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Feds: Jersey Shore Swindler Embezzled Hundreds Of Thousands From Philly Start-Up Feds: Jersey Shore Swindler Embezzled Hundreds Of Thousands From Philly Start-Up
Feds: Jersey Shore Swindler Embezzled Hundreds Of Thousands From Philly Start-Up A Jersey Shore hustler embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments from a Philadelphia-based tech startup when he was its chief operating officer, federal authorities have charged. Joseph Geromini, 54, of Linwood told investors who contributed roughly $2.25 million that he would use their money to help build the company, which developed blood testing for various diseases, an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Camden alleges. The Atlantic County resident promised to “further develop and commercialize its products and services, for lab expenses, and to pay employee s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Central PA DoorDash Driver Impersonated Trump Family Members In 'Gays For Trump' Scam, Feds Say Central PA DoorDash Driver Impersonated Trump Family Members In 'Gays For Trump' Scam, Feds Say
Central PA DoorDash Driver Impersonated Trump Family Members In 'Gays For Trump' Scam, Feds Say A 22-year-old Central Pennsylvania man posed as members of the Trump family online to raise more than $7,000 for made-up political organization "Gays for Trump" then spent the money on his own living expenses, federal officials said. Joshua Hall, of Mechanicsburg, was arrested Tuesday for wire fraud and identity theft Tuesday, the FBI and US Justice Department announced in a joint statement. From September 2019 and December 2020, Hall posed as former President Trump's family members including his brother Robert Trump, teen son Barron and sister Elizabeth Trump Grau -- who is in her late 70s…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Bergen Broker Gets 18 Months In Fed Pen For 'Short Sale' Scam Bergen Broker Gets 18 Months In Fed Pen For 'Short Sale' Scam
Bergen Broker Gets 18 Months In Fed Pen For 'Short Sale' Scam A Bergen County real estate broker was sentenced to a year and a half in federal prison for his role in a $4.6 million “short-sale” scheme. Steve Young Kang, 66, of Ridgefield, and others sold properties to an accomplice, Mehdi Kassai, for substantially less than they were worth, Acting Principal Assistant U.S. Attorney and Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Agarwal said. The conspirators used false documents, straw buyers and cosmetic property damage, while also restricting the ability of others to bid on and buy those properties, Agarwal said. Kassai then “sold many of those propert…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Hudson Con Man Sent To Federal Prison For Cheating Seniors Out Of $450,000 Hudson Con Man Sent To Federal Prison For Cheating Seniors Out Of $450,000
Hudson Con Man Sent To Federal Prison For Cheating Seniors Out Of $450,000 A Union City financial adviser is headed to federal prison for a plea-bargained 27 months for stealing more than $450,000 from mostly elderly, Spanish-speaking clients. Ramon Herrera, 37, persuaded unwitting more than three dozen clients to sign blank withdrawal slips, which he then filled out to pull cash from their accounts in the form of cashier’s checks, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Herrera then applied the checks to accounts that he and a family member controlled, she said. Herrera took a deal from the government -- pleading guilty to wire fraud -- rather than go to tr…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Bergen County Con Man Who Lived Large Off $5M Of Victims' Money Gets 51 Months In Fed Pen Bergen County Con Man Who Lived Large Off $5M Of Victims' Money Gets 51 Months In Fed Pen
Bergen County Con Man Who Lived Large Off $5M Of Victims' Money Gets 51 Months In Fed Pen A Bergen County con man bought a new car, joined a private club, gambled big, traveled wide -- and more -- with nearly $5 million that he'd swindled from prospective investors. Now he's headed to federal prison. A U.S. District Court judge in Newark sentenced Matthew O’Callaghan, 43, of Upper Saddle River via videoconference Thursday to a plea-bargained 51 months -- a little over four years -- in a federal penitentiary.O'Callaghan “impersonated two bank executives interested in funding syndicated loans for global companies,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Referring to…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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NJ Con Man Who Swindled Elderly Out Of $2M Headed To Fed Pen NJ Con Man Who Swindled Elderly Out Of $2M Headed To Fed Pen
NJ Con Man Who Swindled Elderly Out Of $2M Headed To Fed Pen A confessed Somerset County con man is headed to federal prison for 6½ years for swindling elderly investors out of $2 million that he used, in part, to pay for his daughter’s college tuition and sorority fees. For nearly a decade, ex-financial advisor Daniel Rivera, 51, told primarily elderly investors that his Robbins Lane Properties was “staffed by experienced real estate professionals, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Rivera promised a “guaranteed monthly income” thanks to a rate of return based on secure investments, she added. The truth, Honig said, was: “Robbins Lane had …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds: Ex-South Jersey Lawyer Gambled Away Investor’s $2.4M In Phony Eagles Season Tix Scheme Feds: Ex-South Jersey Lawyer Gambled Away Investor’s $2.4M In Phony Eagles Season Tix Scheme
