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Hudson Pharmacy Owner's Son Admits Role In $99M Kickback Scheme Uncovered By Feds Hudson Pharmacy Owner's Son Admits Role In $99M Kickback Scheme Uncovered By Feds
Hudson Pharmacy Owner's Son Admits Role In $99M Kickback Scheme Uncovered By Feds The son of a former Union City pharmacy co-owner admitted his role Thursday in a multimillion-dollar scheme to boost prescription sales by paying kickbacks and bribes to health care professionals. Alex Fleyshmakher, 34, of Morganville, worked for his father, Igor Fleyshmakher of Holmdel, at Prime Aid in Union City. He was also an on-paper owner of Prime Aid Bronx, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Operating out of both locations, the now-defunct Prime Aid Pharmacies processed expensive medications used to treat various conditions, including Hepatitis C, Crohn’s disease, and rheum…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Ex-Newark Police Officer Goes To Fed Pen For 9 Years For Kickback Scheme Ex-Newark Police Officer Goes To Fed Pen For 9 Years For Kickback Scheme
Ex-Newark Police Officer Goes To Fed Pen For 9 Years For Kickback Scheme A former Newark police officer is headed to federal prison for the next nine years for paying kickbacks to a corrupt official for a private security contract. Janell Robinson, 45, of Newark must serve just about all of the entire sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Jurors in U.S. District Court in Newark convicted Robinson last February of conspiring in a massive corruption scheme with Linda Watkins Brashear, the former executive director of the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corporation (NWCDC). The NWCDC provided water to half a million New Jer…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
COVID-19: Feds Nab Fleeing Sussex Man Accused Of Pocketing $5.6M Small Biz Pandemic Loan COVID-19: Feds Nab Fleeing Sussex Man Accused Of Pocketing $5.6M Small Biz Pandemic Loan
Covid-19: Feds Nab Fleeing Sussex Man Accused Of Pocketing $5.6M Small Biz Pandemic Loan A Sussex County man who collected $5.6 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic loans that he wasn't entitled to was about to board a flight to Pakistan when federal agents arrested him, authorities said. Azhar Sarwar Rana, 30, of Newton, took the money -- designed to keep struggling small businesses afloat during the pandemic – and invested millions in the stock market, made a payment to a luxury car dealership and sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to accounts in Pakistan, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Rana submitted an application for a stimulus loan under the federal Paycheck Prote…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Edgewater Man Gets 7 Years In Fed Pen For Plot To Traffic 20 Kilos Of California Coke Edgewater Man Gets 7 Years In Fed Pen For Plot To Traffic 20 Kilos Of California Coke
Edgewater Man Gets 7 Years In Fed Pen For Plot To Traffic 20 Kilos Of California Coke An Edgewater man must spend the next seven years in federal prison for scheming to truck nearly 45 kilos of cocaine from California to New Jersey. Irving Olivero-Pena, 48, was the last of three men sentenced after all admitted that they gave a courier $549,950 to bring to California to buy the drugs. Authorities in California seized the cash and kept the drug shipment from leaving the state, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Also striking deals with the government were Robert Crawford, 45, of Long Island City, NY, who was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in July 2015, and Melvin F…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds Charge Jersey Shore Pain Management Doc With Massive $24.6M Billing Fraud Feds Charge Jersey Shore Pain Management Doc With Massive $24.6M Billing Fraud
Feds Charge Jersey Shore Pain Management Doc With Massive $24.6M Billing Fraud A Jersey Shore pain management doctor accused of running a $24.6 million fraud scheme billed insurance plans for more than 24 hours worth of services in a single day no fewer than 900 times, federal authorities said Monday. Morris Antebi, 68, of Long Branch, also billed Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies frequently on dates when travel records show he was overseas -- including trips to China, Israel, Turkey, the Dominican Republic and across Europe – and at other times when he was otherwise out of state, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Antebi, who specializes in pain ma…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Englewood Cliffs Man Gets 14 Years In Fed Pen For $7.8M Law Firm Swindle, Huge Cocaine Deal Englewood Cliffs Man Gets 14 Years In Fed Pen For $7.8M Law Firm Swindle, Huge Cocaine Deal
Englewood Cliffs Man Gets 14 Years In Fed Pen For $7.8M Law Firm Swindle, Huge Cocaine Deal An Englewood Cliffs man was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison Friday for a pair of high-priced schemes – one to steal $7.8 million from two high-powered law firms where his wife was a partner and another to traffic more than 44 pounds of cocaine. Both Melvin Feliz, 54, and Keila Ravelo, 55, previously admitted that they’d formed two limited liability companies that purported to provide litigation support for Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Hunton & Williams -- but, in fact, didn't. Ravelo, who’d been a partner with both firms, approved invoices submitted by her husband. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Jersey Shore Construction Contractor Admits Ducking Nearly $1,000,000 In Taxes Jersey Shore Construction Contractor Admits Ducking Nearly $1,000,000 In Taxes
