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Police & Fire
SCAM ALERT: Men Used Counterfeit $100 Bills At Several NJ Gas Stations, Police Say SCAM ALERT: Men Used Counterfeit $100 Bills At Several NJ Gas Stations, Police Say
Scam ALERT: Men Used Counterfeit $100 Bills At Several NJ Gas Stations, Police Say Two men have been charged after allegedly using counterfeit bills at several gas stations throughout the Garden State, authorities said Friday. Mohammad Kamara, 30, of Newark, and Tonney Manyango, 29, of Sayreville, are accused of asking for $3.00 worth of gas at QuickChek in Cedar Knolls, paying with a counterfeit $100 bill, and asking for change for a second counterfeit $100 bill on Jan. 4, Hanover Police said. A follow-up investigation found that several other convenience stores throughout New Jersey had recently experienced a similar scam between Jan. 4 and Jan. 6, authorities said. Th…

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by Valerie Musson
News
Alert Bank Manager Helps Hawthorne PD Nab ID Thieves, Authorities Say Alert Bank Manager Helps Hawthorne PD Nab ID Thieves, Authorities Say
Alert Bank Manager Helps Hawthorne PD Nab ID Thieves, Authorities Say Hawthorne police nabbed a pair of identity thieves from the Bronx thanks to a local bank manager, authorities said. The manager at the Chase branch on Lafayette Avenue called police after denying the men access to an account belonging to a Florida resident and watching them drive away, Detective Capt. Robert King said. Officers took Orlando Rodriguez, 35, and Christian Ellis, 30, into custody after stopping their vehicle – which had tinted windows and no front license plate – moments later, King said. Both had several debit and credit cards in the names of other people with them, the capta…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
ID Thief Had Tools Of Trade And More During Rochelle Park Traffic Stop, Police Say ID Thief Had Tools Of Trade And More During Rochelle Park Traffic Stop, Police Say
ID Thief Had Tools Of Trade And More During Rochelle Park Traffic Stop, Police Say An identity thief had the tools of the trade with him -- as well as credit cards, debit cards, personal checks and a drug prescription in other people's names -- when a Rochelle Park police stopped him for not having a front license plate, authorities said. Officer Chris Kiszka stopped the Honda Accord as it exited the parking lot of the Ramada Inn on Passaic Street, Lt. James M. DePreta said. The officer quickly discovered that the driver, Dashawn McDaniel, 25, of Paterson had an outstanding traffic warrant, he said. McDaniel "provided conflicting accounts as to his destination" before co…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Fraudster Put Her Own Email Address On $100K Loan In Victim's Name: Wayne PD Fraudster Put Her Own Email Address On $100K Loan In Victim's Name: Wayne PD
Fraudster Put Her Own Email Address On $100K Loan In Victim's Name: Wayne PD A 47-year-old Wayne woman was arrested for opening $100,000 in loans under someone else's name after she put her own personal contact information on the account, authorities announced. Cherie Elliott used used her own email address, phone number and physical address on the six loans she took out under the victim's name last April, Wayne Police Det. Capt. Dan Daly said. The victim came to police last June when she noticed her credit score suddenly dropped, Daly said. She was told by a financial institution that loans were opened using her personal information -- but had the email a…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
NY, Newark Car Thieves Busted In Hudson County: Police NY, Newark Car Thieves Busted In Hudson County: Police
NY, Newark Car Thieves Busted In Hudson County: Police Two car thieves from New York and Newark were busted following separate traffic stops in Hudson County, authorities said. Tariq Alqanawi, 37, of Newark was pulled over on Paterson Plank Road in a 2007 Hyundai Elantra found to be stolen out of East Rutherford on Nov. 18, Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller said. Alqanawi was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property. Meanwhile, George Valerio, 40, was pulled over on County Avenue in a 2007 Chrysler Sebring found to be stolen out of New York City on Nov. 23, Miller said. The vehicle allegedly had a forged temporary registrat…

