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Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy Tapped To Head Trump's New Dept. Of Government Efficiency Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy Tapped To Head Trump's New Dept. Of Government Efficiency
Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy Tapped To Head Trump's New Dept. Of Government Efficiency President-Elect Donald Trump continues to fill his cabinet with loyalists and his biggest supporters following his sweeping victory in last week's election.  He announced Tuesday, Nov. 12, that two billionaire former rivals turned allies, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, would head up his new Department of Government Efficiency.  Related: Trump Nominates NY Rep. Elise Stefanik As UN Ambassador The tech entrepreneur, age 53, and the 39-year-old Harvard and Yale Law grad will be tasked with major cuts in government spending. Trump called it "The Manhattan Project" for a new…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
23-Year-Old Taiwanese Operator Of $100 Million Dark Web Drug Market Seized By Feds At JFK 23-Year-Old Taiwanese Operator Of $100 Million Dark Web Drug Market Seized By Feds At JFK
23-Year-Old Taiwanese Operator Of $100 Million Dark Web Drug Market Seized By Feds At JFK Federal agents at JFK Airport seized a 23-year-old Taiwanese national who the Justice Department said owned and operated a dark web drug bazaar that produced well over $100 million in sales. The “Incognito Market” created by Rui-Siang Lin enabled its users to anonymously buy and sell drugs around the globe for nearly 3½ years, US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and other federal officials announced on Monday, May 20. Lin -- also known as Ruisiang Lin, 林睿庠, Pharoah, and faro – mastermineded a clandestine e-commerce network where buyers could browse thousands of listings for heroin, LSD, …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
‘Crypto Con Man’: Imprisoned Instagrifter Gets 7 Federal Years For $8M Fraud Scheme ‘Crypto Con Man’: Imprisoned Instagrifter Gets 7 Federal Years For $8M Fraud Scheme
‘Crypto Con Man’: Imprisoned Instagrifter Gets 7 Federal Years For $8M Fraud Scheme UPDATE: Imprisoned Instagram influencer “Jay Mazini” apparently thought that rolling on his partners in crime could mitigate the damage of a conviction for scamming investors out of at least $8 million. Three years into a mandatory four-year New Jersey state prison sentence for kidnapping an online critic, the 28-year-old Instagrifter from Bergen County agreed to rat out his friends in exchange for leniency in a federal fraud case in Brooklyn. Trouble is: He didn’t deliver much, authorities said. Mazini, whose real name is Jebara Igbara, ended up sentenced to seven years in federal prison …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Conspiracy Theorist Who Set Himself On Fire Outside Trump Trial Has NJ, PA Ties Conspiracy Theorist Who Set Himself On Fire Outside Trump Trial Has NJ, PA Ties
Conspiracy Theorist Who Set Himself On Fire Outside Trump Trial Has NJ, PA Ties Maxwell Azzarello, a conspiracy theorist who set himself ablaze outside of a Manhattan courthouse where former President Donald Trump's hush money trial was under way, appears to have ties to New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At 1:30 p.m., Azzarello, 36, walked into the center of a park near the courthouse, took out pamphlets containing conspiracy theories and propaganda from a backpack, and threw them in the air. Then, he took out an accelerant and lit himself on fire, NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maggi said. Civilians and nearby officers extinguished the blaze and Azzarello was taken to the&nb…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
They Steal Your Heart, Then Steal Your Money: Romance Scammers Make It Look Easy They Steal Your Heart, Then Steal Your Money: Romance Scammers Make It Look Easy
They Steal Your Heart, Then Steal Your Money: Romance Scammers Make It Look Easy It's heartbreaking to discover that someone you've become enamored with online isn't into you, but it’s even worse to realize that person just made off with $3,500 of your money. That’s what happened to a Glen Rock resident who ended up wiring the dough to a sweet talker in the Dominican Republic. Suffice to say: It wasn’t coming back. Although $3,500 is a significant sum to some, it’s couch cushion change compared with the $450,000 in crypto lost last year by another romance scam victim from Glen Rock. According to the Federal Trade Commission, a staggering $1.3 BILLION was lost by 70,000…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-NJ Corrections Officer's Crypto Scam Targeted Police, Firefighters, EMTs: Authorities Ex-NJ Corrections Officer's Crypto Scam Targeted Police, Firefighters, EMTs: Authorities
Ex-NJ Corrections Officer's Crypto Scam Targeted Police, Firefighters, EMTs: Authorities A retired New Jersey corrections lieutenant preyed on his peers with a cryptocurrency scheme that cost participating police, firefighters, EMTs, and other first responders more than $620,000, state and federal authorities said. John DeSalvo, 47, of Linwood, also pulled a $100,000 investment scam that authorities said went to covering his credit card bills, day trading in cryptocurrencies and payments to a contractor who handled a luxury bathroom renovation for him. DeSalvo -- who worked for the New Jersey Department of Corrections for 13 years before retiring in 2010 -- created and promote…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Man Who Hired Hitman To Kill Kid Gets 6 Years, No Parole NJ Man Who Hired Hitman To Kill Kid Gets 6 Years, No Parole
