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Cyberfootsies: Ex-NJ Couple, Money Washer Confess $4.5M Online Romance Scam
UPDATE: A former New Jersey couple and a local businesswoman have admitted scamming more than 100 lonely hearts out of $4.5 million in an elaborate online romance scheme, federal authorities charged.
Martins Inalegwu, 35, took a deal from the government, pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in Camden on Monday, March 25 to conducting an unlawful money-transmitting business and evading taxes for four straight years.
Inalegwu's wife, Steincy Mathieu, 27, had already pleaded guilty to tax evasion last November.
Oluwaseyi Fatolu, 56, of Springfield, followed her by admitting this past …
North Jersey Man, 65, Admits Sharing Horrific Child Sex Videos, Including One Of Girl Under 5
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A video of a girl believed to be 3 to 5 years old astride a shirtless, bearded tattooed man was among the evidence that apparently convinced a North Jersey retiree to plead guilty in federal court to trafficking child pornography, records show.
The clip was among 65 videos and 250 images that Gaetano Lapegna, 65, had collected of "prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts with adults and other children," an agent with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Newark cited in a complaint.
Lapegna, of Sussex County, shared many of them with what turned out to be HSI agents, the complai…
Elderly Bergen Couple's Trusted Personal Assistant Stole $2.9M Of Their Money, Feds Charge
An elderly Bergen County couple had $2.9 million stolen by a now-former Ridgewood Public Library tech administrator whom they'd hired to be a part-time assistant at their home, federal authorities said following his arrest.
Charles Gallo, 34, of Hawthorne, was responsible for managing the victims’ monthly bills, handling their banking and helping them with email and other issues involving technology after being hired in 2018, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
The couple trusted Gallo with their personal bank accounts, credit card accounts, online retail accounts and email, the U.S. at…
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…
3rd Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, Cops Plea
UPDATE: A third member of a burglary ring that targeted Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware has pleaded guilty, authorities confirmed.
Kevin Jackson, 57, of Rahway, was part of a second-story crew that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in four states based on “stereotype and opportunity."
One of Jackson's associates told detectives that Asians were targeted “because it was believed that the victims kept large sums of currency and jewelry in their residences,” an FBI complaint says.
Notes found in the defendants’ cars …
Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Cops Plea
UPDATE: A burglar from a crew that targeted Asian and Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware took a deal from the government rather than risk the outcome of a trial, federal authorities said.
James Hurt, 47, of New York, was part of a second-story outfit that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in four states based on “stereotype and opportunity."
One of Hurt's associates told detectives that Asians were targeted “because it was believed that the victims kept large sums of currency and jewelry in their residences,” an FBI c…
Burglar With Hit List Of Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Gets 50 Months In Federal Prison
UPDATE: A member of a second-story crew who targeted Asian and Asian-American homeowners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware for burglaries was sentenced to a plea-bargained four years and two months in federal prison, authorities said.
Randi Barr, 42, of Union County, NJ, was part of a group that worked from a hit list of dozens of homes based on “stereotype and opportunity,” federal authorities said.
Local, state and federal law enforcement authorities who teamed up to smash the ring found notes in the defendants’ cars that had the home addresses of individuals of Asian des…
Mastermind Of Historic $175M Psychic Mail Scam Convicted, Feds Cite More Than 1M Victims
The mastermind of a mass-mailing scam that stole $175 million from more than a million victims, most of them elderly or ailing, was convicted by a federal jury in New York City.
Patrice Runner, a 57-year-old Canadian and French citizen, directed a ruthless psychic mail scheme for over two decades, beginning in 1994, the jurors found.
It was one of the largest -- if not the largest -- scam of its kind ever, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday, June 16, in announcing the verdict reached a day earlier on Long Island.
Runner sent mailings to millions of Americans that claimed t…
Colombian Nationals Nabbed After NJ Home Break-In Nets Jewelry, Furs, Cash, More
Three Colombian nationals remain in federal custody and a fourth has already been deported after the government said they stole jewelry, a Rolex, an antique rifle, furs and cash in a home burglary in Union County.
The quartet also took a stamp collection, luxury bags and more after breaking into the Cranford home shortly before 5 p.m. last Nov. 30, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
They then loaded the valuables into a red Honda Accord that they'd driven there, an FBI complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark says.
Sellinger, who put the total value of the loss at more than …
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…
NJ Couple Charged With Running Five-Finger Discount Ring
A Passaic County couple ran a retail theft ring that paid thieves to shoplift specific items from a list that they provided, authorities charged.
Ali Soto, 42, and Vickiana Colon, 36, both of North Haledon, were both charged with being leaders of an organized theft operation, among other offenses.
The arrests were made on Dec. 14, 2022 but weren’t announced until Wednesday, Jan. 4, in a joint release issued by Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, West Milford Township Police Chief James Devore and North Haledon Police Chief Todd Darby.
They didn’t say why.
Wednesday's release…
Major NJ Drug Ring Smashed: Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl Seized, 14 Busted
Nearly three pounds of heroin and fentanyl were seized, along with three handguns, $70,000 in cash and more than $500,000 worth of jewelry in the takedown of a major North Jersey/New York City drug ring, authorities said.
A U.S. Postal Service worker was among 14 people arrested as more than 100 local, county and federal law enforcers executed search warrants across Jersey City, Rahway and the Bronx, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said.They also hit a Newark location where Suarez said the drugs were processed and packaged for sale.
The ringleader, she said, was Charles King, 48, who…
