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Police & Fire
NJ Woman, 72, Indicted For Using Dead Caregiver's Info To Keep Collecting Insurance Payments NJ Woman, 72, Indicted For Using Dead Caregiver's Info To Keep Collecting Insurance Payments
NJ Woman, 72, Indicted For Using Dead Caregiver's Info To Keep Collecting Insurance Payments A 72-year-old New Jersey woman used phony timesheets and a bogus bank account from a dead caregiver to fraudulently collect insurance payments for long-term care from him, state authorities charged. Leoncia Hutchinson of Metuchen deposited the payments from the Continental Casualty Company into a dedicated account, then slid the funds back into her own, an indictment returned by a grand jury in Trenton alleges. For six months, Hutchinson treated the man’s death as “a moneymaking opportunity,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said in announcing the indictment on Wednesday, Nov.…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HIGH LIFE: Ridgefield Park Man Charged With Spending $100G Treasury Check Stolen Out Of Teaneck HIGH LIFE: Ridgefield Park Man Charged With Spending $100G Treasury Check Stolen Out Of Teaneck
High Life: Ridgefield Park Man Charged With Spending $100G Treasury Check Stolen Out Of Teaneck A Ridgefield Park man intercepted a $100,000 U.S. Treasury check that was headed to a beneficiary in Teaneck, then spent the money on himself, authorities charged. Tyler N. Thomas, 27, “created a fictitious LLC and opened a bank account to deposit the check for his own benefit,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He then “withdrew funds and made several purchases prior to the detection of the fraud,” Musella said. Thomas (also known as Tyler D. Rodriguez) surrendered himself on Oct. 10 amid a joint investigation by members of Musella’s Financial Crime Unit and Teaneck police, the…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Thelma & Louise? Out-Of-State Pair With Phony Plate, Stolen IDs, Disguises Nabbed By Oakland PD Thelma & Louise? Out-Of-State Pair With Phony Plate, Stolen IDs, Disguises Nabbed By Oakland PD
Thelma & Louise? Out-Of-State Pair With Phony Plate, Stolen IDs, Disguises Nabbed By Oakland PD Two out-of-state ID thieves with a cardboard license plate sped off from Oakland police down the wrong side of the road but were tracked down a short time later, authorities said. Sgt. Michael Griffin spotted the pair in a 2023 Nissan Maxima entering an exit and pulling up to a drive-through window at a TD Bank on Ramapo Valley Road around 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, Capt. Timothy Keenan said. The Maxima had tinted windows and an unreadable rear license plate apparently printed on a piece of cardboard, the captain said. Seeing the police, the driver backed out of the drive-through and sped …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Financial Controller Uses Bogus Bonuses, More To Embezzle $1M From Bergen Biz: Prosecutor Financial Controller Uses Bogus Bonuses, More To Embezzle $1M From Bergen Biz: Prosecutor
Financial Controller Uses Bogus Bonuses, More To Embezzle $1M From Bergen Biz: Prosecutor A 62-year-old financial controller from Oakland embezzled $1 million from a Bergen County-based business, authorities charged. Charles J. Vincent, 62, “used his position as financial controller to divert approximately one million dollars belonging to his employer to his personal control,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Wednesday, Oct. 4. “The theft occurred over an extended period and employed several deliberate methods of diversion,” the prosecutor said. “These included large unauthorized payments to himself disguised as bonuses, as well as payments from company accounts to …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen Sheriff's Officer Helping Motorist On Route 4 Nearly Struck By OD'ing Driver Bergen Sheriff's Officer Helping Motorist On Route 4 Nearly Struck By OD'ing Driver
Bergen Sheriff's Officer Helping Motorist On Route 4 Nearly Struck By OD'ing Driver A Bergen County sheriff's officer escaped severe injury or worse when an overdosing driver sideswiped her cruiser as she helped another motorist who'd broken down on Route 4, authorities said. Christopher A. Hanna, a 42-year-old Parlin resident with an extensive criminal record, was headed west on the highway in a 2008 Infiniti G35 when the crash occurred near Madison Avenue in Teaneck shortly before 3 p.m. Sept. 20, local police records show. The sheriff's officer told Teaneck police she was out of her 2021 Ford Explorer with its lights on when she spotted the Infiniti swerving in and out …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Diamond District Operators From NJ, Long Island Busted In $673M Money Laundering Scheme: Feds Diamond District Operators From NJ, Long Island Busted In $673M Money Laundering Scheme: Feds
Diamond District Operators From NJ, Long Island Busted In $673M Money Laundering Scheme: Feds Four businessmen from New Jersey and one from Long Island laundered millions of dollars a day in cash through fronts they set up in New York City’s Diamond District, federal authorities charged. Federal agents tied the quintet to $673 million in dirty money laundered through the illicit operations over the past four years, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. In exchange, Raj Vaidya, 26; Rakesh Vaidya, 51; Shrey Vaidya, 23; and Neel Patel, 26, all of Edison; and Youssef Janfar, aka “Joe Rodeo,” 57, of Great Neck, NY collected sizable fees, he said. The three Vaidyas and P…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Paterson Jewelry Store Robbery Part Of Multi-State Crime Spree Involving DC Rapper: Feds Paterson Jewelry Store Robbery Part Of Multi-State Crime Spree Involving DC Rapper: Feds