NJ Man Who Hired Hitman To Kill Kid Gets 6 Years, No Parole UPDATE: A South Jersey man who paid $20,000 in bitcoin to have a 13-year-boy killed after they exchanged sexually explicit images was sentenced to six years in a federal penitentiary. John Michael Musbach, 34, of Haddonfield, must serve out just about all of the plea-bargained term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Musbach began communicating with the child in 2015 and soon after exchanged videos and photos that were discovered by the kid's parents, federal authorities said. Musbach was living in Galloway when members of the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office raided …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Hudson Cryptothief Who Swapped Victim's SIM Card To Steal $500G Goes To Fed Pen Hudson Cryptothief Who Swapped Victim's SIM Card To Steal $500G Goes To Fed Pen
Hudson Cryptothief Who Swapped Victim's SIM Card To Steal $500G Goes To Fed Pen A 20-year-old Hudson County man must spend nearly two years in federal prison for his role in stealing more than $500,000 worth of cryptocurrency by swapping a SIM card from the victim’s phone. Ebrahem Adeeb of Bayonne must serve out just about all of the plea-bargained 21-month sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. His deal with the government also requires him to pay $504,418 in restitution to his victims, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said following the sentencing on Tuesday, May 23. Adeeb and his conspirators swiped the subscriber identity module from the…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'PlugwalkJoe' Admits Unprecedented Twitter Hack That Included Musk, Kardashian, Biden: Feds 'PlugwalkJoe' Admits Unprecedented Twitter Hack That Included Musk, Kardashian, Biden: Feds
'PlugwalkJoe' Admits Unprecedented Twitter Hack That Included Musk, Kardashian, Biden: Feds A 23-year-old British citizen who hacked the Twitter accounts of Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian and Bill Gates, among others, pleaded guilty in federal court to a host of related charges as part of a deal with the government. Joseph James O'Connor -- also known as "PlugwalkJoe" -- technically faces up to 77 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines but will likely get somewhere between 10 to 20 years when all is said and done. The Liverpudlian hacker admitted during a plea hearing in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 9, that he committed one of the largest high-pro…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Crypto Lender BlockFi Files For Bankruptcy NJ Crypto Lender BlockFi Files For Bankruptcy
NJ Crypto Lender BlockFi Files For Bankruptcy New Jersey-based cryptocurrency lender BlockFi has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company, headquartered on Montgomery Street in Jersey City, in a statement said it will "focus on recovering all obligations owed to BlockFi by its counterparties," including the now-bankrupt Bahamian cryptocurrency exchange. BlockFi also said it expects a delay in recoveries from FTX. Acting in the best interest of our clients is our top focus and continues to guide our path forward. Chapter 11 is a transparent process and we will continue to communicate with our clients to ensure they hear directly…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
13 Chinese Nationals Charged With Multiple Acts Of Espionage By Feds In Washington, NJ, NY 13 Chinese Nationals Charged With Multiple Acts Of Espionage By Feds In Washington, NJ, NY
13 Chinese Nationals Charged With Multiple Acts Of Espionage By Feds In Washington, NJ, NY Thirteen people, including members of China’s security and intelligence services, have been charged with trying to recruit professors and others in the United States to act as agents for their country, federal authorities in New York, New Jersey and Washington, DC announced. Tales of international intrigue include allegations that the defendants plotted to steal documents from a federal prosecutor's office to subvert a criminal investigation into a major Chinese company. Some of them are also charged in a spy-versus-spy encounter involving a $41,000 bribe in Bitcoin paid to an American…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Wall Street Investor With NJ Tie Predicts Economic Downfall Wall Street Investor With NJ Tie Predicts Economic Downfall
Wall Street Investor With NJ Tie Predicts Economic Downfall A Virginia-raised investor with a tie to New Jersey is going viral for his recent prediction on the status of the economy. “The economy is going to collapse,” Novogratz said in a Wednesday, June 15 interview with MarketWatch. “We are going to go into a really fast recession, and you can see that in lots of ways.” The Princeton University graduate's remarks came shortly before the Federal Reserve raised rates by 0.75 percent in an attempt to reduce inflation without going into a recession. Novogratz, CEO of cryptocurrency investment firm Galaxy Digital, cited layoffs in …

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by Nicole Acosta
News