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by Valerie Musson
News
NJ's University Hospital Workers Fired Over Bogus Vaccination Cards NJ's University Hospital Workers Fired Over Bogus Vaccination Cards
NJ's University Hospital Workers Fired Over Bogus Vaccination Cards Several University Hospital employees have been fired over bogus COVID-19 vaccination cards, news reports say.  Noticeable differences were spotted between the CDC-generated vaccination cards and the forged ones, the Newark-based hospital's president and CEO Dr. Shereef Elnahal told NJ Spotlight. The fake vaccination cards were an apparent effort to overcome the hospital's mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy announced in June. It was not clear exactly how many employees were terminated. The news comes days after a 31-year-old Jasmine Clifford -- who calls herself “Anti-Va…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
‘Anti-Vax Momma’: Stripper From Bergen Busted For Selling Bogus COVID Cards On Instagram ‘Anti-Vax Momma’: Stripper From Bergen Busted For Selling Bogus COVID Cards On Instagram
‘Anti-Vax Momma’: Stripper From Bergen Busted For Selling Bogus COVID Cards On Instagram A celebrity Instagram stripper from Bergen County who called herself “Anti-Vax Momma” was charged by federal authorities with selling forged COVID vaccine cards online. Jasmine Clifford, 31, of Lyndhurst sold 250 or so phony Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine cards for $200 each, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. said Tuesday. Doing the math, that’s $50,000. Clifford – known as “5Star Jazzi” -- also connected customers to Nadayza Barkley, 27, who worked in a medical office on Long Island and added the names of 10 or so buyers to a state vaccine database for a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Sussex Caregiver Charged With Stealing $18,500 From Bergen Patient Sussex Caregiver Charged With Stealing $18,500 From Bergen Patient
Sussex Caregiver Charged With Stealing $18,500 From Bergen Patient A caregiver was charged with stealing $18,500 from a 97-year-old Oakland patient. Lori Bennett, 55, of Wantage forged four checks and deposited the money into a personal account over a three-month span, Lt. Christian Eldridge said. Bennet was charged with theft and forgery and released pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack. Detective Sgt. Mark Piercy and Detective Christopher Tinio investigated.

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
BUSTED: Scammer, 71, Cons Recent Widow Out Of $100,000, Edgewater Police Charge BUSTED: Scammer, 71, Cons Recent Widow Out Of $100,000, Edgewater Police Charge
Busted: Scammer, 71, Cons Recent Widow Out Of $100,000, Edgewater Police Charge Her husband had just died when a widow lost $100,000 to a 71-year-old con artist from Edgewater, authorities charged. Anna Bors was already known to police. She has a record of arrests involving bank fraud, check kiting and thefts in Edgewater and Fort Lee and is believed to be part of an online “sweepstakes” or “lottery” scam ring, Detective Sgt. Teddy Wetklow said. This time, Bors weaseled account information from a 75-year-old recent widow in North Carolina, Wetklow said Tuesday. Detective Jorge Vanegas diligently worked the case, obtaining bank records as well as surveillance footage…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Man Admits Using Postal Workers, Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks NJ Man Admits Using Postal Workers, Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks
NJ Man Admits Using Postal Workers, Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks A Union County man admitted recruiting postal service employees to steal federal COVID stimulus checks and then paying high school students to help cash them, authorities said. Tashon Ragan, 21, of Hillside was among a group of thieves associated with a group called “The Members” who paid US Postal Service employees in cash to steal credit cards and blank checkbooks from the mail, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. They then “forged the signatures of the accountholders and negotiated the checks by making them payable to individuals,” Honig said. Some were New Jersey high school st…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Bergen Sheriff’s Officer Charged With Forgery, Suspended Without Pay Bergen Sheriff’s Officer Charged With Forgery, Suspended Without Pay
Bergen Sheriff’s Officer Charged With Forgery, Suspended Without Pay A Bergen County sheriff’s officer was suspended without pay after authorities charged him with forging a required personnel document. Peter Servidio, 41, of Paramus submitted the forged document when staff sought to verify information that he’d provided to Sheriff Anthony Cureton’s Office of Professional Standards, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Thursday. The prosecutor didn't specify what type of document Servidio submitted, although a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity told Daily Voice that it was part of a follow-up to a random fitness-for-duty revie…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Police: Bergenfield ID Thieves Claim More Than 50 Victims Police: Bergenfield ID Thieves Claim More Than 50 Victims
Police: Bergenfield ID Thieves Claim More Than 50 Victims A pair of ID thieves from Bergenfield stole thousands of dollars from the bank accounts of more than 50 victims, authorities said Tuesday. Borough police worked with members of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Secret Service and police in Brick and Absecon to crack the case. It began last August, when one of the victims told borough police that someone had opened several accounts in her name and accumulated outstanding balances on them, Detective Lt. William Duran said. Investigators eventually identified William Newhart IV, 42, and Jennifer Bland, 34, as their primary suspects, Dur…

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by Jerry DeMarco