Tag:

Forgery

NJ Man Arrested In $24K The Home Depot Identity Theft Scheme Across Delaware: State Police NJ Man Arrested In $24K The Home Depot Identity Theft Scheme Across Delaware: State Police
NJ Man Arrested In $24K The Home Depot Identity Theft Scheme Across Delaware: State Police A 31-year-old New Jersey man is facing 28 counts of identity theft after police say he used other people's identities to make numerous purchases at The Home Depot stores across Delaware. Last October, a corporate investigator at The Home Depot contacted officers after a suspect, later identified as Christian Pacheco, of Perth Amboy, made 28 visits to The Home Depot locations throughout Delaware, Delaware State Police said. Pacheco told store employees he had forgotten his Home Depot credit card and provided them with a legitimate cardholder’s Social Security number, police said.&n…
Lawyer Who Forged Federal Judge’s Signature Twice To Trick Client Gets Prison Time Lawyer Who Forged Federal Judge’s Signature Twice To Trick Client Gets Prison Time
Lawyer Who Forged Federal Judge’s Signature Twice To Trick Client Gets Prison Time A disgraced attorney is heading to prison after forging a judge’s name on a fake custody order — one of several legal schemes he's been convicted of in recent months, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced on Monday, Dec. 15. Michael Brandon Cohen, 42, of Hollidaysburg, was sentenced to one to three years in state prison after pleading guilty to forgery for creating a false custody order to benefit a client, according to AG Sunday. Cohen’s fabricated order prompted the client to violate a court-approved custody agreement by moving her child out of the county — all based on his …
Big League Lie: Man Claimed MLB Career While Scamming Women, Dodging Sex Offender Registry: DOJ Big League Lie: Man Claimed MLB Career While Scamming Women, Dodging Sex Offender Registry: DOJ
Big League Lie: Man Claimed MLB Career While Scamming Women, Dodging Sex Offender Registry: DOJ He said he was going pro in baseball — but what he really went pro in was lying, scamming, and disappearing from the sex offender registry, prosecutors in Virginia say. Now, he's going to prison. A Roanoke man who told women he was a Major League Baseball prospect, forged six-figure checks, used burner phones to impersonate team officials, and failed to register as a sex offender pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this year, federal officials announced. Now, Janike Dunbar Holt — a man who goes by many names — has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison. Holt, 29 — also known as…
Doctor Who Smuggled Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Through JFK Lands In Club Fed Doctor Who Smuggled Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Through JFK Lands In Club Fed
Doctor Who Smuggled Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Through JFK Lands In Club Fed A Brooklyn man who trafficked hundreds of stolen Egyptian antiquities through JFK Airport will spend months behind bars. Ashraf Omar Eldarir, 52, was sentenced to six months in prison in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday, Aug. 27, after pleading guilty to four counts of smuggling. Eldarir, a licensed physician in Egypt, became involved in artifact smuggling during the country’s Arab Uprising in 2011, when looting of archaeological sites surged, prosecutors said. Between April 2019 and January 2020, he smuggled artifacts into the United States on at least four occasions. He later used fal…
Fans Duped In $200K Jason Kelce Forgery Scheme: Philly Man Pleads Guilty Fans Duped In $200K Jason Kelce Forgery Scheme: Philly Man Pleads Guilty
Fans Duped In $200K Jason Kelce Forgery Scheme: Philly Man Pleads Guilty A Philadelphia man has pleaded guilty to his role in a $200,000 fake memorabilia scheme involving forged Jason Kelce signatures on more than 1,100 items, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said and court records show as of Monday, Aug. 25. Scheme Involved Fake Signatures, Phony Verification Robert Capone, 51, admitted to forging and distributing fraudulent memorabilia falsely labeled as being signed by the former Philadelphia Eagles center. He pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Aug. 5 to felony charges of theft by deception, conspiracy, and deceptive business practices, along with a mi…
Nurse Impersonator With 20 Fake Names Stole Meds Across Multiple States—Including New Jersey Nurse Impersonator With 20 Fake Names Stole Meds Across Multiple States—Including New Jersey
