Rashad Ruhani

Rashad Ruhani, a former client advocate for the nonprofit Queens Defenders, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in April 2026. Between June 2024 and January 2025, Ruhani and the organization’s former executive director, Lori Zeno, misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars—estimates vary between $300,000 and $580,000—by using corporate credit cards for luxury travel, high-end shopping, and personal rent. Ruhani also submitted fraudulent reimbursement requests for a penthouse apartment by altering lease documents to conceal Zeno's occupancy. Additionally, prosecutors alleged the pair secured no-show jobs for associates and family members. Ruhani was initially charged with wire fraud, theft, money laundering, and obstruction of justice but pleaded guilty only to the wire fraud conspiracy count. He faced a sentencing range of four to six years in prison. Prior to this role, Ruhani had served a 26-year prison sentence for a 1996 robbery.