WTNH/YOUTUBE.COM
Moustapha Diakhate at a 2013 Ansonia City Hall press conference. Image taken from WTNH YouTube video.
ANSONIA — The businessman who once hoped to redevelop buildings in downtown Ansonia has a new, high-profile lawyer to defend him against federal fraud charges.
Court papers show Norm Pattis is now representing Moustapha Diakhate, who was charged in May with wire and bank fraud in connection to COVID-19 federal paycheck protection program. The government accused Diakhate of obtaining about $2.9 million in loans and then using some of the money on non-business expenses, such as paying off automobile loans and purchasing luxury cars.
Pattis has represented a number of high-profile clients in Connecticut courts, including conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and suspected killer Fotis Dulos.
Diakhate was introduced to Ansonia by former Mayor James Della Volpe during a press conference in 2013. Diakhate had just purchased 398,107 square feet of former Farrel properties straddling both sides of Main Street in downtown Ansonia, including 501 E. Main St., the Farrel Corp.‘s former “Process Lab.”
He and his company promised mixed-use development, but did nothing with the properties. By 2016, no development plans had been submitted, and Diakhate’s company was seeking bankruptcy protection after being sued by its mortgage lender.
Shaw Growth Ventures is now building apartments downtown, while the city is converting a former Farrel office building at 65 Main St. into a police station and senior center.
The government alleges that Diakhate listed Washington Management LLC, the company that initially purchased the Ansonia properties, and Ansonia Developers, LLC on his PPP loan applications.
Federal court filings show that prosecutors have been talking to Diakhate about resolving the case “pre-indictment.” That means the sides could be working on a settlement that avoids trial.
But the government said those discussions — including the sharing of evidence — needed to start over in July, once Diakhate hired Pattis as his new attorney.
As a result, a federal judge agreed to continue the case until Dec. 31, 2021 and has pushed Diakhate’s preliminary hearing to an unspecified date after Dec. 31, 2021, in order for all parties to get their ducks in a row.
