EXCLUSIVE: There’s been a development in a story we’ve been following from New York. Michael Cruz, a retired NYPD detective and unlicensed private investigator, currently living in New Orleans, who’s also known as Michael Moretti, Yanti Michael Greene, and Michael Moretti Ford Cruz, allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted a woman he trailed for Dan Ribacoff’s P. I. firm International Investigative Group (IIGPI), according to newly released expert witness testimony. The Expert’s report, which includes an analysis of the underlying facts in this case and detailed conclusion, is available for download at this link.
Michael Cruz a/k/a Yanti Greene a/k/a Michael Moretti a/k/a Michael Moretti Ford Cruz is accused of drugging, raping, and video recording the sexual assault of a NY woman he trailed while working as an unlicensed private investigator for Dan Ribacoff, the polygraph expert on NBCUniversal’s The Steve Wilkos Show.
Ribacoff’s family-owned businesses, which includes International Investigative Group (IIGPI) and InDepth Polygraphs, run by his daughter Lisa Ribacoff, apparently hired Cruz a/k/a Moretti a/k/a Greene, a former NYPD cop, in 2017 to trail a woman in the midst of a divorce. Incredibly, Cruz/Moretti allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted his target, inside the same vehicle he used to surveil her.
The former surveillance subject filed a civil lawsuit in 2019 against Cruz a/k/a Moretti a/k/a Greene and other IIG P.I.’s he worked with on the same case (Richard Custodio, Fred Caravousanos), accusing them of sexual assault, and in December 2020 against the Ribacoff’s and IIGPI for negligent hiring and supervision, among other allegations.
Expert Concludes Victim was Drugged, Sexually Assaulted by Cruz a/k/a Moretti
During the discovery phase of this case, as alleged, Cruz a/k/a Moretti a/k/a Greene attempted to dupe the court by submitting edited versions of the videos he recorded with his iPhone during the assault, concocting a ludicrous narrative that the victim actually raped him, and his videos were the originals and the only footage in existence. After his iPhone mysteriously “disappeared,” the victim’s attorney, who discovered inconsistent meta data buried within the edited footage, suspected foul play, and asked the court to order forensic investigators to hunt for all the footage recorded by Cruz/Moretti the night of the assault.
With cooperation from Apple, forensic investigators were able to recover the original, unedited versions of the videos from a backup file sitting in Greene/Cruz’s iCloud account. The recovered files were turned over to Trinca Porrata, a well-respected expert in the field of drug facilitated sexual assault, who analyzed them and issued a report concluding that the sexual activity observed between Greene/Moretti/Cruz and the alleged victim, is consistent with a drug facilitated sexual assault of the woman Cruz/Moretti/Greene trailed for the Ribacoff’s. The Expert also indicated that, based on the underlying facts and evidence reviewed in this case, GHB, a substance commonly associated with date rape, was the drug most likely administered to the victim (presumably by Cruz/Moretti/Greene) the night of the assault.
In addition to her semi-conscience and drug-induced state, observed in the footage, the Expert noted the victim consistently reported her memory, of the incident, was nearly wiped clean the following morning; facts corroborated by sworn testimony from third party witnesses at the time. The Expert explained that most victims of GHB-facilitated sexual assault experience similar, complete lapses in memory, inconsistent with alcohol use, after indications of sexual activity, which may explain the substance’s popularity amongst sexual predators. The advantage being, if the victim can’t remember what happened, there’s nothing to report to the police.
More shockingly, according to her report, the Expert, while reviewing the unedited footage, apparently discovered Cruz/Moretti/Greene’s handgun on the seat of his vehicle, near the victim’s body, during the assault. The handgun found in the unedited recovered footage may be the same gun Moretti/Cruz/Greene demonstrated in an Instagram video he posted weeks before the assault. The Expert stated, “this could constitute intimidation to a victim of unwanted sexual contact, if conscious and aware of its presence.” She also noted that the victim consistently reported that Cruz/Moretti/Greene brandished a handgun prior to the assault taking place.
Ironically, approximately one month before the victim’s rape, Greene/Moretti/Cruz, while working as a P.I. for the Ribacoff’s firm IIGPI, posted a link on his Facebook page to a video demonstrating the ease at which a victim could be “roofied” or drugged:
Court Rules Cruz/Moretti Destroyed Evidence, Convicts Him of Criminal Contempt
In February 2022, after a two-day hearing, where the Defendant was represented by council, Cruz a/k/a Moretti a/k/a Greene was found guilty of criminal contempt by a New York State Supreme Court Judge for his intentional destruction, withholding, and editing of the video he recorded of the victim’s alleged sexual assault. According to the contempt trial transcript, after Cruz a/k/a Moretti a/k/a Greene destroyed the iPhone used to produce the recordings, court-ordered forensic investigators were able to recover the original, unedited footage from his Apple iCloud account. Evidence presented at trial indicates Cruz/Greene/Moretti went to significant lengths to cover up the victim’s alleged rape, which included his intentional destruction of the iPhone used to make the recordings, as well as his intentional editing and removal of incriminating visual and audio segments from the original footage.
