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51°
Saturday, apr 27
Tag:
Wire Fraud
Police & Fire
‘Crypto Con Man’: Imprisoned Instagrifter Gets 7 Federal Years For $8M Fraud Scheme
UPDATE: Imprisoned Instagram influencer “Jay Mazini” apparently thought that rolling on his partners in crime could mitigate the damage of a conviction for scamming investors out of at least $8 million. Three years into a mandatory four-year New Jersey state prison sentence for kidnapping an online critic, the 28-year-old Instagrifter from Bergen County agreed to rat out his friends in exchange for leniency in a federal fraud case in Brooklyn. Trouble is: He didn’t deliver much, authorities said. Mazini, whose real name is Jebara Igbara, ended up sentenced to seven years in federal prison …
Police & Fire
Controller From NJ Who Embezzled $2.37M From Madison Avenue Firm Gets 27 Months In Fed Pen
UPDATE: A controller from Middlesex County was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison for embezzling $2.37 million from his Madison Avenue employer. Gerard Beauzile, 63, South Plainfield, conducted an elaborate, long-running scheme to issue bogus checks to himself that he then deposited into his bank account, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Beginning a decade ago and continuing through the end of 2020, Beauzile admitted issuing 140 checks to himself from the Manhattan-based company, which offers news, analysis, research and data for the "global energy industry," accordin…
Police & Fire
Morris Man Seized By FBI For Scamming Victims Out Of $3.4 Million With 'Debt Relief' Service
A restaurant owner who'd fallen $200,000 into the hole during COVID thought he'd gotten a lifeline from a Morris County man who ran a phony debt relief service that promised to reduce what he owed by 40 to 45 percent. Under a contract he was required to sign, the business owner agreed to pay $4,150 every two weeks for two years. It wasn't until he'd already forked over $150,000 that the victim finally got wise to Mark Csantaveri, a 51-year-old Morristown resident with an alleged gambling habit, federal authorities said. It turns out the restaurant owner was one of more than 50 victims…
Police & Fire
Guilty
: ‘Bling Bishop’ From Bergen Convicted Of Swindling NJ Parishioner's Mom, More
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A flashy Brooklyn bishop who lives in Bergen County – and was infamously robbed at gunpoint during a live-streamed church service – was convicted in lower Manhattan of swindling the elderly mom of a parishioner out of her life savings, among other counts. Lamor Whitehead, 45, promised to put the $90,000 toward buying her a home, federal prosecutors told jurors in the Southern U.S. District of New York who found him guilty of all charges after only three hours of deliberations on Monday, March 11. Instead, the infamous "Bling Bishop" blew the money on BMW payments and luxury purchase…
Police & Fire
Feds: Crooked Bookkeeper Admits Embezzling $900G From Restaurants In NJ, NY, PA (
Update
)
A bookkeeper from New Jersey admitted in federal court that he embezzled more than $900,000 from restaurants he worked for in the Garden State, New York and Pennsylvania, authorities said. Richard Winter, 53, of Pompton Lakes authorized bank wire transfers from some of them, pocketed vendor payments to others and issued checks payable to cash that he then deposited into his own bank accounts, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said. Winter serviced the clients' accounts payable through a company he created called Back Office Pro, a complaint on file in federal court in Newark say…
Police & Fire
CEO In Bergen Sold $35M Worth Of Banned Chinese Surveillance Cams To Police, Others In NJ: Feds
A Jersey Shore businessman conned state and local law enforcement agencies and others into buying nearly $35 million worth of surveillance cameras that were made in China and then illegally rebranded for sale by his Bergen County company, federal authorities charged. Tamer Zakhary, 49, of Toms River, modified license-plate readers and other cameras, then removed the original company’s logo, an FBI complaint says. He then told the police departments, prosecutor's offices and other buyers throughout the state that they were compliant with the National Defense Authorization Act, U.S. Atto…
Police & Fire
Feds: NJ Woman, 77, Embezzles $1M In Benefits Intended For Aunt Who Died In 1998
For the past 25 years, a South Orange woman has fraudulently collected more than $1 million in federal benefits intended for her dead aunt, authorities charged. Janis Miller -- who is now 77 years old -- even went as far as trying to impersonate her aunt in a phone conversation with a Social Security worker, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. However, she couldn’t come up with her aunt’s exact birthdate – just an approximation, he said. The embezzlement scheme came apart after that. Miller was brought before a federal judge in Newark on Thursday, Dec. 21, and was released on a $100,0…
Police & Fire
Social Security Recipient's Death Not Reported, Bank Worker From Passaic Pockets $100,000: Feds
