Ex-NYC Public Defender Is Charged With Luxury Spending Fraud

The founder of a top New York City public defender organization spent money meant for indigent legal defense on foreign travel, pricey real-estate, and high-end clothing, a New York federal prosecutor said Wednesday.

Lori Zeno, who ran Queens Defenders, and Rashad Ruhani, her husband and former employee at the nonprofit, were indicted by a federal grand jury on fraud, theft, and money laundering charges, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said in court papers.

Queens Defenders is one of the five borough-based defenders assigned under federal and state law to represent criminal defendants and other clients ...