Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Michael Alfonso, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”); and Christopher G. Raia, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced that SUZETTE TRIMMINGHAM, a former New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) traffic safety officer, and MERVIN RHYMES, the owner and operator of an accident victim call center, both pled guilty to participating in a bribery scheme. Specifically, TRIMMINGHAM and RHYMES admitted to participating in a scheme in which TRIMMINGHAM provided information of automobile accident victims contained in a non-public NYPD database to RHYMES in exchange for bribes of money and other things of value. TRIMMINGHAM pled guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl, and RHYMES pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams.
“Suzette Trimmingham abused her position as an NYPD traffic safety officer and, in exchange for bribes, sent Mervin Rhymes information about automobile accident victims so that Rhymes’s call center could profit by referring those victims to lawyers and doctors,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Trimmingham and Rhymes made hundreds of thousands of dollars from their scheme. Their pleas highlight this Office’s commitment to pursuing those, including members of law enforcement, who seek to profit by abusing their positions of public trust.”
HSI New York Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso said: “Suzette Trimmingham exploited her position of public trust and in turn profited handsomely, alongside her domestic partner Mervin Rhymes, by targeting victims of recent vehicle accidents. Whether at work, off-duty and even on vacation, she took steps to access individuals’ personal details from non-public government databases, and then shared with Rhymes that private, sensitive information so they could further enrich their lifestyle. HSI New York, alongside the FBI and the NYPD, will always place the public’s wellbeing above all else, and will relentlessly pursue bad actors willing to shamelessly betray their sworn duties for their own selfish gains.”…