Overcast 72°
Police & Fire
Feds: Jersey Shore Cleaning Service Owner Admits Paying Workers Off Books To Duck Taxes Feds: Jersey Shore Cleaning Service Owner Admits Paying Workers Off Books To Duck Taxes
Feds: Jersey Shore Cleaning Service Owner Admits Paying Workers Off Books To Duck Taxes The owner-operator of a Tinton Falls-based commercial office cleaning business admitted Tuesday that he ducked federal taxes by paying employees off the books. John Storz, 53, of Eatontown pleaded guilty during a video conference before a federal judge in Trenton to failing to collect, account for and pay payroll taxes, as well as tax evasion, an IRS spokesman said. Storz cashed more than $1.2 million of client checks at a check-cashing business, then used most of the cash to pay employees under the table, federal authorities said. In doing so, he admitted, he failed to pay more than $213,…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bayonne Businessman Sentenced To Fed Pen In Tax, Bankruptcy Fraud Bayonne Businessman Sentenced To Fed Pen In Tax, Bankruptcy Fraud
Bayonne Businessman Sentenced To Fed Pen In Tax, Bankruptcy Fraud A Bayonne businessman man who used check-cashing businesses to hide hundreds of thousands in income he earned from his construction companies was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison on Wednesday. Patrick Franconeri, 57, must serve all of the plea-bargained sentence for tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Franconeri failed to file a tax return or request an extension for 2014 after earning taxable income of $1,362,950, on which he owed the IRS $558,439 in payments, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. He earned the money as the owner …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: 6 Drug Ring Members Trafficked Heroin From Paterson To Atlantic City That Killed 48 Users Feds: 6 Drug Ring Members Trafficked Heroin From Paterson To Atlantic City That Killed 48 Users
Feds: 6 Drug Ring Members Trafficked Heroin From Paterson To Atlantic City That Killed 48 Users Six reputed members of a drug network trafficked heroin from Paterson to Atlantic City that was connected to 48 overdose deaths and 84 other ODs, federal authorities charged. The FBI used wiretaps, video surveillance, confidential informants and more to infiltrate the organization, which sold heroin in bags stamped with, among other names, “AK-47,” “Apple,” “Fortnite,” “Rolex,” “Frank Lucas,” “Bentley,” “Pandora,” and “9½,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. An indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Camden names six reputed gang members accused of conspiring to move more than a kil…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Business
Don't Toss That Envelope From Omaha -- It Has Your Federal Stimulus Prepaid Debit Card Don't Toss That Envelope From Omaha -- It Has Your Federal Stimulus Prepaid Debit Card
Don't Toss That Envelope From Omaha -- It Has Your Federal Stimulus Prepaid Debit Card If a plain white envelope from Omaha, Nebraska arrives in the mail, don’t throw it away. It may be your federal stimulus payment. Last week, the IRS and U.S. Treasury Department began mailing Economic Impact Payments as prepaid debit cards. In addition to a P.O. Box in Omaha, the return address says the letter is from "Money Network Cardholder Services." Nearly 4 million Americans waiting for their slice of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act are expected to get their stimulus money in the form of an EIP Card, as opposed to a paper check signed by President Donald J. Trump. The trouble is, th…

SHARE

by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Drug Runner In Newark Ring Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Trafficking Heroin, Crack Drug Runner In Newark Ring Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Trafficking Heroin, Crack
Drug Runner In Newark Ring Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Trafficking Heroin, Crack A convicted drug runner from Newark must spend all of a plea-bargained 10 years in federal prison for his role in trafficking more than a kilo of heroin and a half-pound of crack. Maurice "Ree" McPhatter, 47, took the deal from the government rather than risk drug conspiracy convictions at a trial. Because there’s no parole in the federal prison system, he must serve the entire sentence imposed Friday by U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark  McPhatter was among several members of a drug ring that operated in and around Newark who were taken down in 2017 by special agents and of…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Israel’s Largest Bank Pays $900 Million In Offshore Tax Evasion Scheme, Soccer Payoffs Israel’s Largest Bank Pays $900 Million In Offshore Tax Evasion Scheme, Soccer Payoffs
Israel’s Largest Bank Pays $900 Million In Offshore Tax Evasion Scheme, Soccer Payoffs Israel’s largest bank and a Swiss subsidiary agreed in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday to pay $874.27 million to the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the New York State Department of Financial Services to settle offshore tax-evasion charges. At the same time, Bank Hapoalim B.M. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Hapoalim (Switzerland) Ltd., agreed to pay more than $30 million to the United States to resolve a federal investigation into their roles in laundering bribes and kickbacks to the world governing body for soccer. As part of the tax-evasion settlement, Bank Hapoalim B.M.&…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
