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LI Moving Company Owner, North Jersey Employee Admit $540,000 Low-Ball Extortion Scheme
A Nassau County moving company owner and a Passaic County woman who worked for him admitted in federal court that they extorted customers out of nearly $550,000 with the old “low-ball” scam.
Lior Atiyas, 42, of Hewlett, Long Island began regularly low-balling estimates to move household goods, then jacking up the price by two to three times once the items were on the trucks, in early 2016, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said Friday.
He then refused to deliver the goods until the customers paid up, Carpenito said.
Atiyas recruited Lola Larios, 37, of Haledon into the scheme when she joined t…
Englewood Swindler Admits Conning Families Out Of $1.5M In Cosmetics Company Scheme
A former Englewood resident admitted in federal court that he scammed three investors out of $1.5 million with a bogus cosmetics company.
Matthew Benjamin, 53, used the money instead for car and house rental payments, food, international travel, legal fees, technology equipment and summer camp tuition for family members, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
Benjamin, currently of New York, told the victims that his purported company, Clear Solutions Group, had lucrative contracts to purchase closeout or excess cosmetic inventory from one company that he planned to sell to another, Carpenito…
'Granddaughter In Trouble': Garfield Detectives Save Would-Be Victim From Losing $7,500
A thief nearly pulled off a “granddaughter in trouble” phone scam, but Garfield police grabbed him before he could collect $7,500 from the elderly target, authorities said.
Manuel Robinson, 39, of Hazelton, PA, told the would-be victim his granddaughter in Florida had been arrested the night before and needed the money for bail, Capt. Richard Uram said Wednesday.
After following Robinson’s instructions to send the cash to a DeWitt Street address in Garfield, the intended spoke with his granddaughter, Uram said.
She immediately called Garfield police Wednesday morning, the captain said.
De…
