Discount clothing retailer David Cohen better have a top-notch NY criminal defense attorney! Mr. Cohen, the owner of the Mystique Boutique chain of Manhattan clothing stores (among other stores), was arrested earlier this month in New York City.
And for those of you who know about the cheap steals and discount quality clothing of Mystique Boutique--no, Mr. Cohen was not arrested by the fashion police (although perhaps such an arrest would have been called for). Mr. Cohen was arrested for allegedly being a bad boss.
Well, if only it were so easy to arrest a bad boss. Mr. Cohen was apparently more than just a bad boss, though. He allegedly underpaid his employees; in a scheme that the New York Attorney General is calling unemployment insurance fraud.
Mr. Cohen allegedly paid less than New York minimum wage and no overtime to over 150 employees throughout his numerous boutique locations in the New York metro area. Mr. Cohen's plethora of stores include shops on Broadway, Canal Street and a 5th Avenue store. He owns Mystique Boutique, Madness Boutique, Exstaza and Amsterdam.
But this tale is not over yet: Mr. Cohen has also been dinged with tax fraud; where he allegedly tried to cheat tax collectors by falsifying his tax statements. The Attorney General's complaint claims 19 counts of "falsifying business records".
Oh, and it gets worse. His NY criminal defense attorney certainly has some work cut out for him/her, as Mr. Cohen allegedly threatened whistleblowers--an act which will not be looked upon fondly by jurors. According to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the workers in his stores were hushed into compliance by intimidation. So much so, that Mr. Cohen allegedly attempted to pay one worker $50,000 to find out which workers were talking to investigators.
The complaint against Mr. Cohen alleges both civil and criminal charges; claiming that he cheated workers out of $1.5 million in wages.
He'll certainly be needing that $1.5 million, to pay his NY criminal defense attorney.
Related Resources
- New York City Boutique Owner Arrested for Allegedly Cheating His Employees out of $1.5 Million (Stylist.com)
- Attorney General Press Release (NY Attorney General)
- Wage and Hour Law (FindLaw)
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