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Did You Do Business With This Man? Arrest Made In $90,000 Bergen COVID Gloves Scam Did You Do Business With This Man? Arrest Made In $90,000 Bergen COVID Gloves Scam
Did You Do Business With This Man? Arrest Made In $90,000 Bergen COVID Gloves Scam A judge in Hackensack released an out-of-state man accused of illegally profiting off the COVID pandemic by pocketing $90,000 for what were supposed to be a million personal protective gloves. Nwaokoma Nwakanma, 30, of Westland, MI claimed to work for Bioneutral Chem Group, a bogus Newark-based company that purported to be a legitimate business, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Cresskill police got wind of the scam and alerted detectives from Musella’s Financial Crimes Unit in early June, the prosecutor said. They investigated and obtained an arrest warrant for Nwakanma, of West…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
HERO: Sergeant Rescues Suspects From Burning SUV After Pursuit Ends In Crash Near NJ-NY Border HERO: Sergeant Rescues Suspects From Burning SUV After Pursuit Ends In Crash Near NJ-NY Border
Hero: Sergeant Rescues Suspects From Burning SUV After Pursuit Ends In Crash Near Nj-ny Border UPDATE: A Palisades Interstate Parkway police sergeant rescued two suspects from a burning SUV after it crashed into two other vehicles and overturned during a stolen-vehicle chase Thursday afternoon, authorities said. A group of suspects who'd become the subjects of a suspicious persons report fled the Englewood Cliffs Marina in a GMC Envoy shortly before 3 p.m., PIP Police Sgt. First Class Raymond Walter said. An alert went out to surrounding departments about the SUV, which had been reported stolen out of Onondaga County, NY, he said. Englewood Cliffs police began pursuing the vehicle b…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
5-Year-Old Boy Drowns In Backyard Bergen Pool 5-Year-Old Boy Drowns In Backyard Bergen Pool
5-Year-Old Boy Drowns In Backyard Bergen Pool A 5-year-old boy died in a backyard pool drowning in Cresskill over the July 4th weekend, authorities confirmed Tuesday. Cresskill police and members of BLS and ALS teams responded to a home in the East Hill section of town at 6:51 p.m. Monday, police records show. CPR was conducted after the boy went into cardiac arrest, responders said. The child was taken to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead hours later, they said. Daily Voice is withholding further information. Exactly two months ago, a 2-year-old boy who was pulled from a backyard swimming pool in O…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Bergen Exec From Passaic County Admits $91.5 Million Bank Fraud, Questions Remain Bergen Exec From Passaic County Admits $91.5 Million Bank Fraud, Questions Remain
Bergen Exec From Passaic County Admits $91.5 Million Bank Fraud, Questions Remain Now that an executive of a Glen Rock property management company has admitted his role in a $91.5 million loan fraud, questions remain about an "unnamed co-conspirator." Barton Schack, 65, of Ringwood, told a federal judge in Newark this week that he helped the other participant fraudulently secure a massive commercial mortgage loan by lying about how many tenants were in a network of medical office buildings used as collateral and how much rent they’d paid, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. The pair then pocketed millions of dollars in rent from the properties -- which …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Bergen Businessman In Previous Coach-Stalking Case Charged With Tax Evasion Bergen Businessman In Previous Coach-Stalking Case Charged With Tax Evasion
Bergen Businessman In Previous Coach-Stalking Case Charged With Tax Evasion A once-renowned Bergen County businessman who has had more than his share of publicized predicaments is now in hot water with the IRS. David Kushner, a 55-year-old real-estate investor and property manager from of Cresskill, ducked hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal income taxes without even getting creative, the government alleges. He simply “deposited payments and income from the businesses and elsewhere into the accounts and then used most of the funds for personal expenses,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Kushner also “failed to file any income tax returns, faile…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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How Safe Is Your Chimney? NJ House Fire Serves As Critical Reminder How Safe Is Your Chimney? NJ House Fire Serves As Critical Reminder
How Safe Is Your Chimney? NJ House Fire Serves As Critical Reminder Firefighters quickly doused a smoky chimney blaze in Cresskill Wednesday night. Fortunately, it didn't cause the kind of damage that's possible when homeowners aren't vigilant. The Chestnut Street resident safely fled the two-alarm 11:30 p.m. blaze, Fire Chief Christopher S. Ulshoefer said. No injuries were reported. The fire, which damaged the first and second floors, was declared under control in about 20 minutes, the chief said. Mutual aid responders at the scene or in coverage included firefighters from Demarest, Dumont and Tenafly. NOTE: A vast majority of the more than 25,000 chimne…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Dumont Pedestrian Struck In Cresskill, Demarest Driver Cited Dumont Pedestrian Struck In Cresskill, Demarest Driver Cited
