Fair 44°
News
Sussex Man Who Spent $5.6M COVID Relief Money On Stock Market, Luxury Car, More Sentenced Sussex Man Who Spent $5.6M COVID Relief Money On Stock Market, Luxury Car, More Sentenced
Sussex Man Who Spent $5.6M COVID Relief Money On Stock Market, Luxury Car, More Sentenced A Sussex County man was sentenced Tuesday to more than five years in federal prison for spending $5.6 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic business loans for himself, authorities said. Azhar Sarwar Rana, 31, of Newton will have to serve out just about all of the 64-month sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. The federal Paycheck Protection Program was designed to keep struggling small businesses afloat during the pandemic. Rana used the money, instead, to invest millions in the stock market, make a payment to a luxury car dealership and send hundreds of thous…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam
NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam The mastermind of a GoFundMe scheme that conned 14,000 donors across the country out of $400,000 to purportedly benefit a homeless veteran admitted in federal court in New Jersey on Monday that he and his ex-girlfriend pocketed most of the money. Mark D’Amico, 42, formerly of Bordentown, admitted concocting a bogus feel-good story about the supposed victim coming to the rescue of Katelyn McClure after she ran out of gas on Route 95 on her way home to New Jersey from Philadelphia. Both McClure and the homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., were in on the scheme, authorities said. Together, D’Am…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
PA Man Stopped For Busted Headlight Rats Out Prostitute In North Jersey: Police PA Man Stopped For Busted Headlight Rats Out Prostitute In North Jersey: Police
PA Man Stopped For Busted Headlight Rats Out Prostitute In North Jersey: Police A routine traffic stop led to prostitution charges for a Pennsylvania man and Ohio woman in North Jersey, police said. Emmanuel Ojo-Powerson of Pocono Pines, PA, was spotted by Secaucus police officers stopped  on the side ramp of Paterson Plank Road onto Route 3 west around 1:05 a.m. Nov. 16, Police Chief Dennis Miller said. During the stop, the 34-year-old driver admitted he was at the Extended Stay Hotel on Plaza Drive engaging in prostitution, Miller said. Officers went to the hotel and found Crystal Hotlosz of Clairsville, OH, 41, the chief said. Ojo-Powerson was c…

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
News
Cyber-Casanova From NJ Admits Duping Dozens Of Lonely Hearts Out Of $1.14M Cyber-Casanova From NJ Admits Duping Dozens Of Lonely Hearts Out Of $1.14M
Cyber-Casanova From NJ Admits Duping Dozens Of Lonely Hearts Out Of $1.14M A New Jersey man admitted that he orchestrated an online scam that conned dozens of unsuspecting women on dating sites out of more than a million dollars – and led one of them to suicide. Rubbin Sarpong, 37, of Millville pocketed the money and bought property in Ghana, along with luxury cars, expensive jewelry, top-shelf booze, designer clothes and more, federal authorities said. Then he flaunted it on Instagram. Sarpong had catfishing accomplices, several of whom live in Ghana, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael Honig said. Posing as American military personnel stationed oversea…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Prosecutor: Ex-Con Busted With 'Ghost Gun,' More In SWAT Raid On East Rutherford Drug Den Prosecutor: Ex-Con Busted With 'Ghost Gun,' More In SWAT Raid On East Rutherford Drug Den
Prosecutor: Ex-Con Busted With 'Ghost Gun,' More In SWAT Raid On East Rutherford Drug Den A SWAT team-supported raid on a quiet East Rutherford street turned up two firearms – one of them a “ghost gun,” the other loaded with hollow-nose bullets – along with illegal drugs and $27,000 in proceeds, authorities said Thursday. Ex-con Sardar Habib, 21, was arrested on a host of charges -- including operating a drug-production facility -- following an investigation by Bergen County prosecutor’s detectives and borough police. Detectives who obtained the warrant found a 9mm “ghost gun,” a .40-caliber handgun loaded with hollow-nose bullets and a large-capacity magazine, along with heroin…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Fairview Officer Chases Down Westchester Driver With Illegal Gun, Magazine, Ammo, Police Say Fairview Officer Chases Down Westchester Driver With Illegal Gun, Magazine, Ammo, Police Say
Fairview Officer Chases Down Westchester Driver With Illegal Gun, Magazine, Ammo, Police Say A Fairview police officer chased down a Westchester County driver who was carrying a gun when he bolted during a pre-dawn traffic stop, authorities said. Officer Sebastian Castano stopped the Toyota Camry on 91st Street and Kennedy Boulevard just over the North Bergen border after the driver was unable to maintain a lane while heading south on Bergen Boulevard, Police Chief Martin Kahn said. Castano had the driver -- identified as Zachary Montique-Lyttle, 22, of New Rochelle -- step out of the car after he showed the officer a phony driver's license, Kahn said. A temporary license plate on…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Passaic County Duo Admits Laundering $4 Million For International Drug Cartels Feds: Passaic County Duo Admits Laundering $4 Million For International Drug Cartels
