Now she’s the defendant!
The recently ousted founder of the Queens Defenders legal aid group stole at least $60,000 from her own organization and — along with a lover who also worked there — used it to pay for a pricey penthouse, $2,000 restaurant meals and even a dream getaway to Bali, a bombshell indictment claims.
Group founder Lori Zeno and fellow defender Rashad Ruhani illegally claimed tens of thousands in personal spending as business expenses and abused the company credit card, the probe by the FBI and the city Department of Investigation found.
The lovebirds “corruptly diverted tens of thousands of dollars from the Organization to personally enrich themselves and others,” according to the Brooklyn federal court indictment, which alleges wire fraud, theft and money laundering conspiracy.
Ruhani was cuffed by authorities after landing at JFK Tuesday night, but Zeno — who was was suspended from the legal group in January — is still at large.
“We are deeply saddened by the nature of these allegations against two former employees,” said Doneath Powell, Chair of the Board of Directors. “The alleged actions do not reflect who we are as an organization or the values we uphold. This is a difficult moment, but we are committed to transparency, accountability, and moving forward with strength and integrity.”
The fraudulent scheme allegedly began last summer, around the same time Zeno gave Ruhani a promotion to manage the group’s youth program, officials said.
Zeno leased a $6,000-a-month penthouse apartment at about that time, and lived there with Ruhani, the document reads, something never disclosed to the organization.
Ruhani bilked the Queens Defenders to pay $39,000 of their rent by claiming “that the Penthouse apartment was being used for ‘client defense’ and ‘foster parent Care,’” the indictment said.
He even sent a doctored image of the lease with the reimbursement request “that had been altered to remove Zeno from the list of occupants,” and further expensed three months of utility bills — a staggering $12,500 — and an additional $16,312 for rent and over $2,000 for penthouse parking, the fed allege.
With the Defenders’ corporate credit card, the profligate duo allegedly racked up huge bills.
One of the couple’s first fraudulent expenses in July 2024 was $600 to pay for teeth whitening, the indictment states.
Vacations charged to the card included a $10,000 trip to Bali, and over $1,700 in expenses at a Santa Monica resort, prosecutors claim.
Pricey date night dinners — including a blow-out $2,600 feast at a “high-end steakhouse” last November — was also paid with the card, for a total of nearly $4,000. The pair also spent $10,900 on luxury shopping, the feds say.
Over $3,300 of their shopping bill went towards “an 85-inch smart television and related accessories to be shipped to and installed at the Penthouse Apartment,” prosecutors claim.
Federal officials and the DOI declined to comment. A message sent to an attorney for Ruhani was not answered by publication.
Zeno could not be reached for comment, but in March, she told the Queens Eagle that she had long dreamed of retiring to Bali when asked about the future of her organization after her ouster.
“We’ll see what happens now to Queens Defenders that I’m not there,” she told the local paper, who first covered the Defender’s drama. “Hopefully, I’ll be in Bali, living a very peaceful life, and I won’t even need to know about it.”
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