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$700K Gold, Bitcoin Theft: ‘PayPal’ Poser From NJ Scams Elderly PA Man, DA Says
A slick con artist posing as a PayPal agent scammed a 74-year-old Pennsylvania man out of nearly $700,000 in gold and cryptocurrency, authorities revealed on Friday, Jan. 16.
Hirtik Hemchand Khatri, of Lawrence Township, New Jersey, pleaded guilty on Thursday, Nov. 20 to felony charges of Theft by Extortion, Theft by Unlawful Taking – Movable Property, and Criminal Use of a Communication Facility, according to Holihan.
Khatri was sentenced at a hearing before Judge Thomas M. Caffrey to 12 months, minus a day, to 36 months in prison for both theft charges, along with two years of proba…
'Crazy Rescue Ladies' Remain Free From Jail Even After Trying To Get Dogs Back: Prosecutor
Two women who call themselves "Crazy Rescue Ladies" and were found with nearly 180 animals in their Jersey Shore home can remain free from jail pending their trial — but they aren't allowed to visit animal shelters or pet stores, according to a new conditions implemented by an Ocean County judge.
Motions filed by the Prosecutor’s Office to revoke the pre-trial release of Aimee Lonczak, 49, and Michele Nycz, 58, both of Brick Township, were denied by Judge Guy P. Ryan on Tuesday, Jan. 31, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.
The two were charged on Dec. 2, 2022, with …
Former Bergen Resident From CT Admits Embezzling $540,000 From Security Firm
A former Bergen County resident now living in Connecticut admitted Wednesday that she embezzled $540,000 from a local company.
Melissa Corso, 50, and her husband lived in Closter when she worked for a Delaware-based security systems supplier with an office in Ridgefield Park, federal authorities said.
Corso, currently of Groton, CT, and co-worker Joseph Spaccavento steered customer payments owed to their former employer to a PayPal account registered to him and linked to her work email, according to an FBI complaint.
The customers, in turn, sent more than $3.1 million through 1,150 transa…
Ramsey Man Admits Embezzling $516,000 From Ridgefield Park Security Firm
A Ramsey man who worked at a Ridgefield Park security systems firm told a federal judge that he and an accomplice diverted $516,000 of the company’s money to spend on themselves.
Joseph Spaccavento, 41, was an accounts payable manager and assistant controller at the firm, which developed hardware and software for video surveillance, federal authorities said.
His accomplice, Melissa Corso, coordinated the collection of customer payments and applied them to invoices, they said.
For more than 5 ½ years, the two diverted customer payments to themselves, Spaccavento admitted during a videoconfe…
Feds: NJ Man Who Sent Links To Investigator For $20 Had 22,000 Child Sex Abuse Images
For just $20, a South Jersey man sent an undercover investigator links to websites that contained images of child sexual abuse, but that was nothing compared to what later turned up, federal authorities said.
Homeland Security agents who raided the Willingboro home of Al-Fahim Medina, 22, found more than 22,000 illegal images, including those of “prepubescent children being sexually abused,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
It all began last January, Honig said, when the undercover agent found coded online language offering the sale of child pornography on Twitter.
The Twitter…
Feds: Chinese Citizen Who Financed $2.25M Exotic Turtle-Smuggling Operation Extradited To NJ
A Chinese citizen who bankrolled the smuggling of $2.25 million worth of rare, protected turtles out of the United States was extradited from Malaysia to face federal charges in New Jersey, authorities said.
Kang Juntao, 24, of Hangzhou City, China, financed a nationwide ring of criminals who smuggled at least 1,500 protected turtles out of the U.S., many of whom were bound with duct tape and stuffed into socks, Justice Department officials said Thursday.
“Wildlife trafficking is a serious crime that impacts imperiled species at home and abroad,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Aure…
