says.

Ms. Bobrowsky previously complained of harassment by a man who comes to her home monthly to “inspect” the property, purportedly for the mortgage servicer (Nationstar dba Mr. Cooper), who Ms. Bobrowsky believes is behind the three lawsuits based on the same allegations. The man, whose identity she does not know, has taken her picture occasionally and one time even peered into her home from the window, she says.

Max Saglimbeni, an associate with Knuckles Komosinki & Manfro, LLP., the firm representing the plaintiff, didn’t respond to an earlier e-mail message from Black Star News asking him if the unidentified man works for his client. Ms. Bobrowsky said the man has not shown up since the first Black Star News article.

Also, Mr. Saglimbeni’s firm billed Ms. Bobrowsky $30,000 in legal fees for the work that they say they’ve done for their client. Mr. Saglimbeni didn’t respond to an earlier e-mail message by Black Star News inquiring about the bill and whether Judge Marx was aware of it.

Then recently, on two separate occasions, Ms. Bobrowsky’s green garbage bags disappeared. She suspects whoever stole them is fishing for evidence and she filed a police report after the first incident. “Now I put my dog’s pooh-pooh on top of the bag,” she says.

However, the tire incident suggests that whomever is trying to intimidate her is getting desperate, Ms. Bobrowsky says. One recent morning, accompanied by her 85-year-old cousin, the two were driving downhill to head to the farmers’ market when she realized she had a flat. After discovering the nail, she took her vehicle to a nearby repair shop.

Ms. Bobrowsky is confident justice will prevail if the court goes by the evidence alone. Yet, she’s troubled, she says, by the fact that Judge Marx didn’t sanction the plaintiff, through Saglimbeni, after they failed to deliver to her all the documents by the deadline as instructed by the court.

At an Aug. 21, 2024 hearing covered by Black Star News reporter Colin Benjamin, Judge Marx had directed Saglimbeni to produce the following documents to Ms. Bobrowsky by Sept. 30, 2024: her complete payment history; a copy of the promissory note and of all assignments and the attached allonges; a copy of the mortgage; a copy of all default notices, including the 90 day notice prior to initiating foreclosure as required by New York law; a copy of the affidavit of service, and; any documents that Saglimbeni intended to use for the summary judgment motion he told the judge that he intended to file.

The Sept. 30 deadline came and went, and the plaintiff hadn’t produced all the documents as directed by Judge Marx, including the critical complete payment history, and the promissory note and all assignments and the attached allonges, Ms. Bobrowsky says.

Yet, the court still allowed Saglimbeni to file a summary judgment motion which Ms. Bobrowsky was required to respond to-and did-by Dec. 20. “I’m the only one who’s supposed to play by the rules?” Ms. Bobrowsky says. “I’m also very concerned that the court has not provided any written decision and orders on my motions requesting the vital accounting, as well as the pooling and servicing agreement. This deprives me of my right to appeal.”

Judge Marx didn’t respond to questions about these two purported orders.

Ms. Bobrowsky also noticed what she called two “strange” orders on the court docket. The purported orders are attributed to Judge Marx. One is stamped on the upper right corner of a letter that Ms. Bobrowsky submitted to the court, and; the second one is stamped on the lower right hand of the letter. The first order, bearing a signature attributed to Judge Marx, stated, in part, “…the court accept’s plaintiff’s counsel’s representation in his letter dated 11/12/24 that the full payment history has been provided and that the Note and Allonges have been made available to the defendant…”

“This is nonsense. Why would I be requesting for the full payment history if they were provided,” Ms. Bobrowsky says. “Just like I said last time, I may be old and appear slow at times, but I’m no fool. I wonder how many other vulnerable homeowners are treated this way.”

“Instead of taking plaintiff’s word, ex parte, that plaintiff complied, Judge Marx should hold a hearing so both sides can be questioned and have the plaintiff produce the documents in open court,” Ms. Bobrowsky says. “I am being egregiously prejudiced by the withholding of documents with no sanctions against plaintiff. I have been requesting various documents for over one year now to no avail while discovery and depositions are also being withheld.”

“I demand sanctions for plaintiff’s failing to disclose the documents I have been requesting for over a year. But I also request the court to allow for full discovery for which I am entitled. I initially had an attorney but the court allowed him to be relieved as counsel over my objections. Now, all my requests seem to be for naught in this third foreclosure action that is based on clear fraud,” Ms. Bobrowsky adds.

The second order, on the lower right portion of Ms. Bobrowsky’s letter, also bearing a signature attributed to Judge Marx, stated: “The court apologizes. The documents which were to be delivered for in camera inspection, were in fact, delivered, timely, but through oversight, have not yet been reviewed.”

This was in reference to the un-redacted Pooling and Servicing Agreement (PSA), which Ms. Bobrowsky has been denied a copy, she says. The version Saglimbeni sent her is so redacted that it’s illegible, she said. Ms. Bobrowsky was informed previously that the court also hadn’t received an un-redacted copy; yet the purported order attributed to Judge Marx claimed a copy was indeed submitted.

“By saying I’m not entitled to an un-redacted Pooling and Servicing Agreement is akin to saying I’m not entitled to a defense. Plaintiff, and the court, are also refusing to supply the name of the Pooling and Servicing Agreement, which is on the SEC website, but cannot be looked up without a name,” Ms. Bobrowsky says.

