A retired New York judge and former prosecutor reportedly took his own life during a shootout with FBI agents on Tuesday morning, September 24, while they were attempting to arrest him on bribery and corruption charges.
Stewart Rosenwasser, who was involved in a federal bribery scandal, allegedly opened fire as agents approached his Orange County home before dying by apparent suicide shortly after 9:30 am, according to law enforcement sources.
The FBI stated that it is reviewing the incident at Rosenwasser’s Campbell Hall residence and that the case is being investigated by the Inspection Division, as is standard procedure in agent-involved shootings.
“As this is an ongoing matter, we have no further details to provide,” the statement read.
The gunfire exchange occurred just a day after a federal grand jury voted to indict Rosenwasser for allegedly accepting $63,000 in bribes to manipulate a case for a friend claiming he was embezzled by relatives.
The 43-page indictment states that Rosenwasser conspired with millionaire businessman Mout’z Soudani to frame Soudani’s sister and nephew in order to recover the allegedly stolen funds.
“Any progress? I’m anxious, thanks,” Soudani, also named in the indictment, texted Rosenwasser on November 18, 2022.
“Waiting to talk to the investigator,” the prosecutor allegedly replied. “Should know something today.”
“Believe me. I’m putting in maximum effort,” he added, according to the document. “We will utilize all available assets.”
Federal prosecutors noted that the two later attempted to conceal their illicit communications, with Rosenwasser allegedly texting Soudani on January 23, 2023, “We must stop creating text messages. Period.”
The scheme targeted Martin Soudani and his mother, Eman Soudani, who were accused of embezzling $1.6 million from Mout’z Soudani, a wealthy former restaurateur, according to the indictment.
On March 8, 2023, Rosenwasser, while serving as an assistant district attorney in Orange County, charged Soudani’s relatives with grand larceny for allegedly stealing money from Mout’z Soudani and had arrest warrants issued.
When the defendants appeared in court, their lawyers requested that Rosenwasser recuse himself due to a conflict of interest, as he had previously represented Mout’z Soudani in the 1990s.
Rosenwasser denied the claim and chose to remain on the case.
By June 2023, the DA’s office began to take notice, resulting in Rosenwasser being removed from the case, according to the indictment. By March 2024, the charges against Soudani’s sister were dropped, while his nephew agreed to plead guilty to grand larceny in the embezzlement case, receiving a prison sentence of one to seven years.
Martin Soudani and Eman Soudani subsequently filed a $22.5 million lawsuit, alleging that the cases against them were compromised.
Court documents related to the lawsuit, reviewed by the Times-Union, described the alleged bribery scheme as “potentially the most blatant example of prosecutorial corruption and fraud in New York case law.”
Meanwhile, Rosenwasser resigned from the DA’s office earlier this year as the investigation escalated, culminating in this week’s indictment.
In an email to The Post on Tuesday, Rosenwasser’s son, Jason, requested privacy for the family but expressed skepticism regarding reports of his father’s suicide.
“The only thing I feel compelled to point out is that local news headlines are stating that my father fatally shot himself while also reporting in the same article that the FBI field office called it an agent-involved shooting,” he wrote.
The scandal, which prompted a federal raid on his home in July, led to Rosenwasser’s resignation from the DA’s Office.
The federal indictment, which names both Rosenwasser and Mout’z Soudani, accuses them of conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and honest services wire fraud, according to the Times-Union.
When FBI agents arrived at Rosenwasser’s home on Route 416, they reported that he had barricaded himself and that shots were fired, leading them to request a SWAT team from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.