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Police: Bergen Wingman Who Thought He Bought Plane Scammed Out Of $10,000 Police: Bergen Wingman Who Thought He Bought Plane Scammed Out Of $10,000
Police: Bergen Wingman Who Thought He Bought Plane Scammed Out Of $10,000 A Bergen County man who thought he’d put a down payment on a Cessna got taken for $10,000 by a scam artist who told him the aircraft had crashed, authorities said. The Glen Rock victim told borough police he thought he had an agreement to purchase a 2004 Cessna 182T for $200,000 through a website called planecheck.com, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. As part of the deal, he told police, he sent the purported seller a $10,000 non-refundable deposit. The “seller” was to have flown the aircraft from Georgia and to Greenwood Lake Airport in West Milford for delivery, Ackermann said. Wh…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Police: Trio Used Stolen $1M To Renovate North Jersey Deli During Pandemic, Buy Engagement Ring Police: Trio Used Stolen $1M To Renovate North Jersey Deli During Pandemic, Buy Engagement Ring
Police: Trio Used Stolen $1M To Renovate North Jersey Deli During Pandemic, Buy Engagement Ring Two women and one man stole more than $1 million from a North Jersey business and blew it on memorabilia from some of most famous athletes in the sports the world, an engagement ring, exercise bike and renovations to their local deli, authorities said. Regina DeComa, 36, of Cedar Grove; Dawn Becker, 55, of Oakland; and Allan Soriano, 42, of Cedar Grove were arrested on various fraud charges, Fairfield Police Chief Anthony Manna said. DeComa was an office manager and Becker the financial comptroller of a Fairfield business made "unauthorized distributions of corporate funds" to themselves b…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Reputed Mob Boss, Trash-Hauling Giant Carmine 'Papa Smurf' Franco Of Ramsey Dies Reputed Mob Boss, Trash-Hauling Giant Carmine 'Papa Smurf' Franco Of Ramsey Dies
Reputed Mob Boss, Trash-Hauling Giant Carmine 'Papa Smurf' Franco Of Ramsey Dies Carmine “Papa Smurf” Franco, a reputed Genovese Crime Family boss who became a leader and innovator in the trash hauling industry in New Jersey, Rockland and Westchester, died Monday following complications from COVID-19. Franco, 85, who’d recently lived in the Bears Cove townhouse development in Ramsey, made his name in the waste industry over a five-decade career. He designed and built the country’s first materials recovery facility and New Jersey’s first transfer station, among other projects, and led the charge that produced a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the Rockland town of Clark…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds Praise Leonia PD After Ringleader Of International Call-Center Phone Scam Gets 20 Years Feds Praise Leonia PD After Ringleader Of International Call-Center Phone Scam Gets 20 Years
Feds Praise Leonia PD After Ringleader Of International Call-Center Phone Scam Gets 20 Years A worldwide investigation that produced a 20-year federal prison sentence for an Indian national who ran call centers that defrauded Americans across the U.S. out of millions of dollars got a huge boost from police in Leonia. Leonia Detective Michael Jennings, in particular, did legwork that helped federal authorities eventually identify Hitesh Madhubhai Patel, 44, as the ringleader of the transnational scheme. For that reason, police in the Bergen County borough near the George Washington Bridge got a shout-out from the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday. It began in 2015 when Jennings …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ COVID-19 Scammer Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans, Feds Charge NJ COVID-19 Scammer Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans, Feds Charge
NJ Covid-19 Scammer Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans, Feds Charge A North Jersey businessman fraudulently secured nearly $2 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic loans he wasn't entitled to, then diverted the money into accounts held by family members, including his young children, federal authorities charged. Rocco A. Malanga, 48, of Hackettstown, “used a variety of false statements to fraudulently obtain approximately $1.8 million in federal COVID-19 emergency relief funds meant for distressed small businesses,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said Thursday. He then diverted the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) money to “accounts under the control of his …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Englewood Swindler Admits Conning Families Out Of $1.5M In Cosmetics Company Scheme Englewood Swindler Admits Conning Families Out Of $1.5M In Cosmetics Company Scheme
Englewood Swindler Admits Conning Families Out Of $1.5M In Cosmetics Company Scheme A former Englewood resident admitted in federal court that he scammed three investors out of $1.5 million with a bogus cosmetics company. Matthew Benjamin, 53, used the money instead for car and house rental payments, food, international travel, legal fees, technology equipment and summer camp tuition for family members, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Benjamin, currently of New York, told the victims that his purported company, Clear Solutions Group, had lucrative contracts to purchase closeout or excess cosmetic inventory from one company that he planned to sell to another, Carpenito…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Police: Dozens Of Bogus Unemployment Claims Filed In Morris County Police: Dozens Of Bogus Unemployment Claims Filed In Morris County
