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Conspirator Who Used NJ High School Students To Cash Stolen COVID Stimulus Checks Gets 4 Years Conspirator Who Used NJ High School Students To Cash Stolen COVID Stimulus Checks Gets 4 Years
Conspirator Who Used NJ High School Students To Cash Stolen COVID Stimulus Checks Gets 4 Years One of a nest of criminals who paid New Jersey high school students to cash COVID stimulus checks stolen from the mail was sentenced to four years in federal prison. Because there's no parole in the federal prison system, Jeffrey Bennett, 27, of Irvington, must serve just about all of the plea-bargained sentence rubber-stamped by a U.S. District Court judge in Newark via videoconference on Monday, Feb. 14. Bennett -- a reputed associate of a group called "The Members" -- recruited U.S. Postal Service employees to steal checks, checkbooks, debit cards, and credit cards from the mail in excha…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Paterson Man Admits Laundering $1.94 Million For Drug Cartels Paterson Man Admits Laundering $1.94 Million For Drug Cartels
Paterson Man Admits Laundering $1.94 Million For Drug Cartels A Paterson man admitted in federal court on Friday that he laundered nearly $2 million for Central and South American drug cartels operating in New Jersey and New York, authorities said. Julio De La Cruz Acosta, 42, accepted the cash to buy 67 cashier’s checks at banks in and around New Jersey and elsewhere, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. He was one of a half-dozen residents from the area accused of laundering more than $27 million for the cartels, Sellinger said. Morristown police helped the DEA and IRS crack the case, in which the defendants and other conspirators converted cash…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: International Fugitive Admits Role In $30 Million NJ Mortgage Fraud Feds: International Fugitive Admits Role In $30 Million NJ Mortgage Fraud
Feds: International Fugitive Admits Role In $30 Million NJ Mortgage Fraud A New Jersey mortgage company loan officer who’d been an international fugitive for several years admitted his role in a long-running, large-scale scam that cost lenders more than $30 million, authorities said. Isaac DePaula, 41, and a group of conspirators pulled off the scheme through a company called Premier Mortgage Services (PMS), according to a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark. The thieves targeted low-income areas, recruiting straw buyers to seek mortgages for properties they really couldn’t afford, federal authorities charged. The conspirators secured the loans by…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Sussex Man Who Spent $5.6M COVID Relief Money On Stock Market, Luxury Car, More Sentenced Sussex Man Who Spent $5.6M COVID Relief Money On Stock Market, Luxury Car, More Sentenced
Sussex Man Who Spent $5.6M COVID Relief Money On Stock Market, Luxury Car, More Sentenced A Sussex County man was sentenced Tuesday to more than five years in federal prison for spending $5.6 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic business loans for himself, authorities said. Azhar Sarwar Rana, 31, of Newton will have to serve out just about all of the 64-month sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. The federal Paycheck Protection Program was designed to keep struggling small businesses afloat during the pandemic. Rana used the money, instead, to invest millions in the stock market, make a payment to a luxury car dealership and send hundreds of thous…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds Charge Bergen Drug Company Owner With Embezzling $3.9M Feds Charge Bergen Drug Company Owner With Embezzling $3.9M
Feds Charge Bergen Drug Company Owner With Embezzling $3.9M Federal agents arrested the former chief executive officer and owner of a Bergen County pharmaceutical firm on Monday and charged him with embezzling millions of dollars from the company, authorities confirmed. John Klein, 75, transferred $3.9 million into an account that he tapped, in part, to pay credit cards charges for him and his wife, as well as for his kid's tuition, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Formerly of Alpine and currently living in Palisades Park, Klein has been sued in federal court by several people with whom he either worked or collected investment money from …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam
NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam The mastermind of a GoFundMe scheme that conned 14,000 donors across the country out of $400,000 to purportedly benefit a homeless veteran admitted in federal court in New Jersey on Monday that he and his ex-girlfriend pocketed most of the money. Mark D’Amico, 42, formerly of Bordentown, admitted concocting a bogus feel-good story about the supposed victim coming to the rescue of Katelyn McClure after she ran out of gas on Route 95 on her way home to New Jersey from Philadelphia. Both McClure and the homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., were in on the scheme, authorities said. Together, D’Am…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Ex-Newark Officer Who Took Payoffs To Protect Prostitutes Gets Nearly 4 Years In Fed Pen Ex-Newark Officer Who Took Payoffs To Protect Prostitutes Gets Nearly 4 Years In Fed Pen
