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Germaine Howard King, 47, of Elizabeth was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Newark to 70 months. Daniel D. Dxrams (currently known as “Daniel Kusi”), 41, of Maplewood was sentenced to 57 months.
Both must serve their entire terms because there’s no parole in the federal prison system.
“King was convicted for his role in a scheme to defraud banks and other lenders using phony money orders to fraudulently discharge a $400,000 mortgage, to fraudulently obtain two Mercedes Benz (one 2007 and one 2010) cars, and to pay off credit card bills,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
He also was convicted of a scheme to use phony cashier’s checks to pay off his co-defendant’s five luxury cars, Carpenito said.
Dxrams was convicted for his role in a scheme to fraudulently pay off a Rolls Royce, Bentley, and three Mercedes Benz cars (two 2015 cars and one 2016 car).
He also was convicted of bankruptcy fraud and of making a false oath during a bankruptcy proceeding.
King and Dxrams join convicted co-defendants Melissa Reynolds, 43, of Elizabeth and Arthur N. Martin 3rd, both of whom were sentenced to much lesser terms last month.
King “conspired with Reynolds to make fraudulent money orders on their home computers,” Carpenito said. “They mailed these phony money orders to a credit union in an effort to fraudulently pay off their two Mercedes Benz cars.
“Although the credit union rejected both bogus money orders, King and Reynolds mailed correspondences to the credit union falsely claiming that the debt was satisfied,” the U.S. attorney said. “They then stopped paying their car loans, and King kept the car.
“King and Reynolds mailed a fraudulent money order in the amount of $432,000 to a financial institution to pay off their mortgage,” Carpenito added. “The financial institution erroneously accepted the fraudulent payment and credited it as a payoff for the mortgage.
“When the financial institution filed a suit seeking to reinstate the fraudulently discharged mortgage, King and Reynolds continued to allege in court that the mortgage had been paid and submitted a phony receipt for the bogus money order.
“King also made and mailed fraudulent money orders in an attempt to pay off his credit card bills,” the U.S. attorney said.
Dxrams, King, and Reynolds also conspired to fraudulently pay off Dxrams’ five luxury cars, Carpenito said.
“They sent a bogus $101,000 cashier’s check to a finance company that enabled Dxrams to obtain a 2012 Bentley for free,” he noted. “Dxrams sold the car to a third party for approximately $82,000 and then issued a bank check to King for approximately $25,000.”
In addition to the prison terms, U.S. District Judge John Michael Vasquez sentenced King to five years of supervised release and restitution of $597,781.
Vasquez sentenced Dxrams to three years of supervised release, restitution of $93,236 and forfeiture of $82,000.
Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the N.J. Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General Eastern Regional Office and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General.
Handling the case for the government is Assistant U.S. Attorney Lakshmi Srinivasan Herman of Carpenito’s National Security Unit in Newark.
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