Ms. Bobrowsky says Judge Marx is wrongfully denying her access to Pooling And Servicing Agreement (PSA).

A second document that Ms. Bobrowsky discovered on the docket, a “Court Notice,” dated Nov. 13, 2024 stated in part: “The court has reviewed the Pooling And Servicing Agreement (“the Agreement”) which was submitted by Plaintiff’s counsel, as directed. Defendant’s request for an unredacted for an unredacted copy of the agreement is denied.” Ms. Bobrowsky states that since this was not a decision and order but merely a Court Notice, she cannot appeal the denial.

“I don’t know whom and what to believe anymore,” Ms. Bobrowsky says.

Judge Marx did not respond to an e-mail message from Black Star News seeking confirmation that the purported ex parte orders were authentic and that the two signatures belong to him. The judge also didn’t respond to a question seeking confirmation that he did in fact receive and review an un-redacted copy the PSA, and a question as to why Ms. Bobrowsky can’t be provided with a copy.

The questions sent to Judge Marx were also copied to New York State Attorney General Letitia James, Yonkers Police Commissioner, Christopher Sapienza, the plaintiff’s lawyer Saglimbeni, and Judge Anne E. Minihan, the District Administrative Judge.

“Your e-mail is received,” Judge Minihan’s office responded, confirming receipt of the copied questions.

As reported in the earlier Black Star News article, the plaintiff also failed to provide the complete payments history when directed on Dec. 21, 2023, to be supplied within three weeks to do so by court attorney referee, Sheila Gabay, when the matter was in settlement conference, Ms. Bobrowsky says.

Ms. Bobrowsky previously alleged that the signature attributed to Ms. Theresa Barrett, as the person who signed and notarized that she witnessed Ms. Tamara Sulea execute an assignment of mortgage on September 6, 2019 is “a forgery”-an allegation which has since been confirmed by the authorities in Los Angeles, Ca., where Ms. Barrett’s notary oath is kept, Ms. Bobrowsky says.

What’s more, Ms. Bobrowsky claims, the purported assignment of mortgage filed in the Westchester County Clerk’s office is also fraudulent. The document states that it was executed on Nov. 6, 2019, which is two months after Notary Public Ms. Barnett’s signature-the same signature Ms. Bobrowsky claims was forged.

Mr. Saglimbeni also didn’t respond to questions about this allegation. “I’m perplexed as to why the Westchester County Clerk Timothy Idoni has not referred the filing of a false instrument for investigation by the District Attorney or the Attorney General,” Ms. Bobrowsky says. “When a fraud is brought to the head of the county clerk, they have a duty to maintain the laws in its government entity. Filing a false document is a misdemeanor, but when it affects a deed, it is a felony.”

If you’ve been the victim of an illegal or wrongful foreclosure and have documentation please reach the reporter at mallimadi@gmail.com

The post Elderly Yonkers Homeowner In Alleged “Wrongful Foreclosure” Questions Why Judge Marx Won’t Sanction Plaintiff for Violations appeared first on Black Star News.

That armed intruder, 61-year-old Mark Toia, threatened a 17-year-old girl who was home at the time with her 10-year-old brother. Their father, Kris Gounden, who no longer lives in the home, claiming he was driven away by hostile neighbors later told Black Star News that—according to his family members—during the break-in Toia claimed he also had a real gun at home and that he could “kill” Gounden. 

Toia was later arrested at his home on various charges and is still in custody. 

Then on September 27, 2024 there was another unauthorized entry into the same home on 152 Broadway, the family says. This time, it was Gounden’s ex-mother-in-law, Sati Mohan, who was the only person at home. She was upstairs and when she heard some come down into the living room as three men entered the house. Two of them were firefighters from the New York Fire Department (NYFD); the third was an employee of the New York Department of Buildings. The interaction between Ms. Mohan and the three men was captured on the home’s surveillance recording system. 

Ms. Mohan later told Gounden that she had been frightened by the intrusion and that the men never produced any identification. They went to the rear of the building for about two minutes then left, according to Ms. Mohan. The family provided Black Star News with the images of the men captured by the cameras. 


The Gounden family has had long-running disputes with neighbors who, in the past, have allegedly used their connections to have City and State agencies intervene on their behalf and allegedly write up tickets for various violations, leading to fines. Gounden used to operate apartment rental buildings and claims that past disputes with neighbors led to retaliation in the form of tickets and fines amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. As a result, the City started withholding payments of its portion for Section-8 tenants housed in Gounden’s buildings, driving him into bankruptcy and out of business, he claimed. Eventually, Gounden wasn’t even able to maintain his two personal properties, he claimed.
The New York Daily News documented some of these disputes and alleged harassment of the Gounden family in an article dating as far back as Aug. 24, 2007.

An online version of that Daily News report, “Family Haunted by Hate in Queens,” was updated on Jan. 12, 2019. Other media outlets such as the Queens Chronicle and Channel 4 Television covered the alleged harassment at the time that also included claims of “bogus” tickets written up by the Department of Buildings.

“You think the Fire Department can just walk into the home of a non-immigrant family like that? I would like the City to investigate this incident,” Gounden said, referring to the Sept. 27, 2024 incident. “I want to know if it’s somehow connected to Toia’s break in, the threat he made against me, and his subsequent arrest. My family is not safe and I want to make sure these three men have no connection to Toia.”