Feds: Passaic County Duo Admits Laundering $4 Million For International Drug Cartels Two Passaic County men admitted in federal court that they laundered nearly $4 million in drug cash for international cartels operating in New Jersey and New York, authorities announced. Erickson Checo-Almonte, 31 of Passaic, and Jordano Abreu-Diaz, 24 of Clifton, were among six defendants charged in the operation. Morristown police helped the DEA and IRS crack the case, in which those involved converted cash from drug sales in the two states to more than 1,000 cashier’s checks, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael Honig said. The checks were then sent to brokers “acting on behalf o…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
AT LAST: Accused Leaders Of Nigerian Online Romance Scams Taken Into Custody AT LAST: Accused Leaders Of Nigerian Online Romance Scams Taken Into Custody
AT Last: Accused Leaders Of Nigerian Online Romance Scams Taken Into Custody Several accused leaders of a Nigerian syndicate that victimized countless Americans through online romance scams were seized in Cape Town and will be brought to the United States to face prosecution, federal authorities said. The leaders of the Cape Town Zone of the Neo Black Movement of Africa and a co-conspirator are charged with pulling the scams on hundreds of thousands of victims -- some widowed or divorced -- for at least the past 10 years. From at least 2011 through 2021, leaders of the Mafia-styled organization -- better known as “Black Axe” -- conspired with others to con lonely Am…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Ex-Hedge Fund Manager From NY, FL Admits $6.8M COVID-19 Scam In NJ Federal Court Ex-Hedge Fund Manager From NY, FL Admits $6.8M COVID-19 Scam In NJ Federal Court
Ex-Hedge Fund Manager From NY, FL Admits $6.8M Covid-19 Scam In NJ Federal Court A dual New York/Florida resident admitted in federal court in Newark that he schemed to steal more than $6.8 million in COVID-19 payroll protection loans -- $3 million of which the government said he flushed away in the stock market. Gregory J. Blotnick applied to 13 lenders for 21 loans over a period of nearly a year, beginning in March 21, 2020, lying about the number of employees at nine companies whom he supposedly needed to pay, federal authorities said. Blotnick, 34, dumped the money into a personal brokerage account instead, then poured nearly 45% of it into losing stock trades, Acti…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: Paterson Man Admits Laundering $2.5 Million For International Drug Cartels Feds: Paterson Man Admits Laundering $2.5 Million For International Drug Cartels
Feds: Paterson Man Admits Laundering $2.5 Million For International Drug Cartels A Paterson man admitted Tuesday that he laundered more than $2.5 million for Central and South American drug cartels operating in New Jersey and New York, federal authorities said. Willy Cruz-Bonilla, 24, was among six Passaic County residents charged in a massive network that converted nearly $27 million in ill-gotten gains to more than 1,000 checks sent to the Dominican Republic, Colombia and elsewhere, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig said. The scheme was "designed to conceal the nature, source, ownership, and control of the illegal drug proceeds in order to avoid scrutiny by law enfor…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Prosecutor: Owner, Husband, Employees Busted In Raid On Bergen Pot 'Dispensary' Prosecutor: Owner, Husband, Employees Busted In Raid On Bergen Pot 'Dispensary'
Prosecutor: Owner, Husband, Employees Busted In Raid On Bergen Pot 'Dispensary' Authorities raided a DIY storefront pot dispensary in Bergen County that they said was operated by a local couple who sold marijuana and THC products to the general public without a license. Jaime Costanzo, who was listed as the owner/operator, and her husband, Michael Delmoral, both 40 of Wallington, were busted after detectives posing as customers bought pot and other items at THC JARZ on River Road in Garfield, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Monday afternoon. Also arrested were two store cashiers, he said. Detectives from Musella’s Narcotic Task Force, along with police from…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Son Of Infamous Bergen County Burglar Charged With ID Theft, Unemployment Fraud Son Of Infamous Bergen County Burglar Charged With ID Theft, Unemployment Fraud
Son Of Infamous Bergen County Burglar Charged With ID Theft, Unemployment Fraud The son of an infamous Bergen County burglar was charged with unemployment fraud after a shoplifting bust in Virginia, authorities said. A judge ordered Daniel Gatson Jr., 24, of Ridgefield released this week after he was booked into the Bergen County Jail hours earlier, records show. Gatson assumed another identity to open bank accounts, then applied for and received unemployment benefits from the state of New Jersey, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said, without specifying the amount. Detectives in Fairfax County, VA discovered this while investigating a shoplifting, the prose…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco