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TAX SCAM: Bergen Man Admits Posing As 18 Different Recipients To Collect Refunds TAX SCAM: Bergen Man Admits Posing As 18 Different Recipients To Collect Refunds
TAX Scam: Bergen Man Admits Posing As 18 Different Recipients To Collect Refunds A Bergen County man admitted collecting tax refunds by using stolen identities to pose as 18 different people. Emmanuel A. Barrientos-Fermin, 33, of Tenafly told a federal judge via videoconference in Newark on Tuesday that he gave an unnamed co-conspirator a photo of himself. The accomplice then produced bogus driver’s licenses with his picture on them, he said. The co-conspirator also gave him matching Social Security cards, driver’s licenses and W-2 forms – even birth certificates, Barrientos-Fermin said. Armed with the documents, Barrientos-Fermin said, he went to various tax preparin…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Jersey City Jeweler From Clifton Admits Lying To FBI To Protect Customers Jersey City Jeweler From Clifton Admits Lying To FBI To Protect Customers
Jersey City Jeweler From Clifton Admits Lying To FBI To Protect Customers A Jersey City mall jewelry store manager from Clifton admitted lying to the FBI to protect investigative targets who were his customers, authorities said. Khaled Hamade, 60, told a federal judge in Newark via videoconference Tuesday that he lied when he told agents investigating a fraud against a financing company that he didn’t know the suspects. “Hamade denied knowledge of the identities and personal information of numerous customers of his jewelry store who were believed to have engaged in the fraud,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. The Lebanese immigrant, who managed the Ne…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Police: Bergenfield ID Thieves Claim More Than 50 Victims Police: Bergenfield ID Thieves Claim More Than 50 Victims
Police: Bergenfield ID Thieves Claim More Than 50 Victims A pair of ID thieves from Bergenfield stole thousands of dollars from the bank accounts of more than 50 victims, authorities said Tuesday. Borough police worked with members of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Secret Service and police in Brick and Absecon to crack the case. It began last August, when one of the victims told borough police that someone had opened several accounts in her name and accumulated outstanding balances on them, Detective Lt. William Duran said. Investigators eventually identified William Newhart IV, 42, and Jennifer Bland, 34, as their primary suspects, Dur…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Insurance Broker Admits Building BBQ Restaurant With More Than $1M Swindled From Investors NJ Insurance Broker Admits Building BBQ Restaurant With More Than $1M Swindled From Investors
NJ Insurance Broker Admits Building BBQ Restaurant With More Than $1M Swindled From Investors An insurance broker from Union County admitted in federal court Tuesday that he swindled unwitting investors out of more than $1 million that he sunk, instead, into a BBQ joint. Ivan Ramos, 39, of Hillside was working for New York Life when he sought out inexperienced investors from among customers who bought life insurance from him or people he met at company marketing events or through mutual acquaintances, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachel Honig said. He “led his victims to believe, through misrepresentations and omissions, that two entities that he controlled, Invexperts LLC and Wealth Seeds…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Ex-Con Admits Cutting Female Postal Carrier During Carjacking That Led To Newark Chase, Crash Ex-Con Admits Cutting Female Postal Carrier During Carjacking That Led To Newark Chase, Crash
Ex-Con Admits Cutting Female Postal Carrier During Carjacking That Led To Newark Chase, Crash An ex-con told a federal judge in Newark on Wednesday that he assaulted a postal carrier with a box cutter while carjacking her SUV. The U.S. Postal Service carrier was taking a break behind the wheel of Dodge Durango on June 6 when Wallace Johnson, 32, of Newark, walked up and held the knife to her throat, cutting her skin, in the 80s block of Cedar Avenue, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Johnson “demanded that the postal employee get out of the car and leave everything inside,” Honig said. “After the postal employee got out of the car, Johnson got [in] and drove away.” City p…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: ID Thief From NJ Filed $1M In Unemployment Claims In NY Feds: ID Thief From NJ Filed $1M In Unemployment Claims In NY
Feds: ID Thief From NJ Filed $1M In Unemployment Claims In NY A North Jersey ID thief used personal information stolen from 20 people to file $1 million worth of unemployment claims to New York State, federal authorities said. Federal agents tracked all of the claims for benefits to a single IP address and telephone number belonging to Maurice Mills, 28, of Union Township, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Surveillance cameras also caught Mills using an unemployment insurance benefits debit card to make an ATM withdrawal, he said. “Many of these claims were in the names of individuals located in Texas and directed the benefits to be sent to locatio…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Bergen County Con Artist Admits Funding Lavish Lifestyle With $5M Of Other People’s Money Bergen County Con Artist Admits Funding Lavish Lifestyle With $5M Of Other People’s Money
