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Police & Fire
Bayonne Businessman Admits To Multimillion Dollar Fraud, Tax Evasion Bayonne Businessman Admits To Multimillion Dollar Fraud, Tax Evasion
Bayonne Businessman Admits To Multimillion Dollar Fraud, Tax Evasion A Bayonne man who used check-cashing businesses to hide hundreds of thousands in income he earned from his construction companies pleaded guilty to tax evasion last week, the Newark office of the IRS said in a statement. Patrick Franconeri, 57, owned several firms based in New Jersey but failed to report any income from them in 2014. He admitted in court that he actually made more than $1.3 million that year, income for which he owes $558,439 in taxes, the IRS said. Franconeri also defrauded the bankruptcy courts, authorities said. In 2010, he filed for relief under Chapter 7 but failed to…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Montclair Manager Who Swindled Ne-Yo, Brian McNight Out Of Millions Gets 7½ Years In Fed Pen Montclair Manager Who Swindled Ne-Yo, Brian McNight Out Of Millions Gets 7½ Years In Fed Pen
Montclair Manager Who Swindled Ne-Yo, Brian McNight Out Of Millions Gets 7½ Years In Fed Pen A business manager from Montclair will spend nearly 7½ years in federal prison for swindling celebrity clients – including R&B singers Ne-Yo and Brian McKnight – out of $7.9 million for a failed sports drink venture while using their money as what one government official called “a personal slush fund.” Kevin R. Foster, 43, was sentenced earlier this month after jurors in Columbus, Ohio, last year convicted him of 16 counts -- including wire fraud, money laundering, bankruptcy fraud, tax evasion and filing false tax returns. The case emerged from the prosecutions of Thomas E. Jackson an…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Montclair Man Who Stole Millions From Ne-Yo, Brian McKnight Sentenced Montclair Man Who Stole Millions From Ne-Yo, Brian McKnight Sentenced
Montclair Man Who Stole Millions From Ne-Yo, Brian McKnight Sentenced A business manager from Montclair who defrauded his celebrity clients of millions of dollars through investments in a sports drink company has been sentenced to 89 months in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbus, Ohio, said last week. Kevin R. Foster, 43, represented musicians Ne-Yo, who was born Shaffer Smith, and Brian McKnight, the famed R&B singer. Foster convinced Smith to invest $2 million in OXYWater, invested another $1.5 million with Smith’s knowledge and also forged his signature to get a $1.4 million line of credit. Foster also invested in the company on behalf of …