Paterson Jewelry Store Robbery Part Of Multi-State Crime Spree Involving DC Rapper: Feds Three masked men who robbed a Paterson jewelry store of more than $1 million worth of merchandise at gunpoint last year were part of a violent East Coast crime ring that included a Washington, DC-based rapper, federal authorities said Wednesday. Trevor Wright – aka “Taliban Glizzy” – was among 16 defendants named in an indictment unsealed by federal authorities in the nation’s capital on Aug. 30. Mohammad Sheik had only just opened the Paradise Jewelry Store at the corner of Main Street and Delaware Avenue in Paterson several weeks earlier when the place was robbed last fall. It was one o…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Mid-Atlantic Crime Ring Arrests For NJ Armed Robberies, Carjackings Mid-Atlantic Crime Ring Arrests For NJ Armed Robberies, Carjackings
Mid-Atlantic Crime Ring Arrests For NJ Armed Robberies, Carjackings An indictment of 16 members of a violent mid-Atlantic crime ring has been unsealed and the federal agencies are naming names.  Of the 16, eight of the alleged crime ring members were arrested in the morning on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, police in Fairfax County, Virginia announced later that day.  They were all arrested in connection to a violent crime spree that took place between Jan. 7, 2022, through Jan. 27, 2023.  The crime ring members were all from Maryland and the District of Columbia. They met with their accused leader – Trevor Wright, also known as “Taliban Glizzy” …

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by Jillian Pikora
Police & Fire
Ex-NJ Corrections Officer's Crypto Scam Targeted Police, Firefighters, EMTs: Authorities Ex-NJ Corrections Officer's Crypto Scam Targeted Police, Firefighters, EMTs: Authorities
Ex-NJ Corrections Officer's Crypto Scam Targeted Police, Firefighters, EMTs: Authorities A retired New Jersey corrections lieutenant preyed on his peers with a cryptocurrency scheme that cost participating police, firefighters, EMTs, and other first responders more than $620,000, state and federal authorities said. John DeSalvo, 47, of Linwood, also pulled a $100,000 investment scam that authorities said went to covering his credit card bills, day trading in cryptocurrencies and payments to a contractor who handled a luxury bathroom renovation for him. DeSalvo -- who worked for the New Jersey Department of Corrections for 13 years before retiring in 2010 -- created and promote…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
LOTTERY LOSERS: South Jersey Scammer Admits Laundering $4M From Innocent Victims LOTTERY LOSERS: South Jersey Scammer Admits Laundering $4M From Innocent Victims
Lottery Losers: South Jersey Scammer Admits Laundering $4M From Innocent Victims A South Jersey man admitted laundering more than $4 million from victims who were tricked into thinking they'd won the lottery. Pablo Estrada, 26, of Florence, received the proceeds through various scams over the course of 2½ years, including one in which victims received an unexpected notification that they'd won a large sum in a lottery, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. They were required to pay fees and expenses, however, before their winnings could be released, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey said. Many fell for the scheme, Sellinger said. Estrada dumped the money into va…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
$206,908 In Drug Money Seized From Home Of Accused Teaneck Bag Man, Prosecutor Says $206,908 In Drug Money Seized From Home Of Accused Teaneck Bag Man, Prosecutor Says
$206,908 In Drug Money Seized From Home Of Accused Teaneck Bag Man, Prosecutor Says Bergen County narcotics detectives seized $206,980 in cash from two men – one of them from Teaneck, the other from Queens -- who they said were running both drugs and huge amounts of cash. The green was collected at the modest Alpine Drive home of Wesley Cordova, 44, after a stun gun and prescription drugs were found in his car during a stop in Fort Lee, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Cordova’s alleged partner, William Vargas of Ozone Park, had heroin and fentanyl in an electronically-operated hidden compartment built into his vehicle that the detectives discovered during anoth…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Couple From PA Charged In Computer Repair Scam That Conned Victims In NJ, Elsewhere Couple From PA Charged In Computer Repair Scam That Conned Victims In NJ, Elsewhere
Couple From PA Charged In Computer Repair Scam That Conned Victims In NJ, Elsewhere A Pennsylvania man whose wife was charged with a computer scam that allowed her to siphon money out of unsuspecting victims’ accounts had a similar scheme going, Bergen County authorities announced. Kuleep Sethi, 66, was arrested by detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office on theft, conspiracy and money laundering charges earlier this week -- five months after they busted his wife, Mona, for the same thing. The Furlong, PA couple scammed victims not only in New Jersey but throughout the world, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The thieves “created the belief that vic…

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by Jerry DeMarco