Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police
Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police A woman was arrested for kidnapping and two suspects remain at-large as Secaucus police continue their investigation into the sale of narcotics at motels in the town, authorities said.  Police found one member of an illicit drug distribution ring was kidnapped at knifepoint in Jersey City in June 2023, since he owed Erica Festino, another member of the drug ring, money, police said. The victim was bound and driven around Hudson County in the back of a U-Haul truck for hours and robbed of cash and personal items, police said. He was eventually released, police said.  Festino was ar…
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…
Fairview Restaurant Owner In $90,000 Wire Transfer Scam Flees To Brazil, Returned To US Fairview Restaurant Owner In $90,000 Wire Transfer Scam Flees To Brazil, Returned To US
Fairview Restaurant Owner In $90,000 Wire Transfer Scam Flees To Brazil, Returned To US A Fairview restaurant owner who claimed to be sending wire transfers for customers to Brazil pocketed at least $90,000 before fleeing the country, authorities said. Joanistel Ramos, 59, who owns Brasil and Brazil restaurant on Anderson Avenue, stiffed at least 15 local victims out of $40,000 in wire transfers that were never sent, Fairvew Police Capt. Michael Martic said. "She basically printed out a bogus generic receipt and put the money in her pocket," the captain said. Ramos, of Cliffside Park, also defrauded a money transfer company in Newark called Lyons Express out of an additional …
Grieving Bridgewater Woman Victimized By NJ Gravestone Scammer: 'People Can't Find Closure' Grieving Bridgewater Woman Victimized By NJ Gravestone Scammer: 'People Can't Find Closure'
Grieving Bridgewater Woman Victimized By NJ Gravestone Scammer: 'People Can't Find Closure' Barbara Kalmus was still reeling from the death of her sister last May when she was preyed upon by Gregory Stefan, Jr. The Bridgewater resident was one of several people authorities say was grifted by Stefan, who was recently arrested on a warrant by police in Vineland for scamming customers out of thousands of dollars through his company Colonial Memorials, not long after it was revealed he had been doing the same with his father and brother with their Pennsylvania company, 1843 LLC. Following her sister's death due to cancer, Stefan reached out to Kalmus about getting a headstone for he…
Jersey Shore Advisor Who Swindled Mentally Impaired Elderly Siblings Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen Jersey Shore Advisor Who Swindled Mentally Impaired Elderly Siblings Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen
Jersey Shore Advisor Who Swindled Mentally Impaired Elderly Siblings Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen UPDATE: A former investment advisor from the Jersey Shore who admitted swindling elderly and impaired clients out of more than $625,000 to partly fund a gambling habit was sentenced to a plea-bargained 3½ years in federal prison this week. Mario E. Rivero Jr., 39, of Red Bank, must serve out the entire term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Rivero, a former Wells Fargo agent and investment adviser representative who had an office in Elizabeth, convinced five clients to transfer investment funds to their personal bank accounts, federal authorities charged. Many of his …
Holland Tunnel Driver With Loaded Gun, $17K Toll Debt Impersonated Officer: Port Authority PD Holland Tunnel Driver With Loaded Gun, $17K Toll Debt Impersonated Officer: Port Authority PD
Holland Tunnel Driver With Loaded Gun, $17K Toll Debt Impersonated Officer: Port Authority PD A woman who once made headlines for an alleged COVID scam was carrying a loaded gun -- and owed $17,000 in unpaid tolls -- when Port Authority police stopped her at the New Jersey end of the Holland Tunnel, Daily Voice has learned. Sharita T. Patterson, 36, of Brooklyn was stopped in Jersey City for having a bogus temporary Georgia license tag on her car just before noon Tuesday, July 25, said Port Authority Public Information Officer Lenis Valens. PAPD officers spotted the gun "in plain view" and seized it, Valens said. They also seized Patterson, a single mother of three who Valens said…
