Photo credit: LinkedIn
Headline: New York Times, 2/3/2026
A luxury penthouse apartment, with polished stone countertops and stunning views of the New York City skyline, would seem like an odd expense for a public defender organization whose clients are poor defendants who cannot afford to hire a lawyer.
But Lori Zeno, the founder of the public defender organization Queens Defenders, paid to rent a luxury apartment and many other things, federal prosecutors said, with stolen public money.
Ms. Zeno and her romantic partner, Rashad Ruhani, used more than $300,000 of the organization’s funds on indulgences like a vacation to Bali, teeth-whitening procedures and repairs to a Mercedes-Benz, according to federal prosecutors in Brooklyn. ]emphasis added]
