Nicole Torres, A Bronx district leader who represented the GOP, was arrested on Tuesday. Torres is being charged with several counts of extortion and conspiracy.
According to reports, she ordered illegal payments for herself as well as another anonymous Bronx organization from Bronx residents applying to be poll workers.
She was supposedly collecting $150 advances amounting to approximately $28,000. The court documents say that Torres also has to repay all this money that was gained illegally.
FBI New York Acting Assistant Director Christie Curtis called the verdict a “win for justice” and released the following statement regarding their findings. “For at least five years, District Leader Nicole Torres allegedly abused her position within the Board of Elections by charging Bronx residents a fee to work as poll workers and misrepresenting poll workers’ presence on assigned shifts to fraudulently collect their salaries.
In addition to that, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation, Jocelyn Strauber had this to say, “As charged, this City Board of Elections employee and elected district leader abused her authority for personal profit. She allegedly demanded payments from prospective poll workers whom she was responsible for selecting and pocketed salaries that were paid to no-show poll workers based on documents that she falsified, according to the indictment. When a City employee uses their trusted position to illegally enrich themselves, as alleged here, they undermine public trust and confidence in government and unfairly tarnish the reputations of those who do their jobs with integrity each and every day. I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI for their partnership on this important investigation.”
After being arrested, Nicole Torres is facing seven accounts of wire and mail fraud, identity theft, conspiracy, and extortion. Identity theft carries a mandatory two-year sentence, yet the other six charges carry a prison sentence with a maximum of 20 years.
