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Police & Fire
Holland Tunnel Driver With Loaded Gun, $17K Toll Debt Impersonated Officer: Port Authority PD Holland Tunnel Driver With Loaded Gun, $17K Toll Debt Impersonated Officer: Port Authority PD
Holland Tunnel Driver With Loaded Gun, $17K Toll Debt Impersonated Officer: Port Authority PD A woman who once made headlines for an alleged COVID scam was carrying a loaded gun -- and owed $17,000 in unpaid tolls -- when Port Authority police stopped her at the New Jersey end of the Holland Tunnel, Daily Voice has learned. Sharita T. Patterson, 36, of Brooklyn was stopped in Jersey City for having a bogus temporary Georgia license tag on her car just before noon Tuesday, July 25, said Port Authority Public Information Officer Lenis Valens. PAPD officers spotted the gun "in plain view" and seized it, Valens said. They also seized Patterson, a single mother of three who Valens said…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Employees Of Franklin Lakes Cellphone Store Charged With Theft, Investigation Continues Ex-Employees Of Franklin Lakes Cellphone Store Charged With Theft, Investigation Continues
Ex-Employees Of Franklin Lakes Cellphone Store Charged With Theft, Investigation Continues Two now-former employees of a cellphone store in Franklin Lakes were charged with using customers’ information to steal from them, authorities announced. Franklin Lakes police conducted an “extensive and comprehensive” investigation over the past several months before filing theft charges against both Robert Q. Hansford, 28, of Clifton, and Haleem K. Mitchell, 25, of East Orange, Capt. Mark McCombs said. Mitchell, who’d worked with Hansford at TS Mobility AT&T on Franklin Avenue, also was charged with conspiracy, the captain said on Tuesday, July 18. Both were released pending court ac…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Married Old Bridge Soccer League Execs Used Stolen Funds To Cover Family Disney Trip, Bills: PD Married Old Bridge Soccer League Execs Used Stolen Funds To Cover Family Disney Trip, Bills: PD
Married Old Bridge Soccer League Execs Used Stolen Funds To Cover Family Disney Trip, Bills: PD The former president of a Central Jersey youth soccer league and her husband have been charged with stealing $91,000 from the youth organization, authorities said. A trip to Disney World. An extravagant party for their daughter. Amazon purchases. These were all expenses that Kathleen Murawski and Joseph Murawski paid for using stolen funds from the Old Bridge Soccer League, the Old Bridge Police Department said. Kathleen served as the league's president and Joseph was the league's field director, police said. Following a comprehensive, 6-month investigation, Old Bridge Police Detecti…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Teaneck Teen Nabbed In Hackensack Knifepoint Robbery Attempt: Police Teaneck Teen Nabbed In Hackensack Knifepoint Robbery Attempt: Police
Teaneck Teen Nabbed In Hackensack Knifepoint Robbery Attempt: Police Hackensack police nabbed a Teaneck teen moments after he tried to rob a man at knifepoint of money and his cellphone, authorities said. A first-degree robbery charge has kept Xiomor Highsmith, 19, in the Bergen County Jail since the June 22 incident. Officers responding to a call near the corner of Newman and Sussex streets found Highsmith carrying a folding knife and five counterfeit $100 bills, said Capt. Michael Antista, the officer in charge of the department. In addition to robbery, Highsmith is charged with fraud and an illegal weapons offense.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
South Korean Clothing Manufacturer Admits Customs Fraud, Agrees To Pay US $2 Million South Korean Clothing Manufacturer Admits Customs Fraud, Agrees To Pay US $2 Million
South Korean Clothing Manufacturer Admits Customs Fraud, Agrees To Pay US $2 Million A South Korean company has agreed to reimburse the United States $2 million for defrauding Customs officials about the value of imported clothing and apparel. Principals with Anyclo International Inc. admitted this week that the company evaded duties on clothing and apparel that it manufactured abroad and imported into the U.S. for nearly seven years, beginning in October 2012, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. The fraud involved preparing two invoices for the same shipments, the U.S. attorney said. One invoice bore the true value of the merchandise, Sellinger said. Th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
$6M Ponzi Scheme: Braggart Hedge Fund 'Tycoon' Busted By Undercover NJ Fed $6M Ponzi Scheme: Braggart Hedge Fund 'Tycoon' Busted By Undercover NJ Fed
$6M Ponzi Scheme: Braggart Hedge Fund 'Tycoon' Busted By Undercover NJ Fed The well-heeled hedge fund tycoon from Chicago seemingly couldn’t help but boast of some spectacular achievements during a meeting with an investment manager in New Jersey. There were annual returns of 336 percent, more than $2 billion raised in just 60 days and a list of investors that included a well-known owner of a professional sports team, authorities said. Phillip Galles, 57, also took a page from George Santos’s book, claiming that he’d graduated from a prominent university in the Midwest, they said. Galles’s “outlandish claims of experience, expertise and success” were all BS, a co…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Psychic Pulls 'Death Card' Con On PA Couple: Police NJ Psychic Pulls 'Death Card' Con On PA Couple: Police
NJ Psychic Pulls 'Death Card' Con On PA Couple: Police A Pennsylvania-based fortune teller from New Jersey not only failed to predict the future but allegedly conned a family while doing it, according to court documents obtained by Daily Voice.  Police in Pennsylvania have formally charged 25-year-old Billie Loren Mitchell of Kearny, NJ on April 27, 2023, but have yet to apprehend and arraign her, according to a police release on May 9, 2023.  Mitchell runs Psychic World at 501 East Main Street in Palmyra, PA, and claims to be a "Clairvoyant psychic and certified holistic healer," as stated on her Facebook page.  An elderly coup…