NJ Love Seeker Loses $450,000 To Scammer On Dating App For 'Rich And Attractive' NJ Love Seeker Loses $450,000 To Scammer On Dating App For 'Rich And Attractive'
NJ Love Seeker Loses $450,000 To Scammer On Dating App For 'Rich And Attractive' It's heartbreaking to learn that someone you've become enamored with online isn't into you, but it's downright tragic to discover that person just made off with $450,000 of your money. That's right: A con artist collected nearly a half-million dollars in crypto from a Glen Rock, NJ resident who fell for an online romance scam. You could call it missed fortune. The victim met the imposter on Luxy, a dating app for millionaires -- and those looking to meet them -- that boasts of collecting "the most attractive and financially stable of dating applicants." Or, as the founders of the Hon…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
LOOKIN' FOR LOVE: Police Detective Sniffs Out Online Scam That Victimized Glen Rock Man, Others LOOKIN' FOR LOVE: Police Detective Sniffs Out Online Scam That Victimized Glen Rock Man, Others
Lookin' FOR Love: Police Detective Sniffs Out Online Scam That Victimized Glen Rock Man, Others A Glen Rock detective was in for a surprise when he traced an online scam that victimized a local man to a woman in Washington State. It turns out that person got scammed herself. Before he was done, Glen Rock Police Detective Sgt. James Calaski found three other victims who got taken by a money launderer who lives in Africa, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. All of them were apparently looking for love. The con man had developed a virtual relationship with the 65-year-old Washington State woman, convincing her that he was a contractor flipping houses in Texas, Ackermann said. He the…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Navy Engineer, Wife Admit Trying To Sell American Submarine Secrets For Cryptocurrency: Feds Navy Engineer, Wife Admit Trying To Sell American Submarine Secrets For Cryptocurrency: Feds
Navy Engineer, Wife Admit Trying To Sell American Submarine Secrets For Cryptocurrency: Feds The wife of a former Navy engineer from Maryland has also admitted in federal court that she helped him try to sell some of America’s best kept submarine secrets to a foreign country in exchange for cryptocurrency. Diana Toebbe, 46, of Annapolis, served as a lookout while her husband, Jonathan Toebbe, 43, serviced three “dead-drops," which were picked up by undercover FBI agents during a year-long sting operation, federal prosecutors said Friday. Diana pleaded guilty to conspiracy to communicate Restricted Data — four days after her husband admitted to the same. The Toebbes were …

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by Cecilia Levine
News
NJ-Based Crypto Firm Will Pay SEC, States Unprecedented $100M Penalty NJ-Based Crypto Firm Will Pay SEC, States Unprecedented $100M Penalty
Nj-based Crypto Firm Will Pay SEC, States Unprecedented $100M Penalty A Jersey City-based cryptocurrency company will pay a record $100 million to settle alleged violations of investor-protection laws, state and federal authorities jointly announced. BlockFi Lending LLC neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing when it agreed to the highest fine ever by a cryptocurrency company, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Monday, Feb. 14. However, it did take a different course than many of its crypto rivals by not fighting the fine. Of the total, $50 million will be paid to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and up to $50 millio…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
CRYPTO CRIME: Rapping 'Crocodile of Wall Street,' Husband Nabbed In $4.5 Billion Bitcoin Bust CRYPTO CRIME: Rapping 'Crocodile of Wall Street,' Husband Nabbed In $4.5 Billion Bitcoin Bust
Crypto Crime: Rapping 'Crocodile of Wall Street,' Husband Nabbed In $4.5 Billion Bitcoin Bust The self-described “Crocodile of Wall Street” and her husband were arrested by federal agents in Manhattan on Tuesday, Feb. 8, on charges of conspiring to launder billions of dollars in cryptocurrency stolen in a bombshell hack of a virtual currency exchange. Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, 34, and Heather Rhiannon Morgan, a 31-year-old business blogger/rapper, weren’t charged in the 2016 theft from Bitfinex of what at the time was $71 million worth of cryptocurrency – now valued at $4.5 billion. They are charged with conspiring to (a) commit money laundering and (b) defraud the United States, …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
A NJ FIRST: Monmouth County Prosecutor Seizes $198K In Cryptocurrency A NJ FIRST: Monmouth County Prosecutor Seizes $198K In Cryptocurrency
A NJ First: Monmouth County Prosecutor Seizes $198K In Cryptocurrency The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office is the first law enforcement agency in New Jersey to seize and liquidate cryptocurrency, authorities said.  The unusual assets were seized during an illegal drug bust in Long Branch and cashed in for about $198,237, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. In 2018, investigators executed search warrants at two Long Branch locations used by 39-year-old Giddel Gonzalez-Estrada, who pleaded guilty in the 2019 drug case and is completing a 10-year state prison sentence, Gramiccioni said. Authorities seized three …

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by Jon Craig