Former Orange County prosecutor charged with taking $48,000 in bribes to investigate case

A retired Orange County court judge and former executive assistant Orange County prosecutor is now at the center of corruption allegations involving a family linked to an unsolved murder case in Rockland County.

The allegations are detailed in court documents obtained by News 12 that claim former prosecutor Stewart Rosenwasser focused on Eman and Martin Soudani after Moutz “Marty” Soudani accused his sister and nephew of stealing $1.6 million from him in a cryptocurrency scheme and paid Rosenwasser to investigate.

Martin Soudani ended up being the only one charged in 2023. He pleaded guilty and repaid his uncle nearly $500,000 before being sentenced to one to seven years in prison in Orange County court.

In August, the mother and son each filed a notice of claim, the first step in a lawsuit, against Rosenwasser, Orange County District Attorney Dave Hoovler and Orange County Senior Assistant District Attorney Christopher Borek after they said they discovered personal text messages between Rosenwasser and Moutz Soudani during the investigation and a paper trail of six payments, totaling $48,100, marked as “loans” to Rosenwasser.

In one alleged text exchange, Moutz Soudani allegedly wrote to Rosenwasser that he would make him “extremely more than happy.” Rosenwasser allegedly texted Soudani that he would “always protect” and “help” him. Another alleged exchange allegedly involved texts from Soudani to Rosenwasser saying that he destroyed “everything that was not good on the phone.”

Court documents allege that Rosenwasser previously represented Moutz Soudani in several real estate transactions in the 1990s while he was in private practice and received $15,000 three days after his nephew returned some of the stolen funds.

The Soudanis claim that Rosenwasser’s investigation resulted in the “false arrest and incarceration” of Eman Soudani, downplayed allegations of abuse, ignored evidence of additional criminal activity and concealed bribes. They claim that Hoovler and Borek, who tried the case, placed “blind trust” in Rosenwasser and negligently prompted an unjustified prosecution.

Orange County District Attorney Rick Golden responded: “As the county has the right to do, I have required each of the plaintiffs to appear before my attorneys to be questioned on their allegations and to provide their responses under oath. Until I review the plaintiffs’ sworn testimony, I will have no further comment.”

The Soudani family has already made headlines.

Marty’s wife, Helen, was killed in an unsolved murder at the couple’s restaurant in Rockland County in 1977.

His sister, Eman, accuses him of incest and rape in a separate lawsuit and claims that Rosenwasser, the county and district attorney, intervened in a “significant family dispute.”

News 12 was unable to reach Rosenwasser.

District Attorney Dave Hoovler said in a statement that the allegations relate “solely and entirely to Judge Rosenwasser and a single case. If true, he has disgraced the justice system, the people he worked with and the citizens of Orange County.”

Rosenwasser retired from the Orange County district attorney’s office in June. An official source says he is also under federal investigation for tax fraud.

The Soudanis plan to sue for $22.5 million.