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Financial Crimes Unit

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Jersey Shore Cyberthief Swipes $300,000 From Retiree's Account: It Happens A Lot Jersey Shore Cyberthief Swipes $300,000 From Retiree's Account: It Happens A Lot
Jersey Shore Cyberthief Swipes $300,000 From Retiree's Account: It Happens A Lot An unemployed cyberthief from the Jersey Shore swiped more than $300,000 from an elderly Lodi resident’s retirement account after stealing the victim’s identity, authorities charged. Joseph Bilotta, 65, hijacked the online account, along with others in New Jersey and Maryland, “to fund his lifestyle,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Lodi police notified members of the prosecutor’s Financial Crimes Unit of the account takeover scheme in 2021, Musella said. They arrested Bilotta on theft charges following an investigation and sent him to the Bergen County Jail only to have a judg…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
HEARTLESS: NJ Woman, 22, Charged With Conning Elderly Man In Grandparent Scam HEARTLESS: NJ Woman, 22, Charged With Conning Elderly Man In Grandparent Scam
Heartless: NJ Woman, 22, Charged With Conning Elderly Man In Grandparent Scam Authorities have charged a 22-year-old Paterson woman with scamming an elderly Florida resident who was told that his son-in-law needed bail money. Flor Loveras was charged with theft by deception and conspiracy following a lengthy investigation that began more than three years ago, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said. She was released pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson sometime before the end of the month, the prosecutor said on Monday, Feb. 13. The 76-year-old victim was contacted in October 2019 by someone claiming to be a bail bonds…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Prosecutor: NJ Woman Assumes Dead Bro's ID To Get $20G In Social Security Prosecutor: NJ Woman Assumes Dead Bro's ID To Get $20G In Social Security
Prosecutor: NJ Woman Assumes Dead Bro's ID To Get $20G In Social Security A home health care worker from Teaneck assumed her dead brother’s identity to collect more than $20,000 in Social Security disability money, authorities charged. Wanda Lynn Sermon, 55, “failed to notify the Social Security Administration of her brother’s death and instead assumed control of his bank account,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Wednesday. For the next 16 months, Musella said, Sermon “continued to access Social Security disability benefit funds intended for [him],” pocketing $20,438 in the process. Detectives from his Financial Crimes Unit began investigating this su…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bookkeeper Charged With Embezzling $75,000 From NJ Tile, Grout Company Bookkeeper Charged With Embezzling $75,000 From NJ Tile, Grout Company
Bookkeeper Charged With Embezzling $75,000 From NJ Tile, Grout Company The bookkeeper at a Passaic County tile and grout company embezzled more than $75,000 from her employer, authorities charged. Yvette Tripicchio, 47, of Hawthorne, was charged with two counts of theft in an indictment returned by a grand jury in Paterson, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said. Tripicchio deposited checks from GSD Industries in Pompton Lakes into her personal bank accounts, then “tampered with company records in an attempt to hide the theft,” the prosecutor said.  Valdes didn't disclose the suspected motive. Records show Tripicchio had taken a job as a lunch…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Prosecutor: Bean Counter Stole $1.1M From NJ Firm With 'Ghost' Workers Prosecutor: Bean Counter Stole $1.1M From NJ Firm With 'Ghost' Workers
Prosecutor: Bean Counter Stole $1.1M From NJ Firm With 'Ghost' Workers A bookkeeper from Hasbrouck Heights embezzled $1.1 million from a Bogota-based carpentry company by creating “ghost employees,” among other methods, authorities charged. Maribel Rios, 51 – also known as Maribel Roche – “engaged in various schemes” to “manipulate the company payroll system” over a three-year period, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Thursday. The prosecutor said these included: issuing payroll deposits to “ghost employees”; issuing company checks to accounts that she controlled; manipulating accounting software to justify the checks. Then she used the money on h…

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by Jerry DeMarco