$900,000 Tax Scam Gets NJ Tax Preparer Four Years In Fed Pen $900,000 Tax Scam Gets NJ Tax Preparer Four Years In Fed Pen
$900,000 Tax Scam Gets NJ Tax Preparer Four Years In Fed Pen A federal judge sentenced a former tax preparer who worked in Essex and Union counties to a plea-bargained four years in prison for his role in a $900,000 income tax scam, authorities said. Because there’s no parole in the federal prison system, Tony V. Russell, 49, of Stone Mountain, GA must serve out the entire term for his guilty plea to conspiring to defraud the IRS. Russell was the first of five men sentenced for preparing bogus tax returns at Tax Pro’s and Tax Solutions & Associates, federal prosecutors said. A federal judge in Trenton last September convicted one of two co-owner…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For
Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For Federal authorities said they've gotten help from domain providers and others in smashing hundreds of online sites exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to commit fraud and other crimes. As of Tuesday, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) had received and reviewed more than 3,600 complaints related to COVID-19 scams, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Many of them “operated from websites that advertised fake vaccines and cures, operated fraudulent charity drives, delivered malware, or hosted various other types of scams,” federal officials said in a release. To attract traffic, t…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: Ex-Con Had 20 Pounds Of Heroin, Coke, $100,000 Cash, Gun In Union County Home Feds: Ex-Con Had 20 Pounds Of Heroin, Coke, $100,000 Cash, Gun In Union County Home
Feds: Ex-Con Had 20 Pounds Of Heroin, Coke, $100,000 Cash, Gun In Union County Home Federal agents seized a combined 20 pounds of heroin and cocaine from an ex-con caught running a drug mill from his Union County apartment, authorities said. Brad Toby, 35, of Linden served three years in state prison on a drug conviction before being released in 2016, records show. Federal authorities who found him back at it also seized $100,000 in suspected proceeds, drug packaging materials – including scales and kilo presses – and a handgun with ammunition, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Toby, who's believed to be part of a larger drug ring operating in operating in New Jersey an…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Stimulus Checks: How Much You're Getting Stimulus Checks: How Much You're Getting
Stimulus Checks: How Much You're Getting Now that Congress has approved the $2.2 trillion stimulus package, you may be wondering what your cut will be. We’ve tried to simplify it for you. The IRS is doling out the dough to an estimated 125 million Americans. The money will come in the form of a check -- or direct deposit, if you’ve signed up for it with the IRS on your federal tax returns. Your income level will be determined based on either your 2019 tax returns, if you’ve filed, or your 2018 returns if you haven’t. Q: How much will you get? A: Here goes: If you earn no more than $75,000 a year in gross adjusted inc…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: Longtime Fugitive From Brazil Surrenders In Major NJ Mortgage Fraud Feds: Longtime Fugitive From Brazil Surrenders In Major NJ Mortgage Fraud
Feds: Longtime Fugitive From Brazil Surrenders In Major NJ Mortgage Fraud A long-time Brazilian fugitive flew returned to New Jersey on Tuesday to face federal charges in a long-running mortgage fraud, authorities said. Isaac DePaula, 40, of Brazil, had been on the run since federal authorities first charged him in a 2012 complaint and then a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Newark indicted him four years later. He flew in to Newark Airport on Tuesday to face the indictment, which charges him with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and three counts of bank fraud, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. A federal judge ordered DePaula’s release pending further court…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Newark Grocery Store Father, Son Sentenced In $3.49M Federal SNAP Benefits Fraud Newark Grocery Store Father, Son Sentenced In $3.49M Federal SNAP Benefits Fraud
Newark Grocery Store Father, Son Sentenced In $3.49M Federal SNAP Benefits Fraud A Newark man was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison and his son to 15 months of home detention Thursday for blatantly exchanging federal food benefits for $3.49 million in cash. Juan Perdomo ran M&R Supermarket in Newark, which accepted Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments through government-issued debit cards issued to families in need. The federally funded program, formerly known as food stamps, allows users to purchase food, but the benefit cannot be exchanged for cash. Authorities say Perdomo, along with his son, Jose, and wife, Maria Rodrigue…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco