IRS Bags Hundreds Of Tax Cheats, Money Launderers As COVID Relief Fraud Tops $3.2 Billion IRS Bags Hundreds Of Tax Cheats, Money Launderers As COVID Relief Fraud Tops $3.2 Billion
IRS Bags Hundreds Of Tax Cheats, Money Launderers As COVID Relief Fraud Tops $3.2 Billion It wasn't long after the government began offering COVID relief loans three years ago that IRS investigators were hot on the tails of scammers. Since then, agents with IRS Criminal Investigation have pursued 975 tax and money-laundering cases nationwide involving $3.2 billion worth of fraudulently obtained loans, credits and payments meant to help American workers, families, and small businesses who were rocked by the pandemic. Over that time, IRS-CI has kept its conviction rate at nearly 100%, federal authorities say. It has produced indictments against 458 defendants, …
Feds Charge Exiled Chinese Tycoon With $1B Fraud That Funded $26.5M Mahwah Mansion, More Feds Charge Exiled Chinese Tycoon With $1B Fraud That Funded $26.5M Mahwah Mansion, More
Feds Charge Exiled Chinese Tycoon With $1B Fraud That Funded $26.5M Mahwah Mansion, More Exiled Chinese tycoon Miles Guo was arrested by the FBI Wednesday on charges of swindling his online followers out of more than $1 billion that the government said he used, in part, to buy a 58-room mansion in Mahwah. Some of the agents were still at Guo’s 15-room penthouse in the Sherry-Netherland Hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side the afternoon of March 15, six hours after he’d been arrested there, when a mysterious fire broke out on the 18th floor, responders said. No injuries were reported, but authorities said the blaze significantly damaged Guo’s unit. No one drew any immediate conn…
'Bling Bishop' From Bergen Accused Of Faking Docs To Finance Paramus Mansion: 'FBI Set Me Up' 'Bling Bishop' From Bergen Accused Of Faking Docs To Finance Paramus Mansion: 'FBI Set Me Up'
'Bling Bishop' From Bergen Accused Of Faking Docs To Finance Paramus Mansion: 'FBI Set Me Up' A flashy Brooklyn bishop who lives in Bergen County – and was infamously robbed at gunpoint during a live-streamed church service last year – claims the FBI set him. Lamor Whitehead was already facing charges of swindling a female parishioner out of $90,000 in retirement money when a new indictment this week accused him of fabricating bank records to try and finance his million-dollar mansion in Paramus. Whitehead made it appear on paper that he controlled an LLC that had an average balance of more than $2 million when it actually had less than 10 bucks, the indictment returned in the Sout…
Gia Giudice Inks Position With Immigration Firm Years After Dad's Deportation Gia Giudice Inks Position With Immigration Firm Years After Dad's Deportation
Gia Giudice Inks Position With Immigration Firm Years After Dad's Deportation "What, like it's hard?" The Martinez Immigration firm channeled its inner Elle Woods in welcoming Gia Giudice to the firm. The 22-year-old Morris County native, whose mom Teresa starred on "Real Housewives of New Jersey," announced she accepted a post-grad position at the immigration firm. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kathleen Martinez (@attorneymartinez) The Rutgers University student is set to graduate in the fall, and will join Martinez Immigration, a virtual firm helmed by Kathleen Martinez. Gia's dad, Joe Giudice, infa…
‘Bling’ Bishop From Bergen Seized By FBI, Charged With Swindling Retiree Out Of $90,000 ‘Bling’ Bishop From Bergen Seized By FBI, Charged With Swindling Retiree Out Of $90,000
‘Bling’ Bishop From Bergen Seized By FBI, Charged With Swindling Retiree Out Of $90,000 A flashy Brooklyn bishop who lives in Bergen County – and was infamously robbed at gunpoint during a live-streamed church service earlier this year – swindled one of his parishioners out of $90,000 in retirement money that he used for himself, federal authorities charged. Lamor Whitehead, a 44-year-old Paramus resident known for his Rolls Royce, Gucci suits and bling, was arrested by federal agents on Monday, Dec. 19, on an indictment that charges him wire fraud, extortion and lying to the FBI. The indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan accuses Whitehead of …
Hoboken Influencer Ran $114 Million 'Pump And Dump' Stock Scheme: Feds Hoboken Influencer Ran $114 Million 'Pump And Dump' Stock Scheme: Feds
Hoboken Influencer Ran $114 Million 'Pump And Dump' Stock Scheme: Feds A social media influencer from Hoboken and seven other men were charged with running a $114 million "pump and dump" stock scheme. Mitchell Hennessey, 24, used his extensive social media following to hype interest in particular securities by posting false and misleading information on Twitter and Discord, according to prosecutors in the Southern District of Texas. The influencers and self-proclaimed traders artificially inflated the prices of the securities by hyping them up on their platforms, only to "dump" them after the fact, prosecutors said.From in or around January 2020 to in or aroun…
