Forest Hills man charged with forgery for disseminating altered political endorsements and fake news reports in 2025 rac
A perennial candidate for city and state offices from Forest Hills, known for a history of political dirty tricks in multiple failed campaigns, was taken into custody Wednesday, June 24, hours after losing his latest primary election the night before.
Jonathan Rinaldi, 47, was arrested by members of the Queens District Attorney’s Detective Bureau and arraigned on a criminal complaint charging him with forgery and criminal possession of a forged instrument for allegedly creating and distributing false political endorsements and fake news articles using artificial intelligence during his 2025 campaign for City Council in District 29. Rinaldi, who is known in the tabloids as “The Sperminator” after fathering 15 children through sperm donations, allegedly used AI technology to falsely depict support from public figures and organizations during that failed City Council campaign. .
According to the charges and investigation, in January 2025, Rinaldi became a candidate for City Council District 29. Court-authorized created and posted AI-generated images on his official social media accounts subpoena records and search warrants revealed that, between January 17 and November 4, 2025, Rinaldi routinely and deliberately — primarily Facebook and Instagram — that falsely depicted endorsement from individuals and organizations that had not backed his candidacy and in fact, backed the opposition. Rinaldi also allegedly used specific AI prompts to manufacture fraudulent news articles, using the logo and branding of legitimate news organizations, and posted AI-generated videos depicting support from local public institutions that are not able to participate in politics.
In one instance, on Oct. 20, 2025, Rinaldi posted an altered endorsement sheet using the Queens Jewish Alliance (QJA) logo and branding that misrepresented the organization’s endorsement in the race. While the authentic endorsement sheet from the organization listed the incumbent City Council member, Rinaldi’s fraudulently altered version replaced that endorsement with “City Council ® Jonathan Rinaldi.”
https://qns.com/2026/06/forest-hills-man-forgery-political-endorsements-fake-news/