‘Cop-bribe’ figure ’fesses to Ponzi
A Harlem restaurateur with ties to the NYPD corruption probe dodged a trial — and an expected showdown with his former partner-turned-rat — by pleading guilty on Thursday.
Hamlet Peralta, former owner of the Hudson River Cafe, admitted in Manhattan federal court to duping unsuspecting investors into giving him millions of dollars to run a fake wholesale liquor business.
Peralta used some of the money to renovate his restaurant, which was a popular hangout with NYPD brass, some of whom later came under FBI scrutiny in the bribery probe.
By copping to the plea, Peralta avoided a trial in which Jona Rechnitz — the government’s star witness in a case involving two NYPD cops accused of accepting bribes in exchange for official police favors — was expected to testify.
Rechnitz also was tied to the government’s now-defunct probe into Mayor de Blasio’s fund-raising, and he will testify in a brib- ery case against former city prison-guard union head Norman Seabrook.
Rechnitz could have been called to testify because he acted as a recruiter for Peralta’s liquor business, although he has denied knowing it was a Ponzi scheme.
Peralta’s lawyer, Cesar de Castro, had been expected to seek to paint Rechnitz as a loan shark who charged Peralta exorbitant interest rates.
When Peralta started having trouble paying off Rechnitz’s loans, Rechnitz engaged in a life-insurance scheme that would have paid him millions of dollars if Peralta died, sources have told The Post.
This prompted Peralta to fear Rechnitz wanted him killed, sources said.