No one from the Gounden home had called 911 to report an emergency. After the three men left, the next day, Sept. 28, a building violation letter dated September 27, 2024 was placed on the Goundens’ door. It bore what appeared to be a robosignature of DOB Commissioner, Mr. James S. Oddo, stating in part: “At time of inspection observed a deck at rear of property concaving in danger of collapsing. Rear deck has a kitchen attached to it at rear of premises.” 

Subsequently, a summons and commissioner’s order was also issued with a hearing response date of December 3, 2024. This order, bears the typed signature of C. Munoz, the DOB employee—badge #3458— and stated in part: “Property has a full vacate order that was issued on 04/04/2016 and owner failed to comply with full vacate order.” 

When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for DOB told Black Star News that the 04/04/2016 vacate order was for issued in error and that it was actually for an adjacent disputed Gounden property on 153 Broadway, and not the 152 Broadway home entered by the two firefighters and DOB employee. The spokesperson said that violation would be withdrawn. He also provided an e-mail address for DOB Internal Affairs, where the Gounden family could submit a complaint about the alleged improper. 
Asked who had made the call leading to the operation by the three men, the spokesperson said the intervention was initiated by the FDNY. 

On Oct. 6, 2024, someone returned to the Gounden home and taped a DOB “vacate” notice again dated Sept. 27, 2024 on the door of the 152 Broadway property. It was signed on Oct. 1, 2024 by a Borough Commissioner and by Nigel Sampson, Chief Construction Inspector. 


Another DOB “vacate” order was slapped on the door dated Oct. 12, 2024, with an administrative trial hearing date of Dec. 17, 2024. This one was electronically signed by S. Reza.

The FDNY denied that the firefighters entered the home illegally. A statement provided by spokesperson James Long read: “We responded to a complaint that the house or part of the house was in danger of collapsing. Upon investigation we notified the Dept. of Buildings. Once DOB was on scene we knock on the door of the identified location and called out to anyone inside. A female occupant came in view of the door that was ajar and welcomed the 2 FDNY Officers and the DOB inspector in to the home. We conducted a walkthrough and identified structural issues with the building.”

In other words, according to the spokesperson, FDNY, responded to a complaint and then “upon investigation,” “notified” the Department of Buildings. There is a problem with the sequence. The two FDNY firefighters arrived and entered the residence together with DOB employee Munoz. So at what point did they conduct the “investigation” and notify DOB when Munoz was already with them?

A video recording also contradicts the statement. Ms. Mohan arrived downstairs from the second floor as the three men were already entering and the words she uttered were: “What’s going on.” A very peculiar form of welcome.

The FDNY also refused to respond to the most important question: who made the “complaint” that triggered the whole episode. “We’re not in a position to share that information,” Long said, in a text message.

The firefighters also denied that they knew who Mark Toia was.

The two unidentified firefighters in image from Gounden home security camera.

The DOB employee identified by the Department as C. Munoz.

The post Howard Beach: Guyanese Immigrant Family Alleges “Unauthorized Entry” Into Home By FDNY Fire-fighters and DOB employee  appeared first on Black Star News.

It’s with deep sadness and sorrow that the Barbara Allimadi Foundation announces the passing of Aasmund Lakelle, son of Mugabe Robert, the executive secretary of the foundation.

Aasmund died after a swimming incident in Juba, South Sudan, according to Robert, who traveled there to retrieve the body. The incident occurred on February 18, 2023, at a swimming pool in Jebel Lodge, in Juba, according to the family of the deceased. The funeral is Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Opidi-Lwala, Gulu, Uganda. To offer any support to Robert’s family in their hour of grief contact him via Whatsapp 256-772-343-012.

“Our heart goes out to Mugabe Robert, his family, and all his loved ones. We also send our condolences to the late Aasmund’s friends. This is a profound calamity; sons should always bury fathers and not the other way around,” Milton Allimadi, chair of the Barbara Allimadi Foundation said on behalf of the Allimadi family. “We will be there for Mugabe’s family.”

Aasmund, who was born on June 21, 2004, was only 18 years old. After completing secondary education at Gulu High School, he joined St. Mary’s Medical Training Institute in Juba, South Sudan.

Mugabe Robert has headed the Barbara Allimadi foundation since its launching in Gulu, Uganda, two years ago. The Allimadi family started the foundation in the memory of their beloved sister Barbara Allimadi, a renowned human rights activist and freedom fighter who passed away on April 27, 2020. The foundation provides full scholarships to young girls in universities in Uganda. The foundation currently funds four students. Barbara was the daughter of the late Alice Allimadi and Uganda’s late prime minister E. Otema Allimadi.

Barbara’s human rights activism gained wide international coverage when she led a protest against police brutality, to denounce the sexual assault of a leading woman politician, Ingrid Turinawe—a police officer attempted to drag her out of her car by grabbing her breast.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-17814860

Barbara Allimadi and the other protestors confronted police officers and demanded the resignation of then police chief Gen. Kale Kayihura.

The Allimadi family also plan to sponsor male students in the future in the memory of Aasmund Lakelle, the foundation chair Allimadi announced.