Police: Dozens Of Bogus Unemployment Claims Filed In Morris County Police departments across Morris County say they have been flooded with fraudulent claims for unemployment insurance in recent months. At least 15 residents in Randolph reported having bogus claims filed in their name in October, according to Police Lt. William Harzula. "Residents became alerted to the scams by notification from their employers and/or letters received from the New Jersey Department of Labor advising them that their claims were received," said Harzula. Meanwhile, at least two instances of fraudulent unemployment claims have been reported in Mountain Lakes — one vi…

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by Valerie Musson
News
Ex-Jersey City School Board Prez, Jersey Shore Lawyer Charged In $113,000 Embezzlement Schemes Ex-Jersey City School Board Prez, Jersey Shore Lawyer Charged In $113,000 Embezzlement Schemes
Ex-Jersey City School Board Prez, Jersey Shore Lawyer Charged In $113,000 Embezzlement Schemes A former Jersey City school board president pulled off a series of embezzlement schemes that netted more than $110,000 with the help of a Jersey Shore attorney, federal authorities said. Sudhan M. Thomas, 45, had previously been the acting executive director of the Jersey City Employment and Training Program (JCETP), which “received substantial amounts of funding from federal grants from the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Thomas -- known as "Tommy" -- paid personal debts and expenses with $45,000 that …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Jersey Shore Construction Contractor Admits Ducking Nearly $1,000,000 In Taxes Jersey Shore Construction Contractor Admits Ducking Nearly $1,000,000 In Taxes
Jersey Shore Construction Contractor Admits Ducking Nearly $1,000,000 In Taxes A Jersey Shore businessman admitted in federal court that he ducked more than $952,778 in payroll and personal income taxes by putting his Manhattan construction company in an associate’s name, paying workers in cash and hiding the scheme from his accountant. Bilal Salaj, 55, of Morganville admitted in U.S. District Court downtown that he “continued to hold principal control and decision-making authority over the business and its financial affairs” of the business after changing ownership in July 2014, Southern District of New York Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said. That included con…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Transit Supervisor Gets 5 Years In Prison For Siphoning $2.1M From Employer NJ Transit Supervisor Gets 5 Years In Prison For Siphoning $2.1M From Employer
NJ Transit Supervisor Gets 5 Years In Prison For Siphoning $2.1M From Employer A former NJ Transit supervisor will spend five years in prison after siphoning $2.1 million out of the transportation agency, authorities said.  Richard E. Schade, 63, of Lumberton, set up four fake companies and approved payments to them for services such as landscaping and maintenance at NJ Transit properties in 2015, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II, said Friday. The scheme was uncovered in October 2015 when an internal audit revealed the unexplained payments. Schade -- formerly a facilities supervisor -- had authority to approve payments of up to $5,000…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Police: Nodding Lyndhurst Driver Crosses Bridge From Nutley With Heroin, Xanax, Urine Police: Nodding Lyndhurst Driver Crosses Bridge From Nutley With Heroin, Xanax, Urine
Police: Nodding Lyndhurst Driver Crosses Bridge From Nutley With Heroin, Xanax, Urine A Lyndhurst driver had several heroin folds, Xanax – and two small bottles of urine apparently intended to beat a  drug test -- when he was stopped after crossing the bridge back into town from Nutley, authorities said. David Moran, 52, drew the attention of witnesses who told police he was passed out behind the wheel of a car on Park Avenue by the Burger King, Lt. Vincent Auteri said. Moran pulled away and headed north on Park Avenue before Officer Nick Abruscato spotted him pulling onto Route 3 in Rutherford and issued an alert. Soon after, Nutley police stopped Moran after he drove…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Former Gottheimer Aide Admits Forging Congressional Letters Former Gottheimer Aide Admits Forging Congressional Letters
Former Gottheimer Aide Admits Forging Congressional Letters A now-former aide to New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer admitted using the U.S. House of Representatives seal to falsify letters written on the federal lawmaker’s letterhead. Patrick Sheehan, 29, of West Milford, was working as director of community outreach in Gottheimer’s Sussex County office in Newton when he “falsified and mailed” a series of letters that purported to be from another staffer containing false information about the congressman and that employee, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said following Friday's guilty plea. Sheehan then “falsified multiple copies of a letter on [G…

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by Jerry DeMarco