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Saturday, dec 21
Tag:
Securities Fraud
Police & Fire
Father, Son Admit To Using South Jersey Deli In $100M Stock Inflation Scheme: Feds
A quiet deli in Paulsboro became the unlikely focal point of a $100 million stock manipulation scheme led by a father and son, authorities said. Peter Coker Sr., 82, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and his son, Peter Coker Jr., 56, pleaded guilty on Thursday, Dec. 19 to securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a news release. Coker Jr. is a former resident of Hong Kong. Prosecutors said the plan started around 2014 when two New Jersey residents opened Your Hometown Deli on Mantua Avenue. The pair soug…
Police & Fire
'Heartless And Despicable': NJ Broker Who Scammed $3.7M From Gold Star Families Sentenced
A former Army financial counselor from Colts Neck will spend more than a decade in prison after admitting to scamming Gold Star families out of more than $3 million, authorities said. Caz Craffy, 42, was sentenced on Wednesday, Aug. 21 to 12 years and seven months in prison, New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a news release. He pleaded guilty to 10 charges on Tuesday, Apr. 16. Craffy, who's also known as "Carz Craffey," had been a major in the U.S. Army Reserve since 2003. His Army affiliation was terminated in January 2023, according to military records. Ac…
News
Middlesex County Men Indicted In Alleged $7M Fuel Investment Scheme: AG
A New Jersey grand jury has indicted two Middlesex County men for allegedly defrauding fuel investors out of approximately $6.7 million, authorities said. The scheme used sham companies and false identities to deceive investors into believing they would receive large guaranteed returns from investments in fuel products, according to Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. Instead, the defendants diverted investor funds for their own benefit, Platkin said. Shahid Javed, 39, of Old Bridge, and Wilfredo Topacio, 64, of Woodbridge, were charged in an indictment with first-degree conspiracy, …
Police & Fire
NJ Broker Bought Private Jet, Luxury Caribbean Vacation In $3.4M Insider Trading Scheme: Feds
A former partner at a New Jersey broker-dealer firm was accused of insider trading, making more than $3 million in illegal profits, authorities said. Christopher Matthaei, 44, of Brielle, was arraigned in federal court on Wednesday, July 17, New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a news release. A federal grand jury indicted him on Friday, June 21 for two counts of securities fraud conspiracy and seven counts of securities fraud. According to court documents and statements, Matthaei was a partner and senior salesperson at a trading firm based in Charlotte, North Carol…
Police & Fire
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…
Police & Fire
NJ Broker Loses Registration, Fined $150G For Going Rogue With Hudson Valley Tequila Startup
A former New Jersey broker-dealer agent from Rockland County had his registration revoked and was fined $150,000 for steering clients to a Hudson Valley tequila startup whose founder went to federal prison. Michael W. Mandel of Suffern sold the securities in the form of ownership interests in "6 Degree Tequila" via unauthorized private transactions, state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Records show Mandel was working at the time as an agent and investment adviser representative for two New Jersey broker-dealers -- Royal Alliance Associates in Old Tappan and, later, LPL Fina…
News
'We Don't Want To End Up In Orange Jumpsuits,' Said CEO Arrested For $175M Scam In NJ
A former CEO whose star once shone so bright she made the Forbes 30-Under-30 list could soon be swapping her business suits for prison jumpsuits — something she'd been dreading. "We don't want to end up in orange jumpsuits," is what Charlie Javice apparently said months before her New Jersey arrest Monday, April 3, according to federal prosecutors. The 31-year-old founder of Frank, a for-profit company that simplified the student loan application process, is facing federal charges for falsifying data sets, ultimately scamming J.P Morgan Chase out of $175 million officials said. It wasn't i…
News
Ex-Trump PAC Exec Who Blamed 'That B****' Hillary Clinton For Probe Indicted By Feds In NJ
A former pro-Trump PAC exec who blamed "that b**** Hillary Clinton" for his troubles with the law swindled more than two dozen investors out of $7 million, an indictment returned Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Newark alleges. U.S. Homeland Security agents a year ago this month smashed the alleged Ponzi scheme that they said New Jersey-based businessman David Schamens, 65, used to fund a lavish lifestyle. Now comes a March 28 indictment that charges him with wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. Schamens, of Greensboro, North Carolina, used some of the investment money fro…
News
Phucket Fugitive Returned To Face Charges In NJ Deli Fraud Scheme
