Elderly Bergen Couple's Trusted Personal Assistant Stole $2.9M Of Their Money, Feds Charge Elderly Bergen Couple's Trusted Personal Assistant Stole $2.9M Of Their Money, Feds Charge
Elderly Bergen Couple's Trusted Personal Assistant Stole $2.9M Of Their Money, Feds Charge An elderly Bergen County couple had $2.9 million stolen by a now-former Ridgewood Public Library tech administrator whom they'd hired to be a part-time assistant at their home, federal authorities said following his arrest. Charles Gallo, 34, of Hawthorne, was responsible for managing the victims’ monthly bills, handling their banking and helping them with email and other issues involving technology after being hired in 2018, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. The couple trusted Gallo with their personal bank accounts, credit card accounts, online retail accounts and email, the U.S. at…
Hackensack CEO: My Passaic Firm Sold US Army Faulty Equipment Made In China Hackensack CEO: My Passaic Firm Sold US Army Faulty Equipment Made In China
Hackensack CEO: My Passaic Firm Sold US Army Faulty Equipment Made In China A Passaic company CEO from Hackensack admitted selling knockoff forklifts made in China to the US Army, federal authorities said. James Cai, 33, secured $247,000 in government contracts to supply two FD150 diesel forklifts to the Fort Cavazos military installation in Killeen, Texas, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Thursday, Dec. 7. The forklifts supplied by Toner Connect LLC had to be manufactured in America and required at least half of the components to also be of U.S. origin, the attorney general said. Cai ignored the requirements, Sellinger said. He bought the…
Ex-Jersey Shore Construction Company Owner From Long Island Admits Ducking $500G In Taxes Ex-Jersey Shore Construction Company Owner From Long Island Admits Ducking $500G In Taxes
Ex-Jersey Shore Construction Company Owner From Long Island Admits Ducking $500G In Taxes A Long Island man admitted defrauding the government out of more than $500,000 in taxes by using check-cashing businesses to launder income from his former Jersey Shore construction company. The unidentified company that Khuram Raja, 37, owned and operated while living in Manalapan received unreported cash and proceeds from patronizing local check-cashing facilities, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Raja, currently of Locust Valley, NY, also deducted personal expenses from the company’s returns without reporting it, Sellinger said. Raja failed to file business tax ret…
Feds Indict Bergen Advisor For Stealing $3M From Senior Clients To Gamble, Buy Home, Gold Coins Feds Indict Bergen Advisor For Stealing $3M From Senior Clients To Gamble, Buy Home, Gold Coins
Feds Indict Bergen Advisor For Stealing $3M From Senior Clients To Gamble, Buy Home, Gold Coins A disgraced former broker and investment advisor is now under federal indictment for stealing more than $3 million from clients that authorities said he used to gamble and buy gold coins and a new house in Bergen County. Kenneth A. Welsh, 42, of River Edge, "used his position as an investment advisor to gain the trust of his victims," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. "(He) then exploited that trust,” Sellinger said. Welsh was working at Wells Fargo Clearing Services in Fairfield when federal authorities said he began shifting money from clients' accounts to that he controlled in Ju…
10 Vintage Cars, 1.7 Pounds Of Coke, $332K Seized From Jobless NJ Drug Dealer: Prosecutor 10 Vintage Cars, 1.7 Pounds Of Coke, $332K Seized From Jobless NJ Drug Dealer: Prosecutor
10 Vintage Cars, 1.7 Pounds Of Coke, $332K Seized From Jobless NJ Drug Dealer: Prosecutor An unemployed Nutley man bought 10 vintage cars with the money he made selling cocaine, authorities charged. Authorities seized the “exotic” vehicles along with nearly $332,000 in cash that Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Omar Rios, 44, squirreled away in his apartment and a stash house. They also grabbed 1.7 pounds of cocaine, cutting agents, packaging material and a hydraulic press used to compress cocaine for packaging, the prosecutor said. Rios was seized during coordinated raids at his apartment in the Franklin Commons building on Franklin Avenue in Nutley, at a mixed-used …
Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police
Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police A woman was arrested for kidnapping and two suspects remain at-large as Secaucus police continue their investigation into the sale of narcotics at motels in the town, authorities said.  Police found one member of an illicit drug distribution ring was kidnapped at knifepoint in Jersey City in June 2023, since he owed Erica Festino, another member of the drug ring, money, police said. The victim was bound and driven around Hudson County in the back of a U-Haul truck for hours and robbed of cash and personal items, police said. He was eventually released, police said.  Festino was ar…
HIGH LIFE: Ridgefield Park Man Charged With Spending $100G Treasury Check Stolen Out Of Teaneck HIGH LIFE: Ridgefield Park Man Charged With Spending $100G Treasury Check Stolen Out Of Teaneck
High Life: Ridgefield Park Man Charged With Spending $100G Treasury Check Stolen Out Of Teaneck A Ridgefield Park man intercepted a $100,000 U.S. Treasury check that was headed to a beneficiary in Teaneck, then spent the money on himself, authorities charged. Tyler N. Thomas, 27, “created a fictitious LLC and opened a bank account to deposit the check for his own benefit,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He then “withdrew funds and made several purchases prior to the detection of the fraud,” Musella said. Thomas (also known as Tyler D. Rodriguez) surrendered himself on Oct. 10 amid a joint investigation by members of Musella’s Financial Crime Unit and Teaneck police, the…
Fairview Restaurant Owner In $90,000 Wire Transfer Scam Flees To Brazil, Returned To US Fairview Restaurant Owner In $90,000 Wire Transfer Scam Flees To Brazil, Returned To US
Fairview Restaurant Owner In $90,000 Wire Transfer Scam Flees To Brazil, Returned To US A Fairview restaurant owner who claimed to be sending wire transfers for customers to Brazil pocketed at least $90,000 before fleeing the country, authorities said. Joanistel Ramos, 59, who owns Brasil and Brazil restaurant on Anderson Avenue, stiffed at least 15 local victims out of $40,000 in wire transfers that were never sent, Fairvew Police Capt. Michael Martic said. "She basically printed out a bogus generic receipt and put the money in her pocket," the captain said. Ramos, of Cliffside Park, also defrauded a money transfer company in Newark called Lyons Express out of an additional …
Grieving Bridgewater Woman Victimized By NJ Gravestone Scammer: 'People Can't Find Closure' Grieving Bridgewater Woman Victimized By NJ Gravestone Scammer: 'People Can't Find Closure'
Grieving Bridgewater Woman Victimized By NJ Gravestone Scammer: 'People Can't Find Closure' Barbara Kalmus was still reeling from the death of her sister last May when she was preyed upon by Gregory Stefan, Jr. The Bridgewater resident was one of several people authorities say was grifted by Stefan, who was recently arrested on a warrant by police in Vineland for scamming customers out of thousands of dollars through his company Colonial Memorials, not long after it was revealed he had been doing the same with his father and brother with their Pennsylvania company, 1843 LLC. Following her sister's death due to cancer, Stefan reached out to Kalmus about getting a headstone for he…
Jersey Shore Advisor Who Swindled Mentally Impaired Elderly Siblings Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen Jersey Shore Advisor Who Swindled Mentally Impaired Elderly Siblings Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen
Jersey Shore Advisor Who Swindled Mentally Impaired Elderly Siblings Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen UPDATE: A former investment advisor from the Jersey Shore who admitted swindling elderly and impaired clients out of more than $625,000 to partly fund a gambling habit was sentenced to a plea-bargained 3½ years in federal prison this week. Mario E. Rivero Jr., 39, of Red Bank, must serve out the entire term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Rivero, a former Wells Fargo agent and investment adviser representative who had an office in Elizabeth, convinced five clients to transfer investment funds to their personal bank accounts, federal authorities charged. Many of his …
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…
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…