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Accused JC Scammers Hit With More Charges, Total Take Rises By $400,000
Three Indian Americans from North Jersey charged in a hotel supply company scam were re-arrested this week after authorities said they learned that the trio stiffed victims by three times as much money as they’d originally believed.
Married couple Viral Patel, 38, and Priyanka Patel, 33, of Jersey City and Pratik Patel, 35, of Ramsey, were originally charged last December with pocketing $200,000 for services that were never provided by their Janvi Hotel Supply company on Thorne Street, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said.
Members of the prosecutor’s Special Investigations Unit conti…
Victims Scammed Out Of $2.2M By NJ Couple In 'Publishers Clearing House Lottery' Scheme: Cops
A couple from Secaucus is facing a litany of charges after scamming residents in multiple states out of more nearly $2.2 million, police said.
Akeem Lee and Majda Hodzic-Lee called victims in Florida, Minnesota, Arizona, Kansas, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Nebraska, saying they'd won the "Publishers Clearing House Lottery," Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller said.
In exchange for the vehicles and large sums of money the victims were told they won, they were required by Lee and Hodzic-Lee to send cash, money orders and/or gift cards for taxes, fees and IRS …
Guilty: Woman Defrauded Medicaid By Billing For NJ Ex's Care While Really At Work In Michigan
A substitute teacher from Michigan was convicted of billing Medicaid for giving care to her stroke-stricken Morris County ex-boyfriend while she was actually back home at work.
Michael Ann Ellis, 62, of Flint, MI, was found guilty by jurors in Morristown who heard testimony from, among others, a schools superintendent from her district during a four-day trial, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.
Evidence also included timesheets and payroll records with school locations, dates, and hours for more than four years that Ellis collected $45,000 from the New Jersey Medicaid Prog…
Scam ALERT: 'Traveler' Busted In Attempted $15K Driveway Repair Ripoff In Upper Saddle River
A transient was arrested after scamming an Upper Saddle River homeowner out of $2,000 and then demanding $13,000 more, authorities said.
William Connors, 50, solicited the work from a resident on the north side of town by offering "leftover materials from a nearby job," USR Police Capt. Edward Kane said.
Connors got a $2,000 down payment for the fraud on Wednesday, Oct. 4, then returned to the victim's home on Thursday and insisted on $13,000 more, the captain said.
The driveway had to be entirely replaced as a result, Kane noted.
Connors, meanwhile, was arrested by borough police who dis…
Door-To-Door Contractors Bilk North Jersey Victim Out Of $125K: Police
A pair of door-to-door contractors were arrested after police say they scammed a North Jersey woman out of $125,000.
The victim hired Patrick O'Doherty and Anthony Doherty to repair to sets of concrete steps for $3,800, paid in full in advance, on Aug. 20, Bloomfield police said.
Once the demolition began on the steps, Doherty and O'Doherty would show up sporadically, usually in the late afternoon hours, to do more demolition work.
The problem was, though, every time they came, they'd perform more demolition work and ask for more money — never repairing the actual steps, police said.
The …
Ex-Con From Viral Jersey Shore Arrest Video Charged With 1,500 Heroin Bags, Pounds Of Pot, More
An ex-con whose Point Pleasant boardwalk arrest became part of a viral video was busted once again on drug charges, this time along with his roommate, authorities said.
A SWAT team led a raid on the Grand Street apartment in Garfield that Zakee Murphy, 32, shares with fish tank technician Ryene Perry, 34, landing both in jail on various drug-related counts, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
Murphy has been arrested dozens of times in multiple counties over the past decade, records show.
This time he's accused of using the Garfield home to stash the drugs along with more than $8,…
NJ Biz Owner Didn't Give Hurt Landscaper Worker's Comp, Woman Stole $19K In Unemployment: AG
Two New Jersey residents are facing federal charges for failing to provide workers compensation to an injured employee and stealing more than $19,000 in unemployment funds, authorities said.
Richard Hockenberry, 71, of Hawthorne, and Brianna Larkins, 34, of Secaucus, were both charged by way of indictment for the employment benefit-related crimes, Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Monday, May 9.