A Passaic man who worked at a bank in Nutley stole more than $100,000 worth of Social Security benefits from the government in the name of a deceased customer, federal authorities charged. The Social Security Administration wasn’t notified of the beneficiary’s death and continued depositing benefits at the commercial bank for more than four years, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said on Wednesday, Dec. 13. Bank employee Jorge Nova, 35, issued debit cards to himself in the beneficiary’s name that he used to drain the account, Sellinger said. Nova also “registered new accounts with a money…
Politics
George Santos Is Out: Here's How NJ Delegates Voted
New Jersey's congressional delegation all shared the same sentiment when it comes to Rep. George Santos. They wanted him out, and they got it. The serial fabulist (R-Long Island) was expelled by the US House 311-114, with all 12 New Jersey representatives, including three Republicans, voting in favor of his ouster. The resolution required a two-thirds majority vote in order to pass. Santos was expelled amid mounting accusations of criminality. He is only the sixth member of Congress to be expelled in American history. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis), Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) and Ch…
Police & Fire
Phone Scammer From Atlantic City Who Preyed On Recently Widowed Seniors Pleads Out: US Attorney
A heartless public housing tenant from Atlantic City admitted that she scammed elderly victims out of more than $100,000 by claiming that they owed money on life insurance policies bought by a spouse who’d just recently died. Victoria Crosby, 46, was receiving Social Security and Medicaid benefits when she targeted the victims, all of whom were over 70 years old, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Crosby called the seniors on a burner phone and, using phony names, claimed to be an employee of a retirement benefit office in some instances and a life insurance company in others, the U.S.…
Police & Fire
Feds Indict Broker For Stealing $3M From Senior NJ Clients To Gamble, Buy Home, Gold Coins
A disgraced former broker and investment advisor is now under federal indictment for stealing more than $3 million from clients that authorities said he used to gamble and buy gold coins and a new house in Bergen County. Kenneth A. Welsh, 42, of River Edge, "used his position as an investment advisor to gain the trust of his victims," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. "(He) then exploited that trust,” Sellinger said. Welsh was working at Wells Fargo Clearing Services in Fairfield when federal authorities said he began shifting money from clients' accounts to that he controlled in Ju…
Police & Fire
Online NJ Romance Scammer Who Conned Woman Out Of $66,000 Gets More Than Two Years, No Parole
An Essex County man who helped swindle what he called a “filthy rich woman” out of nearly $66,000 in an online romance scam was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison. Mahmoud Bowler, 40, of Newark, and an unidentified co-conspirator whom he grew up with in Ghana double-teamed the Florida victim over the course of nearly three years after connecting with her on an online dating site using a bogus profile name. Bowler then turned around and screwed his partner, keeping the majority of the money that they'd collected from the victim, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Phillip R. Sellinger said. …
Police & Fire
Bergen Biz Partner Of Power 105.1 DJ Envy Busted By Feds In Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme
A New Jersey real estate investor and influencer who's business partners with Power 105.1 DJ Envy was seized early Wednesday by federal agents who charged him with orchestrating a multimillion-dollar Ponzi-like investment scheme. Promising returns that were too good to be true, Cesar Humberto Piña "exploited celebrity status and social media" to scam dozens of people out of millions of dollars, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Oct. 18. Piña, 45, who lives in the suburban Bergen County town of Franklin Lakes, craftily "developed a devoted following" whom he then vict…
Police & Fire
NJ Attorney Awaits Sentence For Pocketing $2M From Client's Offshore Account, More
UPDATE: A once-prominent attorney from Jersey City is awaiting sentencing after admitting in federal court that he swindled a family he represented out of $2 million and then committed another crime while on pretrial release. The family had retained James R. Lisa, 68, to gather millions that had been moved into offshore bank accounts by relatives decades ago and to resolve any tax issues that arose as a result, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Soon after being retained, he moved more than $6 million back into the United States but told the family the funds still remained offshore, th…
Police & Fire
NJ Man Who Cashed Dead Brother's Social Security Checks For 16 Years Heads To Federal Prison
An Essex County man who collected $237,000 in Social Security benefits for a brother who’d actually been dead for 16 years is headed to federal prison. Silvano Chable, 54, of Irvington, applied for the benefits in 2000 on behalf of his brother, who’d been paralyzed in a car crash, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. His brother collected checks for 10 months before dying in May 21, 2001, the U.S. attorney said. Rather than notify the Social Security Administration, Chable continued collecting – and cashing – the monthly benefit checks until late 2017, Sellinger said. Chable took a ple…