Ex-Employees Of Franklin Lakes Cellphone Store Charged With Theft, Investigation Continues Ex-Employees Of Franklin Lakes Cellphone Store Charged With Theft, Investigation Continues
Ex-Employees Of Franklin Lakes Cellphone Store Charged With Theft, Investigation Continues Two now-former employees of a cellphone store in Franklin Lakes were charged with using customers’ information to steal from them, authorities announced. Franklin Lakes police conducted an “extensive and comprehensive” investigation over the past several months before filing theft charges against both Robert Q. Hansford, 28, of Clifton, and Haleem K. Mitchell, 25, of East Orange, Capt. Mark McCombs said. Mitchell, who’d worked with Hansford at TS Mobility AT&T on Franklin Avenue, also was charged with conspiracy, the captain said on Tuesday, July 18. Both were released pending court ac…
Married Old Bridge Soccer League Execs Used Stolen Funds To Cover Family Disney Trip, Bills: PD Married Old Bridge Soccer League Execs Used Stolen Funds To Cover Family Disney Trip, Bills: PD
Married Old Bridge Soccer League Execs Used Stolen Funds To Cover Family Disney Trip, Bills: PD The former president of a Central Jersey youth soccer league and her husband have been charged with stealing $91,000 from the youth organization, authorities said. A trip to Disney World. An extravagant party for their daughter. Amazon purchases. These were all expenses that Kathleen Murawski and Joseph Murawski paid for using stolen funds from the Old Bridge Soccer League, the Old Bridge Police Department said. Kathleen served as the league's president and Joseph was the league's field director, police said. Following a comprehensive, 6-month investigation, Old Bridge Police Detecti…
Teaneck Teen Nabbed In Hackensack Knifepoint Robbery Attempt: Police Teaneck Teen Nabbed In Hackensack Knifepoint Robbery Attempt: Police
Teaneck Teen Nabbed In Hackensack Knifepoint Robbery Attempt: Police Hackensack police nabbed a Teaneck teen moments after he tried to rob a man at knifepoint of money and his cellphone, authorities said. A first-degree robbery charge has kept Xiomor Highsmith, 19, in the Bergen County Jail since the June 22 incident. Officers responding to a call near the corner of Newman and Sussex streets found Highsmith carrying a folding knife and five counterfeit $100 bills, said Capt. Michael Antista, the officer in charge of the department. In addition to robbery, Highsmith is charged with fraud and an illegal weapons offense.
South Korean Clothing Manufacturer Admits Customs Fraud, Agrees To Pay US $2 Million South Korean Clothing Manufacturer Admits Customs Fraud, Agrees To Pay US $2 Million
South Korean Clothing Manufacturer Admits Customs Fraud, Agrees To Pay US $2 Million A South Korean company has agreed to reimburse the United States $2 million for defrauding Customs officials about the value of imported clothing and apparel. Principals with Anyclo International Inc. admitted this week that the company evaded duties on clothing and apparel that it manufactured abroad and imported into the U.S. for nearly seven years, beginning in October 2012, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. The fraud involved preparing two invoices for the same shipments, the U.S. attorney said. One invoice bore the true value of the merchandise, Sellinger said. Th…
$6M Ponzi Scheme: Braggart Hedge Fund 'Tycoon' Busted By Undercover NJ Fed $6M Ponzi Scheme: Braggart Hedge Fund 'Tycoon' Busted By Undercover NJ Fed
$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…
NJ Psychic Pulls 'Death Card' Con On PA Couple: Police NJ Psychic Pulls 'Death Card' Con On PA Couple: Police
NJ Psychic Pulls 'Death Card' Con On PA Couple: Police A Pennsylvania-based fortune teller from New Jersey not only failed to predict the future but allegedly conned a family while doing it, according to court documents obtained by Daily Voice.  Police in Pennsylvania have formally charged 25-year-old Billie Loren Mitchell of Kearny, NJ on April 27, 2023, but have yet to apprehend and arraign her, according to a police release on May 9, 2023.  Mitchell runs Psychic World at 501 East Main Street in Palmyra, PA, and claims to be a "Clairvoyant psychic and certified holistic healer," as stated on her Facebook page.  An elderly coup…