One of Hockneberry's employees at his landscaping company became injured at work on Feb. 26, 2018, Platkin said. On May 4, 2018, the victim filed a Workers’ Compensation…
Scam ALERT: Men Used Counterfeit $100 Bills At Several NJ Gas Stations, Police Say
Two men have been charged after allegedly using counterfeit bills at several gas stations throughout the Garden State, authorities said Friday.
Mohammad Kamara, 30, of Newark, and Tonney Manyango, 29, of Sayreville, are accused of asking for $3.00 worth of gas at QuickChek in Cedar Knolls, paying with a counterfeit $100 bill, and asking for change for a second counterfeit $100 bill on Jan. 4, Hanover Police said.
A follow-up investigation found that several other convenience stores throughout New Jersey had recently experienced a similar scam between Jan. 4 and Jan. 6, authorities said.
Th…
Men Wanted In NJ Grandparent Scam After Pretending To Be Jailed Grandkids: Prosecutor
A pair of New York men are wanted by authorities for pretending to be New Jersey residents' jailed grandchildren asking for bail money, scamming them out of thousands of dollars, authorities said.
Jorge Peguero-Mendez, 34, and Richard Quinones-Perez, 24, both of the Bronx, New York, are wanted on charges of theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.
An elderly victim from Barnegat was contacted in December 2021 by an individual claiming to be her grandson, authorities said. The individual informed her that he had b…
State: Jersey Shore Chiropractor, 73, With Fraud History Files 261 Bogus Insurance Claims
A Bayonne-based chiropractor from the Jersey Shore with an insurance fraud conviction already on his record did it again, state authorities charged.
Charles B. Boas, 73, of Matawan, got probation seven years ago after pleading guilty to collecting nearly $13,000 through bogus claims, records show.
State officials announced Wednesday that they'd caught him in an even bigger scam -- this time involving hundreds of false submissions to Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield.
A grand jury in Trenton indicted Boas on 261 counts involving health care claims fraud, theft by deception and tax evasions, Ac…
Son Of Infamous Bergen County Burglar Charged With ID Theft, Unemployment Fraud
The son of an infamous Bergen County burglar was charged with unemployment fraud after a shoplifting bust in Virginia, authorities said.
A judge ordered Daniel Gatson Jr., 24, of Ridgefield released this week after he was booked into the Bergen County Jail hours earlier, records show.
Gatson assumed another identity to open bank accounts, then applied for and received unemployment benefits from the state of New Jersey, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said, without specifying the amount.
Detectives in Fairfax County, VA discovered this while investigating a shoplifting, the prose…
Prosecutor: Widow Of NJ ‘Animal Whisperer’ Continued Veterinary Practice Without License
The widow of a North Jersey veterinarian who’d been known as the “animal whisperer” was arrested for continuing to operate his clinic without a license, authorities announced Monday.
Alia Muslih, 39, of Montclair was charged with animal cruelty, among other counts, after Passaic County prosecutor’s detectives raided the Totowa Animal Hospital along with local police, the DEA, the state Division of Consumer Affairs and animal control officers from Paterson and Clifton.
Her late husband, Adel Hamdan, was renowned in his field, having previously operated the Maywood Veterinary Clinic for 17 ye…
Police: Thief From Elizabeth, 20, Steals Wayne Senior's Social Security Benefits
An Elizabeth man used more than $1,000 of an elderly Wayne resident’s money after stealing his Social Security benefits card, authorities charged.
Anthony Belizaca, 20, was arrested after township detectives traced the thefts back to a business where he used to work, Detective Capt. Daniel Daly said.
Belizaca drained what was left on the card – which is for obtaining and spending Social Security Benefits – to buy electronics and food, Daly said.
Police charged him with credit card theft, theft by deception and wrongful impersonation, the captain said.
Belizaca surrendered at headquarters …
Wayne Detectives Nab PSE&G Scammer, Believe More Victims Are Out There
Wayne police detectives tracked down and charged a Queens man for conning a resident out of $2,570 through a utility scam. Now they’re trying to find out whether he had any other local victims.
Welinton Cedano, 29, sent the township resident a bogus text that purported to be from PSE&G, Detective Capt. Dan Daly said.
Following prompts, the woman was connected with someone claiming to be a manager who convinced her that she owed the utility money, Daly said.
Before it was over, she’d made four separate payments to a Zelle account, he said.
Suspecting it was bogus, the woman later …