Police & Fire
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…
Police & Fire
NJ Biz Owner Admits Conning Customers Out Of $2.1M By Substituting Dirt, Debris For Scrap
The owner of a New Jersey-based scrap metal company told a customer that dirt and debris found packed into a container shipped to Korea that was supposed to hold aluminum scrap was a mistake, authorities said. Turns out it wasn’t. Creed White, 64, of Freeland, Maryland, admitted in federal court in Camden this week that he scammed a dozen or so businesses out of more than $2 million, authorities said on Thursday, Aug. 3. Using the name “Dan Stein,” White contacted one of the victims through an Internet message board on behalf of his Camden-based company American Scrap company, a complaint …
Police & Fire
NJ Cryptothief Who Swiped $500G After Swapping Victim's SIM Card Gets 21 Months In Fed Pen
A 20-year-old Hudson County man must spend nearly two years in federal prison for his role in stealing more than $500,000 worth of cryptocurrency by swapping a SIM card from the victim’s phone. Ebrahem Adeeb of Bayonne must serve out just about all of the plea-bargained 21-month sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. His deal with the government also requires him to pay $504,418 in restitution to his victims, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said following the sentencing on Tuesday, May 23. Adeeb and his conspirators swiped the subscriber identity module from the…
Police & Fire
$6M Ponzi Scheme: Braggart Hedge Fund 'Tycoon' Busted By Undercover NJ Fed
The well-heeled hedge fund tycoon from Chicago seemingly couldn’t help but boast of some spectacular achievements during a meeting with an investment manager in New Jersey. There were annual returns of 336 percent, more than $2 billion raised in just 60 days and a list of investors that included a well-known owner of a professional sports team, authorities said. Phillip Galles, 57, also took a page from George Santos’s book, claiming that he’d graduated from a prominent university in the Midwest, they said. Galles’s “outlandish claims of experience, expertise and success” were all BS, a co…
Police & Fire
'PlugwalkJoe' Admits Unprecedented Twitter Hack That Included Musk, Kardashian, Biden: Feds
A 23-year-old British citizen who hacked the Twitter accounts of Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian and Bill Gates, among others, pleaded guilty in federal court to a host of related charges as part of a deal with the government. Joseph James O'Connor -- also known as "PlugwalkJoe" -- technically faces up to 77 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines but will likely get somewhere between 10 to 20 years when all is said and done. The Liverpudlian hacker admitted during a plea hearing in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 9, that he committed one of the largest high-pro…
News
Love At First Site: Ex-NJ Couple, Nigerian Wingman Charged In $4.5M Cyberfootsies Scam
A former New Jersey couple and a Nigerian national scammed more than 100 lonely hearts out of $4.5 million in an elaborate online romance scheme, federal authorities charged. Martins Inalegwu, 34, of Philadelphia and Steincy Mathieu, 26, of Brooklyn cooked up the plot with Moses Chukwuebuka Alexander and several of his Nigerian brethren, an indictment returned by a federal grand jury alleges. Together, they trolled online dating and social media sites for willing marks, whom they “wooed with words of love” on the phone and in emails, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. T…
News
Online Sting Scheme: Indian National Admits Scamming Elderly In NJ, Around World
UPDATE: An Indian national who participated in an international conspiracy that preyed on senior citizens in New Jersey and throughout the U.S. was sentenced to a plea-bargained 33 months in federal prison, authorities said. Ashish Bajaj, 29, of India, will have to serve out the entire term because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty also sentenced Bajaj to two years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $2.4 million in restitution to his victims. Bajaj lived in different parts of the United States, including New Rochelle, NY, and Anahe…
News
'We Don't Want To End Up In Orange Jumpsuits,' Said CEO Arrested For $175M Scam In NJ
A former CEO whose star once shone so bright she made the Forbes 30-Under-30 list could soon be swapping her business suits for prison jumpsuits — something she'd been dreading. "We don't want to end up in orange jumpsuits," is what Charlie Javice apparently said months before her New Jersey arrest Monday, April 3, according to federal prosecutors. The 31-year-old founder of Frank, a for-profit company that simplified the student loan application process, is facing federal charges for falsifying data sets, ultimately scamming J.P Morgan Chase out of $175 million officials said. It wasn't i…
News
Ex-Trump PAC Exec Who Blamed 'That B****' Hillary Clinton For Probe Indicted By Feds In NJ