To find out more about the Barbara Allimadi Foundation contact Milton Allimadi via mallimadi@gmail.com or Mugabe Robert via mugsrob@gmail.com or Whatsapp 256-772-343-012

The post Head of Barbara Allimadi Foundation Loses Son In Swimming Incident appeared first on Black Star News.

Dr. Martin Luther King was only 27 years old when Kwame Nkrumah invited him to join in celebrating Ghana’s independence on March 6, 1957 from British colonial rule. 

Dr. King was greatly inspired and impressed by Nkrumah and the struggle of Ghanaians for their Uhuru. He made a rousing and enlightening speech on April 7, 1957 about his visit to Ghana in Alabama. Dr. King said there were many lessons that African descendants in the United States could learn from Ghana in their struggle for human and civil rights here in the United States. 

Tune in to “Black Star News Show” on WBAI 99.5 FM New York Radio and www.wbai.org today, January 17, 2023 at 3PM U.S. Eastern Time, as hosts Milton Allimadi and Colin Benjamin are joined by Lawrence Hamm, founder of Newark-New Jersey based People’s Organization for Progress (POP), to analyze Dr. King’s speech about his trip to Ghana and the enduring relevance of his lessons. 

LISTEN TO TODAY’S SHOW: https://wbai.org/archive/program/episode/?id=37897

Dr. King concluded his 1957 speech by saying, “Ghana has something to say to us. It says first that the oppressor never voluntarily fives freedom to the oppressed. You have to work for it and if Nkrumah and the people of the Gold Coast had not stood up persistently, revolting against the system, it would still be a colony of the British Empire.” 

WBAI 99.5 FM New York Radio and www.wbai.org is a listener-supported commercial-free radio station. To pledge your support for WBAI please call (212) 209-2950 or visit www.give2wbai.org 

LISTEN TO TODAY’S SHOW: https://wbai.org/archive/program/episode/?id=37897

The post WBAI Radio: Nkrumah’s Invitation To Dr. King On Today’s BSN Show appeared first on Black Star News.

Agaja wasn’t the exception, and many African leaders—until they were weakened by the invaders’ superior firearms—fought the European slavers who came searching for enslaved labor for the mines and plantations in the New World, where they were busy exterminating indigenous people, considered unfit for hard labor.
Matamba, in present day Angola, resisted Portuguese slavers for decades beginning in the 1630s under Queen Nzinga. Portugal worked with African collaborators in neighboring territories to attack Matamba, isolating it from commerce with the outside world. In 1656, her empire diminished through warfare, Queen Nzinga yielded and allowed slaving.
Tomba, leader of the Baga people who inhabit parts of modern Guinea, resisted European slavers in the 1720s until he too was vanquished. “Once trade in slaves had been started in any given part of Africa, it soon became clear that it was beyond the capacity of any single African state to change the situation,” Rodney wrote.
“The Woman King’s” setting is the reign of King Ghezo, beginning in 1818. The film erred by not recalling King Agaja’s heroism in the 18th century. To its credit, the film does depict King Ghezo’s dilemma; should he resist the deplorable slave trade like Agaja or face economic ruin?
I suspect some of the critics haven’t seen the film. After I praised it in an Instagram post, a social media friend responded: “I’m very surprised to see that you supported this film, professor. Are you aware of the history? Would be interested in your perspective if so.” When I asked if she’d seen the film, she posted: “I personally can’t support the film, although I adore Viola Davis, the revisionist history the film poses…is extremely problematic.”
There’s no “revisionist” history. But why would some people denounce the film and presume that it wasn’t transparent about Dahomey’s role in the enslavement of Africans? Because the role of some African leaders—the collaborators Rodney wrote about—is rarely discussed.

“Many guilty consciences have been created by the slave trade,” Rodney wrote. “Europeans know that they they carried on the slave trade, and Africans are aware that the trade would have been impossible if certain Africans did not cooperate with the slave ships.”

Even on the plantations in the New World, enslaved-Africans were sometimes betrayed by collaborators, so-called “house negros.” Nat Turner, who led one of the most serious slave rebellions, was also betrayed by enslaved-Africans. In our modern era we have people like Ugandan dictator Gen. Yoweri Museveni, who once told the Atlantic magazine, “I have never blamed whites for colonizing Africa; I have never blamed these whites for taking slaves. If you are stupid, you should be taken a slave.” He would have likely sided with the European slavers had he lived between the 16th and 19th centuries.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/09/an-african-success-story/670697/