A fugitive from Thailand was returned to the United States to face charges in a massive market manipulation scheme involving a New Jersey deli company whose stock was once valued at an illogical $100 million, federal authorities announced. A U.S. District Court magistrate judge in Newark ordered one-time Hong Kong businessman Peter Coker Jr. held after he was flown in custody from a Bangkok jail. Coker, 54, formerly of North Carolina, was seized at a hotel in the resort area of Phuket in mid-January following the arrests of his father, Peter Coker Sr., and James Patten in North Carolina. C…
News
NJ Deli Fraud Scheme Mastermind Arrested In Thailand: Feds
An international company chairman charged over a purported scheme to manipulate the stock market — one that resulted in a bogus $100M valuation for a Gloucester County deli despite minimal sales — was arrested in Thailand, the feds confirmed. Peter Coker Jr., 54, had been a fugitive since September when prosecutors filed 12 federal charges against him, his father, Peter Coker Sr., 80, and associate James Patten, 63. The trio allegedly boosted the share prices of Hometown International Inc. and another firm, E-Waste Corp. Matthew Reilly, a spokesperson for the New Jersey US Attorney’s Offic…
News
$116M COVID Test Scam: Federal Grand Jury In NJ Indicts Ex
-nyc
Health Care Company CEO From CT
The former CEO of a New York-based health care company was charged with orchestrating a coronavirus rapid-test investment scam that fleeced victims of $116 million, federal authorities said. Marc Schessel, 62, of Greenwich, CT, had his company, SCWorx Corps, make bogus public claims that it was buying and selling at least 48 million COVID test kits that it never received, an indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Newark alleges. "The claims share price surged, rising by over 400 percent from approximately $2.25 per share to an intraday high of $14.88. per share," according to a relea…
News
Jersey Shore Financial Advisors Fined $800K, Licenses Revoked: AG
A Monmouth County investment firm has been fined $800,000 for hiring an unregistered financial advisor, New Jersey authorities said. The advisor had been barred from the securities industry, according to Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. The New Jersey Bureau of Securities took further action against the Atlantic Highlands investment firm by revoking its registrations, Plotkin said. Acting Bureau Chief Amy G. Kopleton found that Steven Gluckstein and his advisory firm, Seaview Global Advisors LLC, employed Anthony Calascione from approximately 2017 through 2021, and allowed him t…
News
Billion-Dollar Stock Fraud: Indicted Bergen County Businessman Freed On $100M Bond
A Bergen County businessman was arrested by federal agents on charges of orchestrating a massive market manipulation scheme that caused one of the biggest Wall Street trading collapses in history. Sung Kook “Bill” Hwang put the entire financial system at risk by conspiring with his former chief financial officer to boost profits for his Archegos Capital Management by lying to banks to inflate the stock prices of publicly traded companies, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday, April 27. The fraud scheme ballooned Hwang’s personal fortune from $1.5 billion to more than $35 billion in a singl…
News
NJ
Feds
: Miracle-Aspirin Investment Scam Sends Long Island Man To Prison For 4½ Years
A Long Island man must spend the next 4½ years in prison for scamming investors out of $3.5 million through what he claimed was a revolutionary new aspirin, federal authorities in New Jersey said. Donald A. Milne III, a 57-year-old repeat offender from Massapequa, defrauded more than 70 victims from throughout the country, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. All thought they'd invested in what he touted as a “fast-acting form of powdered aspirin that could instantly stop heart attacks and strokes," Sellinger said. Milne used the money instead for a Caribbean vacation, boating expe…
News
$150M
Bank
Fraud
: Teaneck Landlord Gets 8 Years, No Parole
A Teaneck landlord must spend the next eight years in federal prison -- without parole -- for orchestrating a $150 million bank and securities fraud scheme. Seth Levine, 53, was the founding partner, owner, and managing member of Norse Holdings, the parent company to more than 70 subsidiaries, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Each of the subsidiary companies owned one or more multifamily buildings, mostly in New Jersey, he said. Beginning in 2009, Levine directed a scheme for nearly a decade to fraudulently refinance the multifamily properties by lying on refinancing appli…
News
$1.5M Cosmetics Company Scam Sends Englewood Swindler To Federal Prison For 2½ Years
A former Englewood resident must serve nearly 2½ years in federal prison for scamming three investors out of $1.5 million. Matthew Benjamin, 54, used the victims' money for car and house rental payments, food, international travel, legal fees, technology equipment and summer camp tuition for family members, among other purposes, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger 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 …
