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Financial Fraud

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Elizabeth Man Scams Elderly Family Friend Out Of $1.6M In Shocking Fraud Scheme Elizabeth Man Scams Elderly Family Friend Out Of $1.6M In Shocking Fraud Scheme
Elizabeth Man Scams Elderly Family Friend Out Of $1.6M In Shocking Fraud Scheme An Elizabeth man is facing charges after allegedly stealing more than $1.6 million from a senior citizen in a years-long financial scheme, authorities said. Between Jan. 2022 and Aug. 2024, 25-year-old Elijah Ray orchestrated a scheme targeting an elderly family friend, Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel said. Using fabricated documents, impersonating driving school representatives, and issuing fraudulent statements, Ray is accused of defrauding the victim in over 1,600 transactions, officials said. In addition to creating false documentation, authorities allege Ray stole t…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
ELDER ABUSE: Financial Advisor Swiped $75K, Neglected 90-Year-Old Woman In His Care: NJ AG ELDER ABUSE: Financial Advisor Swiped $75K, Neglected 90-Year-Old Woman In His Care: NJ AG
Elder Abuse: Financial Advisor Swiped $75K, Neglected 90-Year-Old Woman In His Care: NJ AG A financial advisor from Verona abused his authority over a 90-year-old client's finances, stealing $75,000 while neglecting her care and well-being and letting her bills pile up, state authorities charged. John Boston, 47, tried to hide his hiring to manage the woman's affairs and assets, they said. He never told his employer and ignored a federal Financial Industry Regulatory Authority requirement to register the victim as a client, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a joint announcement with Interim Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Al Garcia. After obtaining durable fin…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Broker Scammed Grieving Army Families Out Of $3.5 Million In Death Benefits, Feds Charge NJ Broker Scammed Grieving Army Families Out Of $3.5 Million In Death Benefits, Feds Charge
NJ Broker Scammed Grieving Army Families Out Of $3.5 Million In Death Benefits, Feds Charge Families of soldiers killed in war lost nearly $3.5 million to a merciless financial counselor from New Jersey who exploited their grief, federal authorities have charged. Caz Craffy, 41, worked for the United States Army when he defrauded two dozen Gold Star families who trusted him out of death benefits, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Friday, July 7. Craffy – also known as “Carz Craffey” – “took advantage of his role as an Army financial counselor, using lies and deception to steer their investments in a way that would make him money,” Sellinger said during a new…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Jersey Shore Cyberthief Swipes $300,000 From Bergen Retiree's Account: It Happens A Lot Jersey Shore Cyberthief Swipes $300,000 From Bergen Retiree's Account: It Happens A Lot
Jersey Shore Cyberthief Swipes $300,000 From Bergen Retiree's Account: It Happens A Lot An unemployed cyberthief from the Jersey Shore swiped more than $300,000 from an elderly Lodi resident’s retirement account after stealing the victim’s identity, authorities charged. Joseph Bilotta, 65, hijacked the online account, along with others in New Jersey and Maryland, “to fund his lifestyle,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Lodi police notified members of the prosecutor’s Financial Crimes Unit of the account takeover scheme in 2021, Musella said. They arrested Bilotta on theft charges following an investigation and sent him to the Bergen County Jail only to have a judg…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Passaic County Adviser Conned Investors Out Of $471,602, State Authorities Charge Passaic County Adviser Conned Investors Out Of $471,602, State Authorities Charge
Passaic County Adviser Conned Investors Out Of $471,602, State Authorities Charge An investment adviser from Passaic County stole $471,602 from two dozen investors he recruited for an unregulated commodities trading group, state authorities charged. The business he the Think Big Institute was failing when Scott Nicholson, 53, of North Haledon, began to “misappropriate investor monies by withdrawing existing investment monies and new investments for his personal benefit,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Over the course of five years, Nicholson transferred $373,823 in investment money to his personal checking account and paid $271,129 worth of personal expens…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
'Not A Single Human Being Will Shed A Tear': Infamous Ponzi Schemer Madoff Dies In Fed Pen 'Not A Single Human Being Will Shed A Tear': Infamous Ponzi Schemer Madoff Dies In Fed Pen
'Not A Single Human Being Will Shed A Tear': Infamous Ponzi Schemer Madoff Dies In Fed Pen He stole from the rich, from the poor and from plenty of others in-between. Bernie Madoff, the most notorious Ponzi schemer in history, has died in federal prison, according to reports. “Bernie Madoff is dead. There is not a single human being on this earth who will shed a tear,” columnist Joe Nocera tweeted Wednesday morning. Madoff, 82, was serving a 150-year sentence without parole at a North Carolina penitentiary for defrauding thousands of people of billions of dollars in the largest Ponzi scheme ever prosecuted. The Associated Press said a source with direct knowledge of the matter c…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: Philadelphia Market CEO Stole $7.8M From Job To Pay For Pricy Jersey Shore House Feds: Philadelphia Market CEO Stole $7.8M From Job To Pay For Pricy Jersey Shore House
Feds: Philadelphia Market CEO Stole $7.8M From Job To Pay For Pricy Jersey Shore House The former president and CEO of Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market is facing federal charges for stealing $7.8 million from his employer to pay for various personal expenses including $1.9 million in rent on his Jersey Shore house, authorities said. The Information alleges that Caesar DiCrecchio, 60, of Vorhees, NJ, had control over every aspect of the Market, including the expenditure of funds, and was required to report on the Market’s finances to its Board of Directors, according to Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams. DiCrecchio defrauded the mark…