Another question sometimes posed is whether slavery existed in Africa prior to contact with the outside world. Historically, in Africa, as with other parts of the world, people vanquished in wars were subjugated. These captives became foot soldiers, or they engaged in other aspects of economic production such as agriculture or artisanal production.
In many African societies the captives, or their descendants, became integrated into the community. Some became political or military leaders. The subjugation came from warfare. Africans didn’t go to inspect and purchase other Africans on auction blocks. Yes, Africans enslaved in the Arab world in north Africa and the Indian ocean island of Zanzibar were indeed subjected to the auctions.
European slavers, strictly in search of labor, introduced a strictly commercial element. With African collaborators they sparked a new kind of war—attacks by Africans against other Africans strictly for the purpose of captives for Europeans.
“The trade in human beings from Africa was a response to external factors,” Rodney wrote. To ignore the outside stimulus for the Atlantic Slave trade is preposterous. It would be as if “without European demand there would have been captives sitting on the beach by the millions!” Rodney wrote.
The impact of slavery has been devastating to African descendants in the New World; and to the African continent as well. The depopulation retarded development. Rodney notes that between 1650 and 1850—a period which overlaps the Atlantic Slave Trade— there was no increase in Africa’s population, which remained about 100 million. During the same time frame, Europe’s increased from 103 million to 274 million, or by 166%; Asia’s rose from 257 million to 656 million, or by 155%. “African economic activity was affected both directly and indirectly by population loss,” as a result of the new slave-raiding wars and the disruptions in agricultural production and dislocations.
“The Woman King’s” celebration of Dahomey’s female soldiers could spark major studio interest in other epic stories from Africa: Queen Nzinga’s brave anti-slavery resistance is an obvious candidate for the big screen.
Another excellent project could be one which happens to be the subject of my recently completed dramatic-history graphic book, “Adwa: Empress Taytu and Emperor Menelik In Love and War,” with beautiful drawings in color by Ugandan artist Obedirwoth. The book chronicles Ethiopia’s March 1, 1896 victory over an invading Italian army seeking to colonize it.
This was during a period referred to as “The Scramble for Africa” between 1880 and 1900 when European powers—with England, France and Belgium at the forefront— were rushing for colonies in Africa. Europe had industrialized in the previous century and there was desperate demand for: natural and mineral resources; cheap or slave labor to produce them in Africa; and captive markets for Europe’s factory-manufactured products.
The Europeans met at the Berlin Conference from November 15, 1884 to February 26, 1885 and divided up the African continent. Africans had no knowledge such a meeting was taking place. To take control of its designated territory, Italy prepared for war on Ethiopia. Before setting off to battle Gen. Oreste Baratieri, the commander, vowed to Italy’s King Umberto that he’d return with Menelik II in a cage.
The Ethiopians—to the astonishment of European nations who didn’t believe an African army could defeat a white one—annihilated the Italian army in a mere six hours at the Battle of Adwa.
Empress Taytu was one of the war heroes; she had 6,000 men under her command. The Ethiopians killed about 3,000 Italian soldiers and captured an almost equal number—They marched them back to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital and put them to work building and cleaning the City, and some were sent on farms, all under the supervision of Africans. The tables had been momentarily turned.
Ethiopia remained the only African country not colonized by a European power in the 19th century as a result of the victory.
With the box office success of “The Woman King” hopefully the studios will now finance similar productions instead of the past Tarzan-saves-Africans “jungle” narratives.
As some of you know, I launched a Kickstarter to fund my graphic book. I’m happy to announce that the campaign is nearing its goal.
As of today October 29, 2022 the campaign has raised $12,445 or 79% of the target which is $15,750. Thanks to the 74 backers who’ve supported the project.

http://kck.st/3BKqHSi

The campaign ends in a few hours after midnight of October 31st, so any support is still welcome.

The post Why I Liked “The Woman King” And Strongly Recommend It appeared first on Black Star News.

A lawyer named Frank Cassisi filed a forged retainer agreement in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in an attempt to work with a chapter 7 trustee to gain control over potential proceeds from a debtor’s personal injury lawsuit, a Black Star News investigation shows.

Ashmeen Modikhan, the debtor, has maintained for three years that there are no creditors of standing in her bankruptcy case and that the trustee, Alan Nisselson, is poised to wrongfully seize control of her personal injury lawsuit and distribute potential proceeds to entities that are not entitled.

Modikhan has claimed that the bankruptcy court, Eastern District of New York, also let a lawyer named Courtney Williams from the Gross Polowy LLC law firm file fraudulent proofs of claim in order to gain standing for her clients, as previously reported by Black Star News.

https://www.blackstarnews.com/ny-watch/crime/ashmeen-modikhan-home-owner-claims-us-bankruptcy-court-scam-targets 

Modikhan’s allegations that she was the victim of a loan modification scam while she was in chapter 13 proceedings in the same court was also covered in the two previous Black Star News articles, on August 2, 2022 and August 25, 2022. 

The judge currently handling the case, Jil Mazer-Marino has cleared the way for Modikhan to sue her lawyer in chapter 13 proceedings, Darren Aronow, for malpractice. Judge Mazer-Marino however dismissed Modikhan’s lawsuit against the parties whom she’d accused of involvement in the modification scam against her while she was in chapter 13 proceedings, including the lawyer Williams and the companies Rushmore Loan Management Services Inc. and Fay Servicing LLC.

Modikhan is currently in chapter 7 proceedings. After Judge Mazer-Marino allowed the proofs of claim by Rushmore and Fay, she denied Modikhan’s motion to withdraw from the bankruptcy court proceedings.