Bergen County Con Artist Admits Funding Lavish Lifestyle With $5M Of Other People’s Money A Bergen County con man admitted duping lenders and corporations out of nearly $5 million that he used to live the high life. Matthew O’Callaghan, 43, of Upper Saddle River told a federal judge in Newark via video conference that he “impersonated two bank executives interested in funding syndicated loans for global companies,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Referring to himself as “Edward Tierney” and “Michael Nash,” O’Callaghan submitted several bogus documents to the victim while using email addresses that appeared legitimate, false email signature blocks for the aliases that bo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds: $250,000 In Mailed NJ Checks, Money Orders Stolen, Cashed By NYC Crew Feds: $250,000 In Mailed NJ Checks, Money Orders Stolen, Cashed By NYC Crew
Feds: $250,000 In Mailed NJ Checks, Money Orders Stolen, Cashed By NYC Crew More than $250,000 worth of checks and money orders were stolen from post office mailboxes in North Jersey by a group of thieves from the Bronx who quickly converted them to cash, federal authorities said. Crew members operated for nearly 14 months, stealing checks and money orders from the mail, altering them, depositing them into bank accounts and withdrawing the proceeds before the victims discovered the fraud. U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Jose Lopez Blanco, 22, got them access to the mailboxes with a U.S. Postal Service master key, Carpenito said. Law enforcement officers watche…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Yonkers Porch Pirate, Pals Stole $600,000 In Checks From Mail In Four NJ Counties Feds: Yonkers Porch Pirate, Pals Stole $600,000 In Checks From Mail In Four NJ Counties
Feds: Yonkers Porch Pirate, Pals Stole $600,000 In Checks From Mail In Four NJ Counties A man charged with pirating Christmas packages from porches in Yonkers was part of a crew that stole, altered and cashed $600,000 in checks mailed in Passaic, Morris, Essex and Somerset counties the past 10 months, federal authorities said Friday. Claude Anthony Burnett, 23, who was captured by U.S. Postal Inspection Service agents, now faces charges that can bring way more serious consequences than package snatching. Meanwhile, victims were left trying to sort out their finances. From at least February of this year until just last month, Burnett and others fished envelopes containing chec…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Priority Males: Feds Charge North Jersey Pair With $6M Postage Scam Priority Males: Feds Charge North Jersey Pair With $6M Postage Scam
Priority Males: Feds Charge North Jersey Pair With $6M Postage Scam The owners of a North Jersey company altered hundreds of thousands of labels intended for envelopes and slapped them on large boxes, deliberately short-changing the government by more than $6 million in postage, federal authorities said following their arrests. Jack Koch, 44, of Elmwood Park, and Steven Koch, 43, of Pompton Lakes, were scheduled for video-conferenced first appearances before a federal magistrate judge Tuesday afternoon in Newark, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. The elder Koch, who went by the name “Ismail Yilmaz,” and his brother, who used the alias “Selim Memis,” owned…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ COVID-19 Scammer Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans, Feds Charge NJ COVID-19 Scammer Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans, Feds Charge
NJ Covid-19 Scammer Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans, Feds Charge A North Jersey businessman fraudulently secured nearly $2 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic loans he wasn't entitled to, then diverted the money into accounts held by family members, including his young children, federal authorities charged. Rocco A. Malanga, 48, of Hackettstown, “used a variety of false statements to fraudulently obtain approximately $1.8 million in federal COVID-19 emergency relief funds meant for distressed small businesses,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said Thursday. He then diverted the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) money to “accounts under the control of his …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds Raid Lodi Home, Bust Resident On Child Porn Charges Feds Raid Lodi Home, Bust Resident On Child Porn Charges
Feds Raid Lodi Home, Bust Resident On Child Porn Charges A Lodi man was ordered detained by a federal judge Tuesday after agents said they found him trafficking child pornography. Joseph Ganaro, 42, used BitTorrent to collect and share child sex-abuse images, which agents accessed, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. They found 10 video files containing child pornography from an IP address assigned to Ganaro’s Avenue D near the state MVC office and charged him with distributing the images, the U.S. attorney said. Carpenito credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations New Jersey Division a…

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by Jerry DeMarco