78°
Rendon-Gonzalez (l.), Perez, Rendon COURTESY: Bergen County Prosecutor
Due in Central Municipal Court in Hackensack for first appearances on Tuesday were Gerardo Perez, Sr., 53, of 73rd Street in North Bergen, and Pedro Rendon, 57, of 59th Street and 27-year-old Crispin Rendon-Gonzalez, of Washington Street, both West New York.
From June 2000 through May 2011, the trio pulled the bogus billing scheme on the unidentified supermarket through Amaro Food Enterprises, a wholesale meat distributor on 8th Street in North Bergen, Molinelli said.
After getting a tip, detectives from his White Collar Crimes Squad collected “imaginary” invoices submitted to the supermarket for payment on meats that were never delivered, the prosecutor said.
“Gerardo Perez, Sr., the President of Amaro Food Enterprises, would create the fraudulent invoices, present them to Pedro Rendon or Crispin Rendon-Gonzalez, employees of the supermarket, who would then pre-sign the invoices indicating that the product meats had been received by the client customer,” Molinelli said.
Gerardo Perez, Sr., who had been with the company more than 20 years, “surreptitiously” collated a copy of the bogus invoice with an in-house accounting copy that indicated the meat had been “pulled from Amaro Food Enterprises stock, delivered to the supermarket, and was now awaiting payment by the client customer supermarket,” the prosecutor said.
The thieves then slipped the customer copy of the phony invoice into the supermarket’s list of orders received, he said. These were compared against the fraudulently collated Amaro Food Enterprises invoices for subsequent payment each week, Molinelli said.
Gerardo Perez Sr. paid the other two in cash for their help, he said.
Gerardo Perez, Sr. is being held on $150,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail on various counts related to the thefts.
Similar charges were brought against Pedro Rendon, a butcher who is being held on $100,000 bail, and Crispin Rendon-Gonzalez, who is being held on $50,000 bail.
“Any other client customers of Amaro Food Enterprises experiencing a similar situation are asked to contact the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, White Collar Crimes Squad,” Molinelli said.
The number: 201-226-5500
Click here to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates.