As previously reported by Black Star News, the bankruptcy court documents show that Williams, the Gross Polowy lawyer, filed a proof of claim on January 9, 2020 for Tiki Series IV Trust as creditor for $689,154.49. The servicer listed was Rushmore. However, the court papers show that the assignment of mortgage from a company named MTGLQ to U.S. Bank as trustee for Tiki Series IV was executed on April 28, 2020, more than three months after Williams filed the proof of claim stating that on January 9, 2020, Tiki Series IV was in possession of the note.

https://www.blackstarnews.com/ny-watch/crime/ashmeen-modikhan-home-owner-claims-us-bankruptcy-court-scam-targets

Judge Mazer-Marino also allowed the trustee Nisselson to hire Cassisi, Modikhan’s former lawyer in a $5 million personal injury lawsuit she filed against Golden Touch Transportation of New York Inc. in 2015 in State Supreme Court in Queens County. He was also allowed to hire his law firm Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf LLP for a fee of $700 an hour.

This in essence meant Modikhan no longer owned her personal injury case and that the trustee Nisselson could distribute any recovery from the lawsuit. Judge Mazer-Marino approved trustee Nisselson’s settlement of the case for $500,000. 

Modikhan, who sued for $5 million has rejected the settlement as illegitimate. She was an American Airlines employee when in 2014 the door of  the employees’ bus used to transport staff from terminal to parking lots crushed her right hand. The bus was operated by Golden Touch Transportation.

Modikhan is appealing Judge Mazer-Marino’s decisions, including allowing the alleged fraudulent proofs of claim, the forged retainer agreement filed by Cassisi, and the dismissal of her lawsuit against the parties she claims victimized her in the loan modification scam. “How can I be deprived of my assets based on fraudulent documents?” Modikhan said.

Cassisi had already filed a motion in the State Court to change the caption to make the trustee Nisselson the plaintiff and beneficiary, instead of Modikhan, with Cassisi as his counsel. Cassisi would also earn his one-third of proceeds as his fees; trustees typically earn 10%.

In examining court papers, Black Star News discovered that the retainer agreement filed by Cassisi’s firm in the bankruptcy court on June 22, 2022 was undated. The purported agreement bears Modikhan’s signature and a signature attributed to Matthew Maloney, an associate at the Cassisi firm. In this document, a paragraph stating that Cassisi would share his fees with George Crozier, an acquaintance of Modikhan’s who introduced her to Cassisi, has been crossed out.

The signature attributed to Maloney in the undated retainer agreement doesn’t match his signature on a copy of a retainer dated April 16, 2015, which also bears Modikhan’s signature. The dated retainer agreement also contains the fee-sharing clause between Cassisi and Crozier. “I have been saying all along that the parties have been filing fraudulent papers in bankruptcy court and in state court,” Modikhan said. “Now this forged retainer agreement by Cassisi is the best proof that I have been speaking the truth.”

Chief Judge Alan Trust in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court didn’t respond to an e-mail message from Black Star News seeking comment on the forged retainer agreement filed by Cassisi.

Lucian Chalfen, spokesperson for the State Supreme Court also did not respond to inquiries from Black Star News seeking comment about whether the court will review other documents filed by Cassisi on the personal injury case; there are other documents reviewed by Black Star News with signatures attributed to Maloney that don’t match the ones on the retainer agreement, including the forged one. The judge presiding over the State court case is Maurice E. Muir.

Cassisi also didn’t respond to inquiries from Black Star News seeking comment about the retainer agreement he filed in the bankruptcy court. Judge Muir was supposed to hold a hearing on Oct. 5 on Cassisi’s motion to change the case’s caption; that court date has been rescheduled to January 30, 2023.

Modikhan in a letter informed the Administrative Judge Marguerite Grays in the State Court that she had terminated Cassisi; she’s not been able to file papers opposing Cassisi’s attempt to change the caption as the court still regarded Cassisi as the attorney of record.

The Grievance Committee is also reviewing a complaint Modikhan filed against Cassisi.

The post Black Star News Investigation Finds Frank Cassisi, Ex-Lawyer for Woman in Alleged Bankruptcy Court Scam, Filed “Forged” Court Papers appeared first on Black Star News.

The CNA, Lenora Bromfield, claims in a lawsuit that Mariea Collora, who was Director of Human Resources, harbored racist animus toward her. Bromfield was suspended on four previous occasions by Collora. Each time, after an investigation, Bromfield, a Jamaican immigrant was exonerated and restored to her position, with back pay, she says.

Bromfield sued BronxCare in December 2016, alleging race and age discrimination—she was 58 at the time–and the case has dragged on for six years. She believes the hospital is trying to wear her down to force her into accepting “a crazy” settlement. Indeed, one of the lawyers representing BronxCare offered her $3,000 in a settlement conference to go away, even though she’d worked at the hospital for nearly 24 years, she says.

Bromfield has been representing herself; her numerous requests for pro bono counsel to a magistrate judge, Henry B. Pitman, to whom the case was assigned, were rejected through the years, except for when she was assigned a law student for the settlement conference. “I’m quite sure they wouldn’t offer $3,000 to a white CNA if she’d been wrongfully fired after 24 years of dedicated employment,” Bromfield said.

After rejecting one of Bromfield’s filings for pro bono counsel, on Sept. 25, 2018, Magistrate Judge Pitman wrote, “Any renewal motion should explain why the case has sufficient merit to warrant the appointment of counsel.” Bromfield, in an interview  said: “Well the merit is clear. BronxCare has three lawyers representing them.” She was referring to Marc Andrew Sittenreich, Samantha Nicole Tomey, and, Marianne Monroy, the three lawyers who’ve represented BronxCare.