Following his criminal contempt conviction, the victim was awarded a $335,000 judgment by the Court, which Cruz a/k/a Moretti a/k/a Greene appears to be actively evading, according to recent filings.
Cruz/Greene Changes Name, Hired by Go X Scooter Rental Co. in New Orleans
Apparently, with an anticipated guilty decision looming, Greene, under the radar, quickly changed his legal name to Michael Moretti Ford Cruz by filing an application with the State of Delaware. Shortly after the judgement was issued against him by the court, Cruz/Moretti/Greene fled the state of New York and ended up in Louisiana. After settling in New Orleans, Greene/Moretti/Cruz worked for the City in their emergency management division for a short time, before landing a job with Cheetah X, Inc. a San Francisco based company, owned by Alexander Debelov. Cheetah X, Inc. rents electric scooters in New Orleans under the name Go X.
Cruz/Moretti/Greene Uses Corporate Accounts to Shield Income from Judgements
True to form, according to court documents, Cruz a/k/a Moretti a/k/a Greene appears to be shielding over $70,000 of personal income received from Cheetah X Inc. via wire transfer to a corporate bank account, under the name “The Moretti Group Inc.” The victim’s attorney has filed an emergency order to show cause, asking a New York court to garnish Moretti/Cruz/Greene’s wages from Cheetah X. Inc. and issue an order to turn over cash assets from his alleged bogus corporate entity, The Moretti Group Inc., to partially satisfy the judgement against him. Bank statements, submitted to the court in the form of numerous exhibits, appear to confirm that Cruz/Moretti is shielding income from judgements in corporate bank accounts, which he uses, not for legitimate business purposes, but primarily for personal expenses, including: OnlyFans internet pornography subscriptions, cigars, drugs from Hims&Hers.com, Harrah’s Hotel and Casino, PetCo supplies for his dogs and cats, etc.
BREAKING: NY Judge Denies Cruz a/k/a Moretti’s Attempt to Unfreeze Accounts
Greene/Moretti/Cruz appeared in a New York City courtroom on Tuesday morning January 24th and faced Supreme Court Justice Erika Edwards. Apparently, the victim’s attorney was successful at freezing a corporate bank account Cruz/Moretti/Greene allegedly uses primarily for personal expenses, including numerous subscriptions to OnlyFans internet pornography web sites.
According to reports, when he was called to address the court, Cruz/Moretti first spent several minutes explaining why he legally changed his name from Yanti Michael Greene to Michael Moretti Ford Cruz, then argued why his bank account should be unfrozen. According to the court’s decision, Justice Edwards didn’t buy into Moretti/Cruz’s claim that his pension funds should be protected from judgements, despite the fact that he deposited them into a business account and allegedly commingled these funds with corporate assets. We understand the victim’s attorney made Justice Edward’s aware of Cruz/Moretti’s alleged practice of running personal expenses through his corporate bank accounts, specifically to evade judgements against him. Following the hearing, the court issued a written decision, denied Cruz/Moretti/Greene’s motion in its entirety, and ruled in favor of the victim and her attorney.
On Wednesday January 18, 2023, Cruz a/k/a Moretti allegedly appeared for a court ordered deposition with the victim’s attorney. Our understanding is that the deposition lasted several hours and focused on income and cash assets Moretti/Cruz/Greene is allegedly shielding from judgements using fraudulent corporate bank accounts. We expect video and transcripts from the deposition to be available shortly.
UPDATE: The Green/Moretti/Cruz court-ordered deposition transcript was recently uploaded to the court docket and is available for download at this link.
Cruz’s Employer, Dan Ribacoff, CEO of IIG, Allegedly Sent Racist Texts to P.I.’s
As previously reported, Cruz/Moretti/Greene’s former employer, Dan Ribacoff and his daughter Lisa Ribacoff of IIGPI and InDepth Polygraphs, are dealing with their own problems, after highly offensive racist text messages, allegedly sent by Dan Ribacoff to private investigators, were published by the New York Daily News in November 2021. After the article appeared online, the Ribacoff’s contract with the New York Transit Authority Police Department, to provide polygraph services, was terminated. Coincidentally, Dan Ribacoff hasn’t been seen on any new episodes of the Steve Wilkos Show since the racist text messages were exposed, although his firm, InDepth Polygraphs, run by Lisa Ribacoff, is believed to be administering polygraph exams to the Steve Wilkos Show’s participants near the studio.
We expect more breaking news from this explosive New York case shortly and will provide updates as soon as they become available.
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