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
BEWARE: Residents Falling For Increasing IRS, Social Security Phone Scams, Glen Rock Police Say BEWARE: Residents Falling For Increasing IRS, Social Security Phone Scams, Glen Rock Police Say
Beware: Residents Falling For Increasing IRS, Social Security Phone Scams, Glen Rock Police Say At least two Glen Rock residents were conned into providing personal information to phone scammers – one of whom claimed to be from the IRS and two others who said they were Social Security agents who’d found a car registered to him at the Mexican border carrying 22 pounds of cocaine. The purported agents told a 93-year-old borough man that documents that indicated it was his car were found in the abandoned vehicle, Police Chief Glen Ackermann said. They also claimed that there was a warrant issued for his arrest and that he needed to confirm personal identification – which he unfortunately…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Teaneck Preacher Admits Stealing $5.3M From Black Nationalist Hate Group Teaneck Preacher Admits Stealing $5.3M From Black Nationalist Hate Group
Teaneck Preacher Admits Stealing $5.3M From Black Nationalist Hate Group A Teaneck preacher who led a religious hate group admitted in federal court in Newark on Wednesday that he stole what prosecutors said was more than $5.3 million from the organization over nearly a decade to pay for luxury cars, lavish vacations and private school for his children. As part of a plea deal with the government, Lincoln Warrington, 48, admitted pocketing the money from his Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ (ICGJC) through a dummy entertainment company that he created with Jermaine Grant, 43, of Burlington Township. Grant, the organization's treasurer, admitted conspiring …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NEWEST PHONE SCAM: IRS Imposters Convice Victims To Buy Bitcoins NEWEST PHONE SCAM: IRS Imposters Convice Victims To Buy Bitcoins
Newest Phone Scam: IRS Imposters Convice Victims To Buy Bitcoins As tax season heats up, phone scammers posing as members of the IRS are fooling people into buying – and then giving them – bitcoins. Don’t fall for it, police urge. Soon after bodegas in New York City began installing bitcoin ATMs, thieves launched the phone scam. The scammers call unwitting victims, tell them that “fraudulent activities” have been detected and that the IRS will cancel their Social Security numbers if they don’t transfer the money using a bitcoin machine, Wayne Police Detective Capt. Laurence W. Martin said Friday. They also tell the victim to text photos of both the fron…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Tax Dodge Sends 'Jersey Shore's Michael ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino, Brother To Federal Prison Tax Dodge Sends 'Jersey Shore's Michael ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino, Brother To Federal Prison
Tax Dodge Sends 'Jersey Shore's Michael ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino, Brother To Federal Prison Former "Jersey Shore" personality Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino was sentenced Friday to eight months in federal prison and his brother, Marc, to two years for ducking taxes on what authorities said was nearly $9 million in income from promotional gigs -- while claiming pricey clothing, high-end cars and personal grooming as business expenses. Both were scheduled to go to trial late last year but agreed to plea deals from the government instead. Michael Sorrentino, 37, pleaded guilty in January to tax evasion, while Marc Sorrentino, 39, admitted in U.S. District Court in Newar…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: Teaneck Treasurer, Preacher Steal $5.3M From Religious Hate Group Feds: Teaneck Treasurer, Preacher Steal $5.3M From Religious Hate Group
Feds: Teaneck Treasurer, Preacher Steal $5.3M From Religious Hate Group A Teaneck man who served as its treasurer helped a religious hate group preacher steal more than $5.3 million from the organization over nearly a decade to pay for luxury cars, lavish vacations and private school for his children, federal authorities charged. Lincoln Warrington, 48, and Jermaine Grant, 43, of Burlington Township -- leader of the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ -- funneled the money into Warrington's pockets through a dummy entertainment company, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Warrington used nearly $3 million, mostly on an ICGJC debit card, to buy luxury cars,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lifestyle
Dumont Couple $15G 'Richer' After Congressman Resolves IRS Error Dumont Couple $15G 'Richer' After Congressman Resolves IRS Error
Dumont Couple $15G 'Richer' After Congressman Resolves IRS Error A Dumont couple was able to receive $15,500 back with help from Congressman Josh Gottheimer after the IRS erroneously demanded it from them. When lifelong Dumont residents Charles and Betty Crasten sold a stock certificate, their profits were misreported to the IRS by a third-party clearinghouse, causing the IRS to demand $15,558 -- a common error among seniors selling paper securities.  When the IRS contacted the couple looking for the payment, the couple thought that they were destined for jail. Instead, the Crastens called Gottheimer, whose office identified the error almost immediately…

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by Cecilia Levine
Lifestyle
IRS Warns Of 'Aggressive,' 'Sophisticated' Phone Scams IRS Warns Of 'Aggressive,' 'Sophisticated' Phone Scams
IRS Warns Of 'Aggressive,' 'Sophisticated' Phone Scams With tax season here, the Internal Revenue Service is warning employers and employees to be on high alert for a “sophisticated phone scam” targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, that has been making the rounds in the tri-state area. During the last two tax seasons, taxpayers have been receiving aggressive calls from fraudsters claiming to be IRS employees, using fake names and phony ID badge numbers, officials said, warning that the scammers tend to know pertinent information about their targets and can alter caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling. Officials said that …

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by Zak Failla
Real Estate
'Huge Loss' For Mary J. Blige Selling Saddle River Mansion 'Huge Loss' For Mary J. Blige Selling Saddle River Mansion
'Huge Loss' For Mary J. Blige Selling Saddle River Mansion The buyer of Mary J. Blige's Saddle River mansion that she purchased for $12.3 million will be paying less than half of that, the New York Post reports. The chateau-style house on E. Saddle River Road was last listed at $6.98 million, but the buyer has agreed to $6 million, the article says. Despite Blige's success as a nine-time Grammy winner, she currently owes the IRS million of dollars and has paid $30,000 monthly in spousal support to her estranged husband Martin “Kendu” Isaacs, the Post says citing other articles. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
19 Years Without Filing, Edgewater Consultant Admits Ducking $650G In Taxes 19 Years Without Filing, Edgewater Consultant Admits Ducking $650G In Taxes
19 Years Without Filing, Edgewater Consultant Admits Ducking $650G In Taxes EDGEWATER, N.J. – An Edgewater stock promoter who the IRS said hasn’t filed a personal income tax return in nearly 20 years -- while ducking taxes on $1.75 million in income over three of them -- pleaded guilty to tax evasion. Danny Colon, 52, the sole owner and operator of DC International Consulting, “controlled 17 brokerage accounts, some of which were in the name of DCI, some in the name of another individual and some jointly in the name of Colon and the other individual,” IRS Special Agent Robert Glantz said after Thursday's plea in federal court in Newark. Between January 2009 and Dec…

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by Jerry DeMarco