Crimes Nearby: Montauk's Panoramic at Center of Alleged Ponzi Scheme

The following information was supplied by the East End police departments and the US Attorney's office. A criminal charge is only an accusation and does not indicate guilt.

EAST HAMPTON

Two men from Old Westbury were charged Thursday as part of a nearly $100 million Ponzi scheme that involved funds to buy the Panoramic View Resort & Residences in Montauk, according to the US Attorney's office.

A 24-count indictment charging Brian R. Callahan, a 43-year-old investment fund manager, and Adam J. Manson, a 41-year-old real estate developer, was unsealed in federal court in Central Islip on Thursday morning.

The defendants — who are brothers-in-law — pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. Arraigned on Thursday afternoon, Manson was released on a $1 million bond secured by $500,000 in equity in his father's home. Callahan was released on a $2 million bond secured by $500,000 equity in three homes owned by his sister and father.

WESTHAMPTON-HAMPTON BAYS

• A cab driver said he picked up a man at The Drift on Dune Road and dropped him off at Baywatch Motel, but when he told the man the fare was $20, he only paid with two crumpled up dollar bills. When the cab driver got out and told the man it was not enough money, the man punched him in the face and ran. According to the incident report the cab driver had a bloody nose but refused medical treatment.

• Suffolk County police are asking for the public's help to identify a woman who was caught on video stealing a cellphone from an employee at an Eastport grocery store last month.

According to police, on June 12 at 6:45 p.m., two women went up to an employee at the King Kullen on Eastport Manor Road, and while one engaged her in conversation, the other women stole her white iPhone 4.

NORTH FORK

•  A 33-year-old Greenport man was arrested Tuesday after police said he raped a woman at a Peconic beach. According to Southold Town police, Rudy Orlando Cruz-Ventura raped a 33-year-old Greenport woman Tuesday at Goldsmith's Inlet beach, at the end of Mill Lane, in Peconic.

He was arrested on a charge of first-degree rape, a felony, at a Shelter Island business on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. Police said Cruz-Ventura was an acquaintance of the victim.

Cruz-Ventura is being held at Southold police headquarters pending arraignment in Southold Justice Court. Shelter Island police assisted in the investigation.

•  A Port Jefferson man was arrested after cops said they caught him snorting a pain killer outside a popular North Fork winery.

According to Southold Town police, the man was arrested on Saturday at 10:29 p.m. after police said security at Bedell Cellars in Cutchogue reported observing him snorting a white powder in a van parked at the establishment.

Police said the defendant admitted to snorting Percocet; police said they found another Percocet pill and marijuana in his vehicle.

He was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, a misdemeanor, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation.

He was processed and released on bail, to return to court at a later date.