A former pro-Trump PAC exec who blamed "that b**** Hillary Clinton" for his troubles with the law swindled more than two dozen investors out of $7 million, an indictment returned Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Newark alleges. U.S. Homeland Security agents a year ago this month smashed the alleged Ponzi scheme that they said New Jersey-based businessman David Schamens, 65, used to fund a lavish lifestyle. Now comes a March 28 indictment that charges him with wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. Schamens, of Greensboro, North Carolina, used some of the investment money fro…
News
Heard But Not Seen: Nigerian National Nabbed In $250,000 Audiobooks Scheme, NJ Feds Say
A Nigerian national living in Bangladesh contracted with more than 600 voice actors to produce audiobooks of written works that he didn't hold the rights to, federal authorities in New Jersey charged. Anyanwu Benjamin Chizitere, 30, of Enugu, Nigeria, was part of a group that collected more than $250,000 by infringing on the copyright of a Newark-based company and its authors, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Chizitere worked for a financial services business that provided online money transfer and digital payment services to the company, the U.S. attorney said. He po…
News
NJ Nurses Have Licenses Revoked, Ordered To Stop Practicing Amid Fake Nursing Diploma Scam
Nearly 50 nurses in New Jersey had their permanent or temporary licenses nullified in the wake of a federal investigation into five now-closed Florida universities that issued bogus diplomas, state authorities announced. According to New Jersey Attorney Genearl Matthew J. Platkin, 20 nurses received notices ordering them to immediately cease and desist any nursing practice in the state. They were also required to notify their employers, he said on Thursday, March 9. Any who continue to practice nursing in New Jersey could face fines or other penalties, the attorney general said. Each of th…
News
Boyfriend Of Newark Woman Missing Since 2017 Charged With Stealing Disabled Son's Benefits
The former live-in boyfriend of a Newark woman who's been missing more than five years accessed her personal information and within days began embezzling benefit payments meant for her disabled son, federal authorities charged. Asmar Earp, a 37-year-old ex-con with an extensive criminal record, first changed the pin code on the benefits debit card belonging to Venika Williams less than a week after she was reported missing in December 2017, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. A few months later, he used Williams's name, date of birth and Social Security number to receive …
News
'Love Psychic' Convinced Client To Mail $90M In Jewels To Paramus, Federal Court Docs Say
A precious, pink, 13.15-carat diamond from Qatar was among the $90 million worth of jewelry that a New Jersey relationship psychic convinced a client to swipe in his quest for love, court papers say. John Lee, who has a mailing address on Route 17 in Paramus, met his alleged victim on a website called Purple Garden, where he posed as a "love expert" under the username 1111Giovanni1111, federal prosecutors said in court papers filed in Florida. Lee, of Davenport, FL, convinced his victim — who worked for a wealthy individual in Qatar — to send him jewelry to be cleansed of bad spirits in Jun…
News
Fake Nursing Degrees Sold For $15K, Pair Arrested In South Jersey: Feds
A large-scale scheme to sell fake nursing degrees has been busted up by federal authorities. Two South Jersey men were charged in the scheme that allowed thousands of prospective nurses to skip time-consuming training and licensing by purchasing credentials for up to $15,000. Those indicted collected more than $100 million peddling the bogus licenses, federal officials said. HHS-OIG, the FBI and Justice Department worked jointly on the operation, dubbed "Operation Nightingale," named after Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. The overall scheme involved the distribut…
News
Prominent NJ Attorney Stole $2M From Family's Offshore Bank Account, Feds Charge
A prominent attorney from Jersey City went to great lengths to swindle $2 million from a family he represented, federal authorities charged. The family had retained James R. Lisa, 67, to gather millions that had been moved into offshore bank accounts by relatives decades ago and to resolve any tax issues that arose as a result, they said. Soon after being retained, he moved more than $6 million back into the United States but told the family the funds still remained offshore, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Lisa kept them waiting for two years before giving them $4 million while cl…
Police & Fire
Convicted NJ Wife-Killer Guilty Of Selling Phony Cancer Cure For Dogs In PA
A Montgomery County man who was convicted of killing his wife was found guilty in federal court of selling bogus cancer cures to desperate dog owners, authorities say. Jonathan Nyce, a 73-year-old Collegeville resident who spent five years in prison for his wife's 2004 Hopewell Township murder is convicted of wire fraud and other counts related to his phony veterinary business, said US Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero in a statement Friday, Dec. 23. According to evidence reviewed in court, created a series of companies under the names "Canine Care," "ACGT," and "CAGT" and claimed to sell ca…
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