Nurse Impersonator With 20 Fake Names Stole Meds Across Multiple States—Including New Jersey A woman accused of posing as a nurse under 20 fake names and stealing prescription drugs from health care facilities across Pennsylvania and other states is now at the center of a growing criminal investigation — and police say they don’t even know who she really is. The woman has been charged under the name Shannon Nicole Womack, 39, but Pennsylvania State Police announced on Friday, July 25, that they are now seeking the public’s help in positively identifying her true legal name. Investigators have uncovered additional false identities since her April 2025 arrest, prompting police to rele…
Sports Memorabilia Mogul Dies By Suicide After Admitting $350M Counterfeit Scam: ‘I Wanted Out’ Sports Memorabilia Mogul Dies By Suicide After Admitting $350M Counterfeit Scam: ‘I Wanted Out’
Sports Memorabilia Mogul Dies By Suicide After Admitting $350M Counterfeit Scam: ‘I Wanted Out’ A well-known sports memorabilia dealer who fessed up to selling counterfeit items to the tune of $350 million was found dead this week after police conducted a raid on his property in Indiana. Brett Lemieux, 45, the founder of Mister ManCave, penned a chilling message in a since-deleted Facebook post on the "Autographs 101" group where he boasted about his exploits before his body was located after a reported suicide on Wednesday, July 16. Heartbreaking Loss of a Childhood Friend Today, I received some incredibly disturbing and heartbreaking news: my... Posted by Clement Lehman on …
DUI Crash In Beachside Vacation Spot Leaves Cyclist Badly Injured, Police Say DUI Crash In Beachside Vacation Spot Leaves Cyclist Badly Injured, Police Say
DUI Crash In Beachside Vacation Spot Leaves Cyclist Badly Injured, Police Say A 21-year-old international student was seriously injured when a suspected drunk driver hit him in the heart of Rehoboth Beach, a popular Delaware vacation destination, police said. The crash happened just after 1 a.m. on Wednesday, July 9, in the 300 block of Rehoboth Avenue, according to the Rehoboth Beach Police Department. Investigators say Megan Smith, 20, of Lewes, was driving a Jeep Wrangler westbound on Rehoboth Avenue when she hit the cyclist, who was in the area on a J-1 visa.  The crash caused potentially life-threatening injuries, police said after the cyclist was rushed t…
$1.1M Medicaid Scam: Woman Used Overseas ‘Patients’ In Massive Kickback Scam $1.1M Medicaid Scam: Woman Used Overseas ‘Patients’ In Massive Kickback Scam
$1.1M Medicaid Scam: Woman Used Overseas ‘Patients’ In Massive Kickback Scam A Pennsylvania woman used patients who had moved overseas to help pull off a $1.1 million Medicaid scam involving fake home care services and kickbacks, federal prosecutors said in a sweeping national health care fraud takedown that uncovered more than $14.6 billion in schemes, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced on Saturday, July 5. Hemal Patel, 59, of Bensalem (Bucks County), forged doctors’ signatures, stole personal identities, and pocketed kickbacks from a home care agency that billed Medicaid for fake services, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District …
PA Bookkeeper Stole $822K From Law Firm In NJ In 6-Year Remote Embezzlement PA Bookkeeper Stole $822K From Law Firm In NJ In 6-Year Remote Embezzlement
PA Bookkeeper Stole $822K From Law Firm In NJ In 6-Year Remote Embezzlement She worked remotely from Pennsylvania — and secretly funneled hundreds of thousands from her New Jersey law firm. Now, the 66-year-old bookkeeper is going to jail for a years-long financial betrayal. A former bookkeeper who siphoned more than $800,000 from a Bucks County-based law firm with operations in New Jersey has been sentenced to county jail, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office announced on Friday, June 27. Reese Esther Paul, 66, of Holland in Northampton Township, was handed a sentence of one year less a day to two years less a day in the Bucks County Correctional Facility, …
Two Atlantic County Men Defrauded Victims Using Social Media: Prosecutor Two Atlantic County Men Defrauded Victims Using Social Media: Prosecutor
Two Atlantic County Men Defrauded Victims Using Social Media: Prosecutor Two Atlantic County men were arrested and charged with multiple theft and computer crimes in offenses that spanned the entire country, authorities said. In 2023, the FBI Financial Crimes Task Force was notified of an ongoing fraud investigation after multiple victims across the United States reported being defrauded through a SIM swapping scheme, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said An investigation revealed Cory Kott, a 35-year-old Mays Landing resident, and Omar Lopez, a 45-year-old Atlantic City resident,  targeted victims through social media and began conversations with th…