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by Nicole Acosta
News
NJ Charges 9 With Using Stolen IDs, Bogus Driver's Licenses To Buy $1.3M Worth Of Vehicles NJ Charges 9 With Using Stolen IDs, Bogus Driver's Licenses To Buy $1.3M Worth Of Vehicles
NJ Charges 9 With Using Stolen IDs, Bogus Driver's Licenses To Buy $1.3M Worth Of Vehicles Nine people from New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Ohio used stolen IDs to get digital driver’s licenses that they used to finance more than $1.3 million worth of vehicles and water craft, Garden State authorities charged. The defendants got the driver’s licenses from motor vehicle agencies in Jersey City and North Bergen using stolen identities of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Thursday. They also used fake Puerto Rico driver’s licenses, along with other false documents to land big-ticket items at dealerships in New Jersey, Pennsylv…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds Bust 400 Scammers Who Preyed On Elderly Feds Bust 400 Scammers Who Preyed On Elderly
Feds Bust 400 Scammers Who Preyed On Elderly Federal prosecutors throughout the U.S. have teamed up to charge more than 400 people in scams that have recently cost America’s senior citizens more than a billion dollars.  The largest coordinated sweep of elder fraud ever was announced by U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr during a talk earlier this week aimed at protecting older Americans from financial harm. The event, “Keeping Seniors Safe,” was held – where else? – in Florida. The Sunshine State had the most prosecutions brought by federal authorities in the sweep: 21. Ranking second was New York State, with 18. The Southe…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Springfield Broker Who Bilked Clients Of Millions Sentenced To Prison Springfield Broker Who Bilked Clients Of Millions Sentenced To Prison
Springfield Broker Who Bilked Clients Of Millions Sentenced To Prison An ex-broker and financial adviser from Springfield who admitted pocketing clients' money instead of investing it has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey said Friday.  Gary Basralian, 72, who worked at a securities firm in Jersey City, defrauded clients for a decade beginning in 2007, using clients' money to make payments on his BMW and credit cards, authorities said.   In one case, Basralian created a phony spreadsheet and sent it to a client who wanted to know why an account decreased in value. Basralian used the phony document to …

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Hoboken Man Ripped Off $750K From Bar Investors, AG Says Hoboken Man Ripped Off $750K From Bar Investors, AG Says
Hoboken Man Ripped Off $750K From Bar Investors, AG Says Nirav Patel raised hundreds of thousands of dollars that he said he would invest in opening a Hoboken beer palace. Instead, authorities say, the 39-year-old city resident spent the money on himself and other, unrelated expenses, according to an indictment announced Thursday by Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal. Patel, who was indicted Wednesday on a charge of theft by deception, began raising money to open World of Beer Hoboken in 2014. He received $750,000 for the venture from an investment group, according to investigators from the state Division of Criminal Justice. An investor himself,…

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by Paul Milo