Dumont Pedestrian Struck In Cresskill, Demarest Driver Cited A 40-year-old pedestrian from Dumont was struck and injured crossing a Cresskill street Tuesday night, authorities said. A Cresskill Fire Department EMS unit took her to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening after a 2011 Mercedes Benz hit her on County Road at the intersection of Union Avenue just after 6 p.m., Detective Sgt. Jason Lanzilotti said. The 66-year-old driver from Demarest received a summons for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk, he said.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Crane Taken Out For Spin Topples In Parking Lot Of Closter School, Cresskill Operator Cited Crane Taken Out For Spin Topples In Parking Lot Of Closter School, Cresskill Operator Cited
Crane Taken Out For Spin Topples In Parking Lot Of Closter School, Cresskill Operator Cited No one was injured when a crane toppled over in the parking lot of a Closter elementary school, authorities said. The 53-year-old owner from Cresskill man had recently bought the truck and was testing the crane in the empty lot of the Hillside Elementary School on Houmans Avenue over the weekend when one of the riggers failed, Police Chief John “Jack” McTigue said. He was out of the cab before responders arrived and wasn’t injured, McTigue said, adding that no damage was caused other than a diesel spill that required cleanup. Firefighters and police were there for several hours as Brooksid…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Englewood PBA: Marchers Arrested After Interfering, Mayor Blasted, Independent Review Welcomed Englewood PBA: Marchers Arrested After Interfering, Mayor Blasted, Independent Review Welcomed
Englewood PBA: Marchers Arrested After Interfering, Mayor Blasted, Independent Review Welcomed UPDATE: Englewood’s PBA answered back on Wednesday, saying that leaders of a weekend protest march provoked their arrests by interfering in an incident along the route. Union leaders also countered reports that previous marches leading up to Saturday’s Black Excellence event had been peaceful. They also blasted Mayor Michael Wildes for his role in the incident, saying that he has “consistently chosen to play both sides against the middle” and changes his support “whether or not he can gain from it politically.” Tensions escalated when police responded to a report of a fight along  Saturda…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
COVID Price Gougers Include Jersey Shore Biz That Marked Up Masks 600%, State Charges COVID Price Gougers Include Jersey Shore Biz That Marked Up Masks 600%, State Charges
COVID Price Gougers Include Jersey Shore Biz That Marked Up Masks 600%, State Charges A dozen COVID price gougers fined by the state include a Jersey Shore business that sold masks at a 600% markup, a Bergen County pharmacy that peddled at-home antibody tests and several other merchants who jacked up prices on bottled water, rice and other essentials, authorities announced Monday.  Performance Supply LLC made “false and misleading statements in advertising N95 mask respirators for sale to personnel from the New York City Office of Citywide Procurement,” New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. The Manalapan-based business “misleadingly suggested the company i…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds Pursue Bank Accounts, Mansion Bought By Bergen Lawyer With $9M In COVID Relief Funds Feds Pursue Bank Accounts, Mansion Bought By Bergen Lawyer With $9M In COVID Relief Funds
Feds Pursue Bank Accounts, Mansion Bought By Bergen Lawyer With $9M In COVID Relief Funds Federal authorities have moved to seize 11 bank accounts, an investment account and a million-dollar Cresskill home bought by a Cliffside Park lawyer accused of scamming lenders out of $9M intended for small businesses crippled by COVID-19. Jae H. Choi, 48, got the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds from three lenders on behalf of non-existent businesses that he claimed provided educational services, an indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Newark alleges. Choi fabricated the existence of hundreds of employees, manipulated bank and tax records, and falsified a d…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ: Cliffside Park Lawyer Created Fake Companies, Got $9 Million In COVID Loans, Bought Mansion NJ: Cliffside Park Lawyer Created Fake Companies, Got $9 Million In COVID Loans, Bought Mansion
NJ: Cliffside Park Lawyer Created Fake Companies, Got $9 Million In COVID Loans, Bought Mansion A Cliffside Park lawyer scammed lenders out of $9M in COVID-relief loans by creating records for bogus businesses he claimed to control, then spent the money on a $1 million home in Cresskill and millions more in stock market investments, authorities charged. Jae H. Choi, 48, “fabricated the existence of hundreds of employees, manipulated bank and tax records, and falsified a driver’s license on the applications,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Choi told the lenders that he paid $3 million in monthly wages to hundreds of employees in the non-existent companies, Carpenito said. Lenders…

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by Jerry DeMarco