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by Jillian Pikora
Police & Fire
Multitude Of Government Agencies Victimized Out Of $4M By NJ Man: Feds Multitude Of Government Agencies Victimized Out Of $4M By NJ Man: Feds
Multitude Of Government Agencies Victimized Out Of $4M By NJ Man: Feds A New Jersey man stole more than $4 million through a clutch of schemes that included defrauding three different government programs, authorities charged. Gbenga Akinbode, 33, of Newark, opened a bank account and then used 120 different debit cards to buy $500,000 worth of money orders that were deposited into the account, according to a complaint filed by Homeland Security Investigations in U.S. District Court in Newark. Investigators discovered that the debit cards were funded with $4 million in fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits, bogus Paycheck Protection Program loans…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Serial NJ Phony Fire Inspector Has Yet To Learn His Lesson, Police In DC Say Serial NJ Phony Fire Inspector Has Yet To Learn His Lesson, Police In DC Say
Serial NJ Phony Fire Inspector Has Yet To Learn His Lesson, Police In DC Say He's a little bit older and a little bit grayer, but Michael Carrion is the same phony fire inspector now that he was in 2018, authorities in Washington DC say. Carrion, who was being held at Riker's Island for a parole violation when he was being sought out of various New Jersey towns in 2018, is now wanted out of the nation's capital for pulling the same stunt that landed him in trouble with the law back then. CarrionMUGSHOT: Courtesy WAYNE PD This time, 56-year-old Carrion posed as a fire inspector at a DC bagel shop on April 21, and left with nearly $1,000 in cash, according to DC N…

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by Cecilia Levine
Lifestyle
Fyre Festival II Is On, NJ Fraudster Founder Says Fyre Festival II Is On, NJ Fraudster Founder Says
Fyre Festival II Is On, NJ Fraudster Founder Says Lovers of bland cheese sandwiches rejoice! Fyre Festival II is finally happening, so Billy McFarland says. Which means it's probably not happening. McFarland, who was raised in Short Hills, tweeted on Sunday, April 9: For those who don't remember, Fyre Festival I, organized by McFarland and Ja Rule was a massive debacle.  What was supposed to be a planned music festival and luxury weekend on the Bahamas promoted by social media influencers ended with guests sleeping in shoddy tents, served bland cheese sandwiches and being the subject of epic schadenfreude by bemused onlookers relishing ev…

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by Sam Barron
News
Wildwood Mayor Admits Tax Dodge: Feds Wildwood Mayor Admits Tax Dodge: Feds
Wildwood Mayor Admits Tax Dodge: Feds Wildwood Mayor Peter J. Byron admitted Friday that he ducked paying taxes on $40,425 that he received for working as a salesman for a law firm, federal authorities said. Byron, 67, officially pleaded guilty to twice willfully "aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of fraudulent tax returns" to the IRS for calendar years 2017 and 2018, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced on March 24. The mayor still has a state case to deal with. He, former Mayor Ernest V. Troiano Jr. and City Commissioner Steven E. Mikulski were charged last year with fraudulently collecting stat…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
IRS Bags Hundreds Of Tax Cheats, Money Launderers As COVID Relief Fraud Tops $3.2 Billion IRS Bags Hundreds Of Tax Cheats, Money Launderers As COVID Relief Fraud Tops $3.2 Billion
IRS Bags Hundreds Of Tax Cheats, Money Launderers As COVID Relief Fraud Tops $3.2 Billion It wasn't long after the government began offering COVID relief loans three years ago that IRS investigators were hot on the tails of scammers. Since then, agents with IRS Criminal Investigation have pursued 975 tax and money-laundering cases nationwide involving $3.2 billion worth of fraudulently obtained loans, credits and payments meant to help American workers, families, and small businesses who were rocked by the pandemic. Over that time, IRS-CI has kept its conviction rate at nearly 100%, federal authorities say. It has produced indictments against 458 defendants, …

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by Jerry DeMarco