Sex Offender Faked MLB Career, Scammed Women, Skipped Registry In Virginia: DOJ Sex Offender Faked MLB Career, Scammed Women, Skipped Registry In Virginia: DOJ
Sex Offender Faked MLB Career, Scammed Women, Skipped Registry In Virginia: DOJ He said he was going pro in baseball — but what he really went pro in was lying, scamming, and disappearing from the sex offender registry, prosecutors in Virginia say. A Roanoke man who told women he was a Major League Baseball prospect, forged six-figure checks, used burner phones to impersonate team officials, and failed to register as a sex offender has pleaded guilty in federal court as part of an elaborate scheme, federal officials announced. He went by many names while executing his scheme. Janike Dunbar Holt, 29 — also known as “Nike,” “Janike Tagovailoa,” “Keanu Tagovailoa,” and “…
Disbarred NJ Attorney Accused Of Stealing $130K From Dead Client’s Estate: Prosecutor Disbarred NJ Attorney Accused Of Stealing $130K From Dead Client’s Estate: Prosecutor
Disbarred NJ Attorney Accused Of Stealing $130K From Dead Client’s Estate: Prosecutor A former Monmouth County attorney has been criminally charged with stealing more than $130,000 from a deceased client’s estate over the course of seven years, authorities said. Kathleen M. Cehelsky, 60, of Spring Lake Heights, is charged with: Second-degree Misapplication of Entrusted Property Fourth-degree False Uttering Fourth-degree Forgery The charges were announced Thursday, May 16, by Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago. According to Santiago, the theft began shortly after the death of Cehelsky’s client in 2014, when she began illegally transferring funds from the client’…
Ex-Bar Director Accused Of $314K Theft As Son Flaunts Lavish Trips, Cosmetic Work Online: PA AG Ex-Bar Director Accused Of $314K Theft As Son Flaunts Lavish Trips, Cosmetic Work Online: PA AG
Ex-Bar Director Accused Of $314K Theft As Son Flaunts Lavish Trips, Cosmetic Work Online: PA AG A Pennsylvania woman is accused of stealing over $300,000 from the Cambria County Bar Association to fund luxury expenses including cosmetic procedures, vacations, and donations to her family’s nonprofit, Attorney General Dave Sunday announced Wednesday, May 7. Robin Hagins, 56, of Johnstown, the former executive director of the CCBA, was charged with Theft by Unlawful Taking, Misappropriation of Funds Received, and Forgery following an investigation by the 51st Statewide Investigating Grand Jury. Her bail was set at $150,000 unsecured. Hagins allegedly misappropriated a total of $314,759 b…
Paterson Council President, Campaign Team Stole, Forged Ballots To Win 2020 Election: NJ AG Paterson Council President, Campaign Team Stole, Forged Ballots To Win 2020 Election: NJ AG
Paterson Council President, Campaign Team Stole, Forged Ballots To Win 2020 Election: NJ AG A New Jersey city council president rigged the vote to keep his seat — and now he’s facing a fresh round of felony charges, state officials say. Alex Mendez, the Paterson City Council President, is facing new election fraud charges alongside his wife and three others, including campaign workers, after allegedly stealing and forging ballots to win a municipal election in May 2020, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced Wednesday, April 30. According to a 10-count superseding indictment, Mendez and his co-conspirators are accused of forging ballots and voter registrations and s…
ID Theft Ring Busted With Stolen US Treasury Checks, Gun, Skimmer, And Dogs: NJ Prosecutor ID Theft Ring Busted With Stolen US Treasury Checks, Gun, Skimmer, And Dogs: NJ Prosecutor
ID Theft Ring Busted With Stolen US Treasury Checks, Gun, Skimmer, And Dogs: NJ Prosecutor A New Jersey couple is accused of running a high-level ID theft ring involving stolen Treasury checks, guns, a skimmer, and stolen dogs, authorities announced on Wednesday, April 16. Peter M. Gittens, 37, and Chambreona J. Williams, 33—also known as Tenisha O. Gittens— both of Raritan Township, have been charged with a slew of crimes, including Forgery, Trafficking in Personal Identifying Information, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Theft of Movable Property, Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and more, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renée Robeson and Raritan Township Chief of Police Al Payn…
Cold Case: Mom Leaves Baby Behind, Vanishes En Route To NJ; Car Found In PA Cold Case: Mom Leaves Baby Behind, Vanishes En Route To NJ; Car Found In PA
