Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz indicted six volunteers for council candidate Yu-Ching James Pai for voter fraud, reports Documented.
They face a 161-count indictment for “criminal possession of a forged instrument, falsifying business records, illegal voting, and other crimes” related to the election.
Those charged include Pai’s daughter, Sydnee Pai, 19, who was charged alongside Li Zhen Wan, 46, Yee Ping Yam, 53, Lisbeth Cheng, 24, and Crystal You, 20.
Katz did not say candidate Pai, who is Republican, was aware of the alleged scheme and he denies any involvement, reports TNS.
WABC reports five of the six defendants surrendered to authorities Thursday. The sixth defendant is out of state and is expected to surrender at a later date.
The investigation began after fellow defendant Dany Chen alleged Pai committed voter fraud to winning the primary.
“Normally, you might expect 10% or even 20% of the votes to come via absentee ballots. But here, the numbers of absentee ballots were massive, and those absentee ballots were weighted heavily in favor of James Pai,” said Aaron Foldenauer, Dany Chen’s attorney to WABC.
Sandra Ung, an incumbent Democrat, won the election.
“I’m confident that my team is very legit.” Pai said to Documented. He saysthe District Attorney’s office is following due diligence. “It’s their job to investigate cases,” he said.
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