The three are with a high-powered law firm, Garfunkel Wild, P.C., out of Great Neck, New York. After Bromfield rejected the $3,000, she says Tomey told her BronxCare was willing to increase the offer to $10,000 provided the case was sealed. “They still have not reported the injury to the patient six years after the incident. They think they can jeopardize patient safety and buy my silence for $10,000,” Bromfield said.

The current magistrate assigned to the case, Sarah L. Cave, has also denied Bromfield’s motions for counsel to represent her, she said.

Bromfield said Collora threatened to fire her if she didn’t resign, on April 19, 2016. Collora claimed a patient suffered a broken-toe injury on either March 17, or 18, during her shift, she said. During discovery in her pending federal case Bromfield obtained a copy of a report prepared by Ian Andrews, a licensed practical nurse (LPN) at BronxCare, stating that the patient broken-toe injury occurred on March 20, 2016 at around 11.30 AM, at a time when Bromfield wasn’t on duty. That shift belonged to a certified nursing assistant named Melissa Santos, who is white, Bromfield said. “So many people knew what really happened. Only a conspiracy would be able to hide the truth, which was documented,” she said.

Bromfield, after only learning this year about FOIL requests, filed one on Feb. 18, 2022 to the New York State Department of Health to determine if BronxCare ever reported the broken-toe incident. The department responded in a letter dated April 6, 2022, that no records of the incident had been located. After obtaining what she calls “the smoking gun” from the NYSDOH, Bromfield filed a motion to be allowed to amend her lawsuit for a second time to include the new information. Bromfield’s first request to amend her complaint was based on Ian Andrews’s report.

Marc A. Sittenreich, one of BronxCare’s Garfunkel Wild attorneys, in a letter dated July 22, 2022, asked Magistrate Judge Cave to seal the letter Bromfield received from NYSDOH or to redact the name of the resident-patient. Judge Cave granted the motion sealing both Bromfield’s letter asking the Court to take judicial notice and the FOIL response letter.

Bromfield has written a letter dated Sept. 7, 2022, to Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr., who is presiding over the case, asking that the NYSDOH letter be unsealed, after appropriate redactions, including the patient’s name. At the very least, lawyers who may consider representing her should be allowed access to the letter, she wrote.

She wrote that the NYSDOH response “exposes an elaborate fraud scheme, constructive fraud, conspiracy, and a coverup…” Bromfield also wrote, “Had defendant Collora or the Hospital staff on March 20, 2016, reported the said incident as required by state and federal law to NYSDOH, an independent on-sight investigation would have followed, a real investigation over which Collora would have absolutely no control or influence to manipulate the outcome, and I would still be working at the Hospital.”

Bromfield is awaiting Judge Carter’s response and a decision about whether she’ll be able to amend her complaint.  

Separately, Bromfield wrote a whistleblower complaint to Dr. Mary T. Bassett, the New York State Department of Health Commissioner on  Sept. 19, 2022.

“I write to you as a Whistleblower,” Bromfield’s letter to Commissioner Bassett, reads in part. “I was forced to resign by the Director of Human Resources, Mariea Collora, on April 19, 2016. Ms. Collora falsely claimed that an elderly resident had suffered a broken-toe injury during my shift, either on March 17 or March 18, 2016.” The letter goes on to explain how she obtained the Andrews report and the FOIL response letter.

“During my on-going case the hospital even had another LPN, George Brobbey, falsely state that the incident occurred on March 19, 2016 to support the conspiracy that led to my forced resignation,” Bromfield wrote in the letter to the commissioner. Bromfield’s letter also added: “As a conscientious professional I submit this information in the hope that NYSDOH will conduct the appropriate investigations to determine the truth and protect the safety of patients. Had BronxCare reported the incident as required by law, I would still be employed at the hospital.The incident also makes me wonder whether previous similar incidents have not been reported in the past. BronxCare’s lawyers from Garfunkel Wild, P.C., are also aware that the broken-toe incident was never reported, since they asked the court to seal the FOIL response letter I received from NYSDOH; a magistrate judge granted the request.”

Bromfield’s letter was copied to Governor Kathy Hochul and to Attorney General Letitia James. A copy was provided to Black Star News.

Bromfield says on the day she was forced to resign, she had just returned to work from another suspension. In the presence of the hospital’s chief nursing officer, Oliver Brown, the assistant director of nursing Yvonne Weatherburn, and her union representative Eugene Lashley, Collora allegedly blamed her—saying the patient’s broken-toe injury happened during her watch. “I will fire you on the spot if you don’t resign,” Collora allegedly said. Bromfield says the union representative told her she would be able to keep all her benefits if she resigned. This turned out not to be true and she wasn’t even able to collect unemployment, she said.

Bromfield’s home was recently foreclosed on. She was no longer able to maintain her mortgage payments due to her diminished income, she said.

When Black Star News contacted Garfunkel Wild, P.C. about  Bromfield’s allegations,  Marianne Monroy, who is a partner and director, sent the following statement via e-mail message: “Defendants categorically deny the claims.  We refer you to the federal court docket for this lawsuit, including a prior summary judgment motion filed on August 16, 2019, which explains the true facts and circumstances underlying the end of the plaintiff’s employment with the BronxCare Special Care Center.” 

The summary judgment motion was rendered moot because Bromfield was allowed to amend her complaint the first time.