Jersey Shore Construction Contractor Admits Ducking Nearly $1,000,000 In Taxes A Jersey Shore businessman admitted in federal court that he ducked more than $952,778 in payroll and personal income taxes by putting his Manhattan construction company in an associate’s name, paying workers in cash and hiding the scheme from his accountant. Bilal Salaj, 55, of Morganville admitted in U.S. District Court downtown that he “continued to hold principal control and decision-making authority over the business and its financial affairs” of the business after changing ownership in July 2014, Southern District of New York Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said. That included con…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Brick City Backhander: Feds Charge Newark Councilman With Taking Payoffs For Influence Brick City Backhander: Feds Charge Newark Councilman With Taking Payoffs For Influence
Brick City Backhander: Feds Charge Newark Councilman With Taking Payoffs For Influence Federal agents caught a sitting Newark City Council member pocketing payoffs in exchange for influence, authorities said Tuesday. West Ward Councilman Joseph A. McCallum Jr., 65, was charged with soliciting and collecting bribes and kickbacks at the same time that a consultant from the city, 60-year-old Malik Frederick, was pleading guilty to his role in the scheme, they said. McCallum “schemed to receive concealed bribes and kickbacks from Frederick, funded by developers, contracting companies, and other businesses seeking contracts and approvals principally related to development, constru…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Consultant Admits Bribing Former NJ Assemblyman Consultant Admits Bribing Former NJ Assemblyman
Consultant Admits Bribing Former NJ Assemblyman A computer consultant admitted in federal court Wednesday that he bribed a former New Jersey state assemblyman currently under indictment in connection with a series of kickback schemes. Jeanmarie Zahore, 56, of Rahway told a U.S. District Court judge in Newark via teleconference that he made the corrupt payments when Willis Edwards III was the acting business administrator for the city of Orange. Zahore received a $350,000 contract without competitive bidding from the Orange City Council in September 2015 for JZ Nettech, a computer consulting business that he operated from his home, U.S. A…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Mailman Charged With Stealing, Cashing Checks From Hackensack, Maywood, Leonia Residents Mailman Charged With Stealing, Cashing Checks From Hackensack, Maywood, Leonia Residents
Mailman Charged With Stealing, Cashing Checks From Hackensack, Maywood, Leonia Residents A postal carrier from Hackensack stole and cashed checks sent to customers on his route in town, in Leonia and in Maywood, said federal authorities who arrested him Wednesday. Juan Torres, 27, deposited the money into a bank account he controlled, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Torres was scheduled for a first appearance via videoconference Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor in Newark. Special agents with the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General have charged him with mail theft and bank fraud. Carpenito credited the agents and postal inspector…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: NJ Crew Used Postal Workers, High School Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks Feds: NJ Crew Used Postal Workers, High School Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks
Feds: NJ Crew Used Postal Workers, High School Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks A group of criminals recruited New Jersey postal service employees to steal federal COVID-19 stimulus checks and paid high school students to help cash them, authorities said. The defendants -- who were associates of a group calling itself “the Members” -- recruited U.S. Postal Service employees to steal checks, checkbooks, debit cards, and credit cards from the mail in exchange for cash, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. They then forged the signatures of the account holders and made the checks payable to high school students and others who’d given them access to their accounts, also in …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Morris County Couple Admit Ducking $261,758 In Federal Income Taxes Morris County Couple Admit Ducking $261,758 In Federal Income Taxes
Morris County Couple Admit Ducking $261,758 In Federal Income Taxes A Morris County couple who owned and operated construction businesses admitted in federal court in Newark that they stiffed the government out of $261,758 in income tax payments. Roger Magill, 50, of Wharton admitted using a bogus ID to cash checks from Reliable Construction (also known as Reliable Paving) and Hackensack Pavers between 2014 and 2016, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Ruby Magill, also 50, meanwhile, admitted that she helped her husband out by “allowing him to deposit his hidden income into business bank accounts that she operated and controlled,” Carpenito said. U.S. Dis…

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by Jerry DeMarco