Cold Case: Mom Leaves Baby Behind, Vanishes En Route To NJ; Car Found In PA The disappearance of Oklahoma mother Karen Denise Wells during a cross-country road trip in 1993 has haunted investigators and her family for over three decades, Pennsylvania State Police said. Wells, 23, was driving from Haskell, Oklahoma, to visit a friend in Bergen, New Jersey, when she vanished on April 12, 1993. Her journey ended mysteriously in Perry County, PA—nearly 200 miles from her destination. After a day on the road, Wells checked into the Pike Motel along Harrisburg Pike in Carlisle. At 7:00 p.m., she called her friend, Melissa, and said she planned to grab food at a nearby Mc…
Ivy Leaguer From Prominent Family Officially Charged Overnight With CEO's Murder Ivy Leaguer From Prominent Family Officially Charged Overnight With CEO's Murder
Ivy Leaguer From Prominent Family Officially Charged Overnight With CEO's Murder An Ivy League-educated high school valedictorian from a privileged, politically connected family has been charged with the execution-style murder of the CEO of one of the nation's largest healthcare providers after a days-long manhunt. Click here for a new, updated story - CEO Murder: Whiz Kid Suspect May Have Spiraled After Traumatic Back Surgery New York prosecutors have formally charged 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione, a native of Towson, Maryland, with the fatal shooting of United Healthcare executive Brian Thompson.  The incident occurred outside the New York Hilton in midt…
Man Impersonated Closed Electrical Contractor To Scam South Jersey Homeowner, Police Say Man Impersonated Closed Electrical Contractor To Scam South Jersey Homeowner, Police Say
Man Impersonated Closed Electrical Contractor To Scam South Jersey Homeowner, Police Say A Mount Laurel man was accused of impersonating the owner of a closed electrical contractor, scamming a Medford Township resident out of thousands of dollars, authorities said. Vincent Squire, 61, was given eight charges, the Medford Township Police Department said in a news release. A Medford resident paid $4,675 to Squire to hire CB's Electrical Contracting, LLC in May to perform electrical work at their home.  During the job, the homeowner reportedly discovered that Squire had failed to secure an electrical permit. The victim needed to hire another…
Mays Landing Woman Stole $175K+ From Senior Community, Forged Doctor's Letter: Prosecutors Mays Landing Woman Stole $175K+ From Senior Community, Forged Doctor's Letter: Prosecutors
Mays Landing Woman Stole $175K+ From Senior Community, Forged Doctor's Letter: Prosecutors A Mays Landing woman was accused of stealing more than $175,000 from an Ocean County senior community and lying about her child's cancer treatment to delay court proceedings, authorities said. Alicia Campbell, 37, was given five additional charges on Tuesday, Oct. 29, Ocean County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael Nolan Jr. said in a news release. She was originally charged with theft, financial facilitation, and forgery. Campbell was the former lifestyle director at Greenbriar Oceanaire Community & Golf Course in Waretown. She was responsible for booking enter…
NJ Apartment Association Bookkeeper Who Stole $357K Learns Prison Sentence NJ Apartment Association Bookkeeper Who Stole $357K Learns Prison Sentence
NJ Apartment Association Bookkeeper Who Stole $357K Learns Prison Sentence A former bookkeeper for the New Jersey Apartment Association has been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution for stealing $357,250 from the organization, authorities said. Karly Simon-Sapp, 50, of Plumsted Township, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Kenneth T. Palmer to five years New Jersey State Prison and ordered to pay $357,520 in restitution, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. She previously had pleaded guilty to theft. Between January 2016 and January 2022, Simon-Sapp, in her capacity as a bookkeeper for the New Jersey Apartment Association, forged the …
Former 'Professional Of The Year' Arrested For Theft In NJ Town, Prosecutors Say Former 'Professional Of The Year' Arrested For Theft In NJ Town, Prosecutors Say
Former 'Professional Of The Year' Arrested For Theft In NJ Town, Prosecutors Say Brick Township's recreation director has been arrested on accusations he charged private organizations to use the township's fields and then kept the money for himself, prosecutors said. Daniel Santaniello, 46, of Brick Township, was charged with theft and uttering a forged instrument relative to his position as the township's recreation director, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer and Brick Township Police Chief David Forrester said. He was arrested Wednesday, July 17. In 2016, Santaniello won Professional of the Year Award from the New Jersey Recreation & Park…