When Black Star News sent Monroy a follow-up e-mail message asking if BronxCare ever reported the patient broken-toe injury incident to the NYSDOH, she didn’t response. 

A spokesperson for the NYSDOH didn’t respond by deadline for this report.

The post Former Nurse’s Assistant Claims BronxCare Fired Her To Avoid Reporting Patient Injury to Department of Health appeared first on Black Star News.

Dr. Stella Nyanzi’s book of poetry, “Don’t Come in My Mouth”, has a curious title. The word “come” being used as a double entendre.

This usage may leave the shallow observer thinking that Stella is not only trying to get her groove back, but is also attempting get her groove on. However, as is much the case with Stella, many of her words are taken out of context and understood according to a reader’s own biases. 

So, we shall provide some context before we look at her 146 poems in this 288-page book. Stella, I use her forename because her words have a way of making me feel like I know her intimately, is an activist who never accepts the received wisdom about anything. 

This has given her a Platonian tendency to examine everything, which takes her words to places many of us would fear to be caught within a mile of. This courage and unrelenting individuality have enlarged her contribution to democracy in ways not easy to estimate, even though Yusuf Serunkuma makes a decent attempt at doing so in the introduction to this book. 

All the poems are numbered and then titled, much like William Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets published in his “quarto” in 1609. In the first three poems “I am a writer”, “There are books bubbling in my belly” and “The Government is a Joke”, there’s a unifying thread running through the poet’s words which will give the reader a dramatic foretaste of the poems to come. 

The three poems are like a three-course meal, served as an appetizer. Then, boom! She introduces us to the tragically human condition of Ugandan politics in her fourth poem, “My Personal Motivations To Join Politics!” 

Her father’s death and the accompanying “anguish of losing my father” is extremely touching. 

As Stella relates her father’s death, we quickly realize that he might have been saved if the government did not prioritize bullets over medicines.

“My father died unnecessarily like a starving pet dog looking for a bone/He died looking for a vial of medicine in a land of many, many, many rounds of bullets/I joined politics to change national budgeting priorities from bullets to medicines.”

Then, the poet looks tearfully upon her mother’s grave. Her mother died upon entry to Masaka National Referral Hospital, after a frantic and vain search for a single ambulance. 

“A single absent ambulance in Uganda’s public health facilities/Separated my mother’s life from death.” 

Yet, she writes, “The national budget prioritises enamoured four-wheel-drive cars, Black Mambas and abduction drones over ambulances for emergency transport/And so, my mother died unnecessarily like a starving pet dog looking for a bone/She died waiting for an ambulance in a land where Members of Parliament get 321 Million Shillings for a fuel-guzzling power-car every term.”

When Stella recalls these two “unnecessarily early graves”, she powerfully reminds us of what the late American writer Toni Morrison called the “disremembered and unaccounted for”. In doing so, we are forced to examine the roles which we played in these deaths.

Yes, the roles we played by in doing nothing when it comes to doing something to change Stella’s past from being manifest in our own harrowing present.   

In Poem 34, ‘I name you”, she calls out the “Dictator Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Museveni Kaguta.”

It only has two verses, but eloquently outguns the firepower Museveni used when he “shot live ammunition at unarmed innocent Ugandans.”

She, ever so beautifully, writes: “Your soldiers murdered children, women and men going about their everyday lives…whose only crime was being in Uganda on that day.” 

It’s a poem which hits you right between the eyes and leaves you reeling for the count; which will probably begin at 36 years of Museveni’s rule, and counting.

Being a dyed-in-the-wool feminist, Stella’s 73rd poem, “A Eulogy for Barbara Allimadi”, is fitting indeed. 

“The feminist collective has lost a courageous Commando/I have lost a radically innovative ally who pioneered nude protest among Uganda’s elite/She was fearless when fighting patriarchs…”

Back in 2012, Allimadi organized mass demonstrations after a woman was allegedly assaulted by a police officer in broad daylight. The protests became famous in Uganda and were referred to as the “bra protests”.  Allimadi was found dead in her home in Kiwatule, Kampala, in April 2020, the cause of her death remains unsolved. She was the youngest sister of Black Star News publisher Milton Allimadi.

Stella’s book of poetry is hard hitting, without pulling any punches by couching her words in the comfortable imagery many Ugandan poets use to say one thing and mean the other. 

It is a book which inspires a broad sweep of human emotions, so prepare to laugh, cry, curse, cuss, bow your head in shame before lifting it in pride. 

In the 104th poem, entitled “Unhinged”, Stella reveals every reason why we should never simply dismiss her as a mad woman. 

We shall paraphrase: 

“When you stop being dogmatic/When you choose to be pragmatic/when you reduce on the fervour of a fanatic/When your loyalty is not automatic/When you excel at being a reflexive critic…. they say you are unhinged/ Poor woman, she has lost her marbles!”

One cannot forget to mention the wonderful aesthetics of the book, shaped not only by Stella’s poems but by cartoonists, graphic designers and illustrators, seven in number, led by Chris Atukwasize Ogon and Jimmy Spire Sentongo. 

Without a doubt, Stella has written the best Ugandan poetry book of the last decade and possibly the most important Ugandan poetry book of a generation.   

Columnist Matogo can be reached via mugashop74@gmail.com 

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