Rikers captain allegedly extorted underlings for lux handbags and rides to casino during work hours
A greedy Rikers Island captain shook down her underlings for a luxe bag and rides to a casino — saying she’d only approve their timesheets if they complied with her lavish demands, the feds charged Thursday.Latanya Brown, 51, separately bilked taxpayers by billing for thousands of dollars in phony “overtime” in 2024 and 2025 while she was living it up at the betting house, an indictment says.“The defendant brazenly abused her authority as a law enforcement supervisor to steal taxpayer money and terrorize her subordinates,” said Joe Nocella, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.The jailer allegedly squeezed her underlings by threatening to block requests to change shifts or take vacation days unless she got gifts like a Louis Vuitton bag or a ride to Yonkers’ Empire City Casino.The Yonkers resident was even found to have been hanging out at the casino on a day in November 2024 on which she claimed to have worked a 16-hour Rikers shift, court papers allege.Brown has worked for the scandal-scarred city jail system since 2001 and has served as a Rikers captain since 2007.In 2024, she was paid $231,000 in overtime on a base salary of around $126,000, and in 2025 put in for more than $170,000 in overtime on a $130,000 salary.The Bronx native’s luck ran out however Thursday morning when she was arrested at her Yonkers home on charges of extortion and fraudulently obtaining funds from a federally funded government agency.The alleged scammer held up a Walmart bag to her face Thursday afternoon while dodging questions from reporters as she walked out of Brooklyn federal court on $300,000 bail.A federal defender representing her at her arraignment, where she pleaded not guilty, tried to talk the judge into allowing her to take a pre-booked cruise to the Bahamas that leaves Friday — a request that was ultimately denied.Brown has been suspended without pay for 30 days and will be on modified duty after the suspension ends, the city Correction ...