Felony ID Theft Charges For NJ Man With 7 Verizon iPads In Lehigh Valley Delivery Scheme: PD Felony ID Theft Charges For NJ Man With 7 Verizon iPads In Lehigh Valley Delivery Scheme: PD
Felony ID Theft Charges For NJ Man With 7 Verizon iPads In Lehigh Valley Delivery Scheme: PD A Passaic County man who was found with seven iPads during a delivery scheme involving a bogus Verizon customer service rep in the Lehigh Valley area was arrested and charged with felony identity theft and several other offenses, authorities said. Officers responding to a fraudulent activity report on the 1800 block of Felicity Lane in Lower Saucon Township met with a victim around 5:50 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 30, the department said. The victim told police that she had received a Verizon package in the mail with an Apple IPad Pro that had been fraudulently purchased through her Verizon acc…
Ex-NJ Assistant Principal Who Faked Reason For Slip-Fall Getting Job Back Ex-NJ Assistant Principal Who Faked Reason For Slip-Fall Getting Job Back
Ex-NJ Assistant Principal Who Faked Reason For Slip-Fall Getting Job Back A former assistant principal of a Hudson County school who faked her slip-and-fall in a stairwell will be getting her job back, the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division ruled. Amanda Sanjuan was hired as a bilingual education teacher in West New York in 1997, and was appointed assistant principal at Memorial High School in 2019. One night in February 2020, Sanjuan was attending an event at the high school when she fell down a flight of stairs and landed on the floor, according to court papers. After hearing a commotion, a teacher and a custodian rushed to the stairs wh…
Cardinal Tobin Imposter Busted On Instagram: Report Cardinal Tobin Imposter Busted On Instagram: Report
Cardinal Tobin Imposter Busted On Instagram: Report If you interacted with Cardinal Joseph Tobin on Instagram, no you didn't. Tobin only has one social media account, and it's Twitter, the Archdiocese of Newark said. An imposter of his was recently busted on Instagram, NJ Advance Media reports. It wasn't clear what type of content the imposter was posting. "Cardinal Tobin only uses a Twitter account, which is monitored daily. The Cardinal’s official, and only, Twitter account is @CardinalJWTobin," the archdiocese said.  "Any other communication allegedly from Cardinal Tobin on any other social media platform, such as a differing T…
Flashy Bishop Robbed During Service Put Stolen Savings Toward $4.4M NJ Mansion, Lawsuit Says Flashy Bishop Robbed During Service Put Stolen Savings Toward $4.4M NJ Mansion, Lawsuit Says
Flashy Bishop Robbed During Service Put Stolen Savings Toward $4.4M NJ Mansion, Lawsuit Says A flashy Brooklyn bishop robbed during a live-streamed service stole funds from a congregant and put some of them toward a payment on his $4.4 million New Jersey mansion, according to a lawsuit filed last year. Pauline Anderson accuses bishop Lamor Whitehead of convincing her to invest nearly her entire life savings in one of his firms under the promise he could help her improve her credit score and buy a home, according to the suit. Anderson, 56, wrote the bishop of Leaders of Tomorrow International Churches a $90,000 check, as he promised to give her $100 monthly allowances for living exp…
Feds: NJ Service Station Manager Admits Stealing $78,000 From Amtrak, Regular Customers Feds: NJ Service Station Manager Admits Stealing $78,000 From Amtrak, Regular Customers
Feds: NJ Service Station Manager Admits Stealing $78,000 From Amtrak, Regular Customers A New Jersey service station manager admitted stealing $78,000 from more than 17 customers, including Amtrak, through bogus charges for gas, federal authorities said. Umer Hassan Mir, 40, of South Amboy told a federal judge in Newark on Tuesday that he deposited the charges into the coffers of a Delta gas station in Metuchen, then siphoned off the proceeds in cash from the register over the course of 3½ years. Some of the bogus charges were entered on fuel credit cards leased by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and assigned to Amtrak vehicles, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger…
Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Charged With Scamming Health Benefits Program Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Charged With Scamming Health Benefits Program
Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Charged With Scamming Health Benefits Program The city of Wildwood’s former and current mayor and a city commissioner broke the law – committing “breaches of the public trust” -- by collecting health benefits that they didn’t earn, state authorities said Friday. Wildwood Mayor Peter J. Byron, former Mayor Ernest V. Troiano Jr., and current City Commissioner Steven E. Mikulski were charged criminally for fraudulently participating in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP), Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. In order to be eligible for the benefits, they needed to be full-time employees “whose hours of work are…