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Ex-Bergen County Library Staffer Admits Embezzling $3.2M From Couple Who Trusted Him, Feds Say
A Passaic County man and former tech administrator at a Bergen County library admitted to embezzling more than $3.2 million from a local couple who had hired him as a part-time personal assistant, federal prosecutors said.
Charles Gallo, 34, of Hawthorne, pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to one count of wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba said Friday, May 2.
Gallo began working for the victims in 2018, helping manage their bills, banking, emails, and tech issues, court documents say. From March 2022 to March 2023, Gallo used his access to steal millions, including making ATM withdra…
Office Manager Admits To Embezzling $350K From North Jersey Synagogue, Feds Say
A 52-year-old Scotch Plains woman pleaded guilty on Thursday, March 20, to embezzling more than $350,000 from a Union County synagogue she worked at, authorities said.
In 2010, Stacy Margaritondo began working at Congregation Beth Israel in Scotch Plains and was later promoted to bookkeeper and office manager in July 2020, U.S. Attorney John Giordano said.
Margaritondo’s duties included accounting/bookkeeping, payroll, preparing checks for accounts payable, and reporting to the synagogue’s board of directors regarding the synagogue’s financial condition, Giordano said.
From Dec. 2019 to Ma…
Contractor Admits Stiffing Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Nearly $500G For No-Show Work
UPDATE: An electrical supervisor from Bergen County admitted soaking the Hudson Bergen Light Rail for nearly a half-million dollars worth of no-show work, including while he was vacationing in Florida, federal authorities said.
Joseph Ferrara, 56, of North Arlington, "submitted claims for compensation covering hundreds of hours relating to work allegedly performed during regular, overtime and double time hours" that was, in fact, never done, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said.
Ferrara, who worked as an electrical supervisor for a subcontractor hired by the light rail system,…
CFO Once Sued By NJ Firm Accused Of Embezzling $1.5M
A 61-year-old Westfield resident was charged with embezzling more than $1.5 million from the law firm where he worked as chief financial officer, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office said.
John Dunlea was the CFO at McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, a national law firm based in Morristown, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.
Between 2017 and 2022, Dunlea misappropriated funds from the firm by paying himself $1.2 million. He also rung up $355,256 in charges on the company credit card, paying for flights, hotels and restaurants for himself and his family, Platki…
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…
Feds: Crooked Bookkeeper Admits Embezzling $900G From Restaurants In NJ, NY, PA (Update)
A bookkeeper from New Jersey admitted in federal court that he embezzled more than $900,000 from restaurants he worked for in the Garden State, New York and Pennsylvania, authorities said.
Richard Winter, 53, of Pompton Lakes authorized bank wire transfers from some of them, pocketed vendor payments to others and issued checks payable to cash that he then deposited into his own bank accounts, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said.
Winter serviced the clients' accounts payable through a company he created called Back Office Pro, a complaint on file in federal court in Newark say…
Feds: NJ Woman, 77, Embezzles $1M In Benefits Intended For Aunt Who Died In 1998
For the past 25 years, a South Orange woman has fraudulently collected more than $1 million in federal benefits intended for her dead aunt, authorities charged.
Janis Miller -- who is now 77 years old -- even went as far as trying to impersonate her aunt in a phone conversation with a Social Security worker, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
However, she couldn’t come up with her aunt’s exact birthdate – just an approximation, he said.
The embezzlement scheme came apart after that.
Miller was brought before a federal judge in Newark on Thursday, Dec. 21, and was released on a $100,0…
Repeat Embezzler Absconds To Germany With Bergen Realtor’s $600,000
A convicted embezzler who’d apparently made a fresh start fled to Germany with $600,000 of a Bergen County realtor and commercial property manager’s money, authorities said.
Detectives in Closter were closing in on Klaus Brueggemeier, 57, of Demarest, when he absconded to Frankfurt and became a wanted man, Closter Police Capt. Vincent Aiello said on Tuesday, Nov. 21.
Brueggemeier made headlines in 2009, when authorities charged him with embezzling $1.7 million from a high-end porcelain and glass company in Carlstadt.
SEE: Company chief skims $1.7 million to buy himself the good life, autho…
NJ Woman Embezzled $1.2 Million From Employer, DA Says
A high-ranking employee at a Pennsylvania furniture business is accused of embezzling more than $1 million from the company, authorities say.
Linda Mansi, 53, of Tuckerton, New Jersey, is charged with multiple felonies from Arnold Office Furniture and Sunline Supply in Bridgeport, said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele's Office in a release Friday, July 28.
Jay and Jordan Berkowitz, the owners of the stores, approached police in February about a "significant theft" from the company's coffers, the DA said.
The Berkowitzes claimed Mansi — an employee sin…
Nationwide Hotel Chain's Corporate Credit Chief From NJ Admits Embezzling $300,000
A New Jersey employee who ran the company’s corporate credit card program for a nationwide hotel chain admitted embezzling $300,000, federal authorities said.
Marco Alvarez, 46, of Bloomfield, admitted that he “knowingly opened and used corporate credit cards to make $317,582 in unauthorized personal purchases” from April 2014 through January 2020, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Alvarez, who worked as a senior analyst for strategic sourcing, tried to hide the thefts by “transferring credits owed to the hotel to these credit cards to offset the unauthorized charges made,” Sellinger …
Ex-Newark Housing IT Chief Admits Privately Reselling $600G Worth Of Authority Cellphones, Tabs
A former IT director at the Newark Housing Authority admitted buying and then reselling cellphones and tablets with $600,000 in embezzled funds over the course of eight years, federal authorities said.
Venancio Diaz, 56, of Jersey City, bought 1,509 devices in all that he activated on the NHA's account for days -- or at most weeks -- beginning back in 2013, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
"After the brief period of activation ended, Diaz posed as the owner of the devices and sold them to two different online electronics resale marketplaces," Sellinger said.
Then he kept the money. …
Former PA Pastor Used Parish Funds On NJ Beach House, More: DA
A former Pennsylvania pastor admitted to stealing over $30,000 in parish funds, which he spent on a beach house on the New Jersey shore, and men with whom he had sexual relationships, authorities said.
Monsignor Joseph McLoone, 58, was spared prison time and sentenced to five years of court supervision, the first nine months completed on electronic home confinement, restitution, and other conditions, according to the Chester County District Attorney's Office.
McLoone, of Bryn Mawr, began his service as pastor at St. Joseph’s Church in Downingtown in 2011 after the removal of Msgr.…
