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Suspended Attorney Stole Clients Cash In NJ, PA Real Estate Scam: DA
A suspended real estate attorney is accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from clients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, prosecutors announced on Monday, Feb. 24.
James "Jim" J. Vassallo Jr., 55, of Voorhees, New Jersey, was arrested for misappropriating funds while handling a Downingtown, Pennsylvania, home purchase in early 2023, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office said. Despite having his Pennsylvania law license suspended since August 2018, Vassallo allegedly continued to act as an attorney, taking money from his clients under false pretenses.
The victims wired funds …
Garfield Man Conned Buddy Out Of $1.5M To Blow At Casinos, Fund Restaurant: Feds
A New Jersey man who admitted to conning a friend out of $1.5 million on a fake investment scheme in Boston to fund his restaurant and casino vacations will serve 18 months in prison, authorities announced.
Edwin Tavarez, 48, of Garfield, N.J., pleaded guilty to wire fraud in May and was sentenced on Monday, Dec. 18, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said. He must also repay the $1,515,836 million he stole.
Tavarez conned a decades-long friend into "investing" in an industrial property in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, authorities said. Tavarez told his friend they …
Bergen Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme
It seemed state and federal prosecutors had thrown all they could at a Bergen County father and son for a series of multi-million-dollar investment scams. But state authorities announced a new indictment against both men on Monday, Nov. 6.
This time, George Bussanich, Sr., 65, of Park Ridge, and George Bussanich, Jr., 43, of Upper Saddle River, are charged with defrauding investors and mortgage lenders out of more than $2.5 million through a “fix and flip” investment scam involving Jersey Shore real estate.
Victims believed they were funding the purchase, renovation, and resale of four…
Suspended Garfield Lawyer Pocketed $90,000 Of Clients' Money For Himself, Authorities Charge
A Garfield attorney swiped $90,000 from two clients in real estate deals while he suspended from practicing law, said authorities who arrested him.
Alfred Ramos, 38, “received the funds into his attorney’s trust account and then, instead of forwarding them to his clients, used them for his own purposes,” Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said.
Ramos was under suspension at the time, under a July 3, 2018 order of the New Jersey Supreme Court, Calo said.
He’s scheduled for a Feb. 13 first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court on two counts of misapplication of entrusted f…
