Harendra Singh, key witness in Mangano corruption trial, won't begin prison sentence until May, officials say

Harendra Singh, the former restaurateur who was the key government witness in the corruption trials against ex-Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and his wife, Linda, and was sentenced last year to four years in prison for committing a slew of financial crimes, won’t begin his prison sentence until at least May, officials said Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Joan Azrack last July sentenced Singh, whose trial testimony “exposed the corrupt culture that was business as usual in Nassau County,” the judge said, and ordered him to begin serving his sentence on Jan. 24. But his attorney, Anthony La Pinta, filed a motion in early January requesting a new surrender date. The document is sealed, and the reason the later start date was requested has not been disclosed publicly.

Singh, 65, of Laurel Hollow, has now been ordered to report to prison on May 24, said John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted both Singh and the Manganos. La Pinta confirmed his client’s surrender date was pushed back until May, but declined to comment further.

Singh testified that he bribed Ed Mangano with a $450,000 “no-show” job for his wife, two luxury chairs, flooring for his and his wife’s Bethpage bedroom, free meals and vacations and a $7,300 watch for one of his sons in exchange for Mangano influencing Oyster Bay Town officials to authorize the town to serve as an indirect guarantor for what amounted to $20 million in loans for Singh, who wanted the funds to make improvements to several seaside eateries he operated in the town.

Edward Mangano is serving a 12-year prison sentence in Massachusetts and is slated to be released on May 7, 2032, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons. He was convicted in 2019 of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, federal program bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Linda Mangano served five months in prison of a 15-month sentence for her conviction of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and two counts of lying to the FBI as part of the scheme.

Singh pleaded guilty as part of a cooperation agreement with the government in 2016 to charges including conspiracy to commit federal program bribery and honest services wire fraud related to the Town of Oyster Bay loan scheme and a nearly $1 million fraudulent claim to FEMA that the Water’s Edge, a Queens catering hall he owned, was damaged during Superstorm Sandy. He also pleaded guilty to obstructing and impeding the due administration of Internal Revenue Service laws.

In addition to bribing Mangano and then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was not accused of any wrongdoing, Singh admitted bribing several other Oyster Bay Town officials, including former deputy town attorney Frederick Mei, who was sentenced to two years in prison on corruption-related charges on the same day that Singh was sentenced.

Singh bribed Mei with $70,000 in cash and gifts between 2010 and 2012, according to prosecutors, to ensure that the town guaranteed Singh’s loans. Singh also paid Mei’s $36,000 lease for his BMW and for several vacations, including to South Korea.

Mei, 64, is currently housed in USP Lewisburg, a medium-security federal prison in Pennsylvania, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.