Feds: Ex-South Jersey Lawyer Gambled Away Investor’s $2.4M In Phony Eagles Season Tix Scheme A disgraced South Jersey attorney with a confessed gambling habit was busted by federal agents for conning an investor out of $2.4 million in a loan scheme involving supposed Philadelphia Eagles season ticket holders, authorities said. Frank N. Tobolsky, 59, of Cherry Hill told the Delaware investor he was funding loans for clients using season ticket licenses as collateral, an indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Camden says. There were no clients, it says. Tobolsky gambled “a substantial portion” of the money at Atlantic City casinos, among other personal uses, Acting U.S. Attor…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds: Wyckoff Man Busted Using Dead Brother's Identity To Get COVID Relief Loan Feds: Wyckoff Man Busted Using Dead Brother's Identity To Get COVID Relief Loan
Feds: Wyckoff Man Busted Using Dead Brother's Identity To Get COVID Relief Loan A Bergen County man stole his dead brother’s identity to get a $150,000 COVID economic disaster loan, said federal authorities who arrested him Thursday. Nathanael Zimmerman, 40, of Wyckoff also orchestrated a mortgage fraud scheme among applicants for Federal Housing Administration-FHA insured loans, submitting bogus bank statements and collecting a portion of the proceeds, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. The loans defaulted and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development lost more than $300,000, she said. Last year, Zimmerman used his deceased brother’s personal iden…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Convicted NJ Serial Dating Scammer Captured After Fleeing Federal Custody Just Short Of Release Convicted NJ Serial Dating Scammer Captured After Fleeing Federal Custody Just Short Of Release
Convicted NJ Serial Dating Scammer Captured After Fleeing Federal Custody Just Short Of Release A serial dating scammer from Atlantic City who conned women throughout the country has been captured after escaping federal custody last summer, authorities announced Monday. Patrick Giblin, 56, was being transitioned from a federal prison in Lewisburg, PA to serve out the rest of a sentence at a halfway house in Newark when he bolted on July 23, 2020, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Giblin had already served six years for a 2007 wire-fraud scheme when he was sentenced in 2017 to five more years after admitting he duped several women in an online dating scam. He was barely a ye…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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TAX SCAM: Bergen Man Admits Posing As 18 Different Recipients To Collect Refunds TAX SCAM: Bergen Man Admits Posing As 18 Different Recipients To Collect Refunds
TAX Scam: Bergen Man Admits Posing As 18 Different Recipients To Collect Refunds A Bergen County man admitted collecting tax refunds by using stolen identities to pose as 18 different people. Emmanuel A. Barrientos-Fermin, 33, of Tenafly told a federal judge via videoconference in Newark on Tuesday that he gave an unnamed co-conspirator a photo of himself. The accomplice then produced bogus driver’s licenses with his picture on them, he said. The co-conspirator also gave him matching Social Security cards, driver’s licenses and W-2 forms – even birth certificates, Barrientos-Fermin said. Armed with the documents, Barrientos-Fermin said, he went to various tax preparin…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Chiseler Admits Taking $350K From Elderly Morris Patient's Trust For Meals, Movies, Hotel, More Chiseler Admits Taking $350K From Elderly Morris Patient's Trust For Meals, Movies, Hotel, More
Chiseler Admits Taking $350K From Elderly Morris Patient's Trust For Meals, Movies, Hotel, More A South Jersey man admitted stealing more than $350,000 from a trust for an elderly special needs patient living in a Morris County long-term care facility. After convincing the victim’s mother to give him power of attorney, Eugene Young, 69, of Mount Holly used a trust debit card more than 650 times at restaurants, movie theaters, hotels, car washes, gas stations and grocery stores, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachel A. Honig said. The trust, which had more than $1 million in two bank accounts when Young got control of it, was established to provide for the supplemental care, maintenance, support…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Former Bergen Resident From CT Embezzled $540,000 From Ridgefield Park Security Firm Feds: Former Bergen Resident From CT Embezzled $540,000 From Ridgefield Park Security Firm
Feds: Former Bergen Resident From CT Embezzled $540,000 From Ridgefield Park Security Firm A former Bergen County resident now living in Connecticut embezzled $540,000 intended for a local company that she diverted into a PayPal account for herself, her husband and a co-worker, federal authorities charged. A federal judge in Connecticut ordered Melissa Corso, 50, of Groton, held pending transfer to New Jersey to face wire fraud charges after the FBI arrested her on Thursday. Corso and her husband lived in Closter when she worked for a Delaware-based security systems supplier with an office in Ridgefield Park, federal authorities said. For more than six years, beginning in early …

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by Jerry DeMarco