Rudy Santana was accused of stealing $30,000 from his girlfriend Kristen Maher after she died of an overdose, being a victim of the alleged drug trafficking gang led by businessman Ettore Mazzei in Staten Island (NYC).
According to authorities, Maher was a victim, among many others, of the drug trafficking, extortion and fraud empire led by Mazzei, a community leader arrested last week along with 20 other people, including Santana.
Santana and Mazzei allegedly obtained Maher’s bank account information and then fraudulently transferred $30,000 from there, prosecutors said. The alleged robbery began five months after she died of a drug overdose in November 2022 at age 38.
Authorities have linked Mazzei to numerous overdoses on Staten Island dating back several years, prosecutors said in court. It was unclear whether they counted Maher’s overdose death among them.
Much-loved overdose victim targeted after death by Ettore Mazzei Staten Island crime empire
Kristen Maher had $30,000 fraudulently transferred out of her bank account beginning five months after her death.https://t.co/73i34Qgj3j
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) May 26, 2024
Mazzei constructed a labyrinth of crimes that included drug trafficking, extortion and fraud against government programs. The breadth of his criminal activity is truly mind-boggling.”
“People take advantage of people all the time. He was an easy target and they knew it,” he told the Daily News an old neighbor of Maher’s. “It’s sad. “This whole thing is just sad.”
Mazzei (61) and Santana (42) were charged with grand theft, identity theft and illegal possession of personal identification in the alleged Maher fraud. They have also been accused of making credit card purchases, falsely reporting them as fraudulent and then receiving a refund from credit card companies, court records show.
Maher graduated as a registered nurse and worked at Staten Island University Hospital for some time, the unnamed friend said. “Once she got addicted, that was it…she never had another job after that.”
The woman had several run-ins with the law, including a 2012 arrest for theft, forging prescriptions and illegally obtaining various pills such as oxycodone, Xanax and valium, police said. In 2018 she was arrested for criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Described by Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon as a “poison supplier,” Mazzei is also accused of selling undercover police officers 20 grams of heroin, 461 grams of cocaine and 140 Suboxone strips, which are used to treat opioid addiction, during a period of 14 months, from March 2023 to May 2024.
“Mazzei constructed a labyrinth of crimes that included drug trafficking, extortion and fraud against numerous government programs, including COVID-19 relief, housing support, food stamps and other financial aid,” prosecutor McMahon said. last week. “No doubt he is a successful businessman, a corrupt and evil businessman… The breadth of his criminal activity is truly mind-boggling.”
Ironically, in his self-published book “It’s Your Right to Be Fit, Sexed, & Happy… So Claim It!”, Mazzei devotes an entire chapter to addiction. “The fact is that some people will never be able to manage their addictions in this lifetime,” she wrote. “Many die with sad lives, addicts. “I know good, strong-willed people who are being beaten by their addictions.”
Benefiting from the controversial penal reform, Santana was released without bail at his arraignment Wednesday in Staten Island Criminal Court. He has 22 prior arrests on his record, police said. In 2012 he was sentenced to three years of probation and restitution after pleading guilty to petit larceny, according to a spokesman for the Nassau County district attorney’s office on Long Island.
Mazzei was detained at Rikers Island, unable to post the $3 million cash bail set by Judge Mario Mattei. Following the surprise arrest of the community and business leader last week, Linda Baran, president and CEO of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, issued a statement: “The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce is saddened and shocked to learn of the allegations against Ettore Mazzei. “The Chamber commends District Attorney Michael McMahon and the New York Police Department for their continued work to identify and address illicit drug activity in our community.”
All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
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