Ex-Newark Officer Who Took Payoffs To Protect Prostitutes Gets Nearly 4 Years In Fed Pen A retired Newark police veteran who admitted pocketing tens of thousands of dollars to protect city whorehouses while he was on the beat was sentenced to a little under four years in federal prison. Julio I. Rivera, 52, of Old Bridge, not only looked the other way: He also promised to have fellow officers do the same and agreed to crack down on a paying brothel owner's competitor, authorities said. Rivera pulled down between $200 and $800 a week from the operators, according to a 14-count indictment on file in U.S. District Court in Newark. The indictment charged Rivera with several counts…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds: Passaic County Duo Admits Laundering $4 Million For International Drug Cartels Feds: Passaic County Duo Admits Laundering $4 Million For International Drug Cartels
Feds: Passaic County Duo Admits Laundering $4 Million For International Drug Cartels Two Passaic County men admitted in federal court that they laundered nearly $4 million in drug cash for international cartels operating in New Jersey and New York, authorities announced. Erickson Checo-Almonte, 31 of Passaic, and Jordano Abreu-Diaz, 24 of Clifton, were among six defendants charged in the operation. Morristown police helped the DEA and IRS crack the case, in which those involved converted cash from drug sales in the two states to more than 1,000 cashier’s checks, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael Honig said. The checks were then sent to brokers “acting on behalf o…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Ex-Hedge Fund Manager From NY, FL Admits $6.8M COVID-19 Scam In NJ Federal Court Ex-Hedge Fund Manager From NY, FL Admits $6.8M COVID-19 Scam In NJ Federal Court
Ex-Hedge Fund Manager From NY, FL Admits $6.8M Covid-19 Scam In NJ Federal Court A dual New York/Florida resident admitted in federal court in Newark that he schemed to steal more than $6.8 million in COVID-19 payroll protection loans -- $3 million of which the government said he flushed away in the stock market. Gregory J. Blotnick applied to 13 lenders for 21 loans over a period of nearly a year, beginning in March 21, 2020, lying about the number of employees at nine companies whom he supposedly needed to pay, federal authorities said. Blotnick, 34, dumped the money into a personal brokerage account instead, then poured nearly 45% of it into losing stock trades, Acti…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: Paterson Man Admits Laundering $2.5 Million For International Drug Cartels Feds: Paterson Man Admits Laundering $2.5 Million For International Drug Cartels
Feds: Paterson Man Admits Laundering $2.5 Million For International Drug Cartels A Paterson man admitted Tuesday that he laundered more than $2.5 million for Central and South American drug cartels operating in New Jersey and New York, federal authorities said. Willy Cruz-Bonilla, 24, was among six Passaic County residents charged in a massive network that converted nearly $27 million in ill-gotten gains to more than 1,000 checks sent to the Dominican Republic, Colombia and elsewhere, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig said. The scheme was "designed to conceal the nature, source, ownership, and control of the illegal drug proceeds in order to avoid scrutiny by law enfor…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds: Bean Counter Admits Embezzling Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars From Bergen Tour Company Feds: Bean Counter Admits Embezzling Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars From Bergen Tour Company
Feds: Bean Counter Admits Embezzling Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars From Bergen Tour Company Only a week after her former manager took a guilty plea in federal court, a Lyndhurst accountant admitted Monday that she helped embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars from the guided tour company they worked for. Ruby Baroni, 54, took a deal from the government rather than face trial – the same as Estela Laluf, 76, of River Edge, did last Monday, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Between 2010 and 2016, the pair conspired to write checks against the East Rutherford-based company’s bank accounts to cash, Honig said. Checks were also issued to actual company employees and co…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds: Bergen Tour Company Manager, 76, Admits Embezzling Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars Feds: Bergen Tour Company Manager, 76, Admits Embezzling Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars
Feds: Bergen Tour Company Manager, 76, Admits Embezzling Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars A 76-year-old Bergen County guided-tour company manager told a federal judge Monday that she and a company accountant embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from their employer. Estela Laluf of River Edge, began working at the East Rutherford-based company in 1989 and took a management position in 1996, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Between 2010 and 2016, she and the company accountant conspired to write checks against the company’s bank accounts to cash, as well as to various actual company employees and contractors, individuals and shell companies for work they didn't do…

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by Jerry DeMarco