News
Feds: Ponzi Schemer Funded House, Car, More With $6.8M From Investors In NJ, Elsewhere
New Jersey residents were among more than two dozen victims who lost a combined $6.8 million to a North Carolina con man running a Ponzi scheme, federal authorities charged. David Schamens, 64, of Greensboro, NC, promised annual return rates of 12% to 30% when he began soliciting investments in 2014 in Secaucus-based TradeStream Analytics LTD, as well as in other entities with names such as TD Trading LLC, TFG Trading LLC, and Tradedesk Financial Group Inc., U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. He then launched Tradestream Algo Fund, an algorithm-based trading pool that he clai…
News
NY Con Man Admits Scamming $3.5M From Elderly Investors In NJ, Elsewhere For Heart Attack Pill
A convicted con artist from Long Island admitted in federal court in Trenton on Monday that he scammed investors in a purportedly revolutionary new aspirin -- most of them elderly -- out of $3.5 million that he used as his own personal piggybank. Donald A. Milne III, a 57-year-old repeat offender from Massapequa, defrauded more than 70 victims from throughout the country who though they'd invested in Instaprin, which he touted as a “fast-acting form of powdered aspirin that could instantly stop heart attacks and strokes," Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. He used the money instead…
News
Feds: NJ Ex-Con Who Served Time For Scamming Charities Charged With $1.35M Investor Ripoff
A compulsive gambler from Passaic County who went to federal prison for three years for ripping off organizations that benefit schoolchildren and people with life-threatening illnesses went right back to scamming after he got out, federal authorities charged. This time, Gregory Ciccone, 43, of Woodland Park orchestrated a scheme that defrauded investors of $1.35 million, much of which he used to buy a $54,330 BMW, clothes, wine and more, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Ciccone told the 22 victims that he operated companies that reserved blocks of rooms of luxury hotels that then…
News
Feds: Jersey Shore Swindler Embezzled Hundreds Of Thousands From Philly Start-Up
A Jersey Shore hustler embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments from a Philadelphia-based tech startup when he was its chief operating officer, federal authorities have charged. Joseph Geromini, 54, of Linwood told investors who contributed roughly $2.25 million that he would use their money to help build the company, which developed blood testing for various diseases, an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Camden alleges. The Atlantic County resident promised to “further develop and commercialize its products and services, for lab expenses, and to pay employee s…
News
Feds: Teaneck Owner Of 70 Multi-Family Properties Admits $150M Bank Fraud Scheme
A Teaneck landlord admitted in federal court this week that he orchestrated a $150 million bank and securities fraud scheme that lasted nearly 10 years. Seth Levine, 52, told a U.S. District Court judge in Newark via teleconference that he and others pocketed cash they received by illegally refinancing 70 multi-family buildings containing nearly 2,500 apartments. Levine said he lied on refinancing applications about the rents collected, the number of apartments leased, expenses and the true owners of the complex, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael A. Honig said. That wasn’t all: L…
News
New Fraud Cases Name Relatives Of Imprisoned Father, Son Scammers From Mahwah, Saddle River
It seemed that state and federal prosecutors had thrown all they could at Bergen County’s George Bussanich and his son for a series of multi-million-dollar investment scams the past several years. But state authorities announced a new case Friday that also includes Bussanich's daughter and son-in-law as co-defendants. George Bussanich Sr., 62, of Park Ridge is already serving a 27-month federal prison stretch in Allenwood, PA for defrauding mortgage lenders and is due for release in 10 months. His son, George Bussanich Jr., 41, of Saddle River is up for parole this November from an eight-y…
Police & Fire
Feds: Englewood Swindler Cons Families Out Of $1.5M In Cosmetics Scheme
The FBI on Wednesday arrested an accused swindler from Englewood who scammed at least three families out of $1.5 million with a phony cosmetics investment scheme, federal authorities said. Matthew Benjamin, 53, used the money 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 told the victims that his company, Clear Solutions Group, had lucrative contracts to purchase closeout or excess cosmetic inventory from one company that he planned to sell that another,…
Police & Fire
Bergen-Based Debt Reliever From Wayne Admits Scamming Victims Out Of $5 Million
A Bergen County lending company founder from Wayne who promised to help desperate, low-income customers pay off crushing loans admitted Thursday that he pushed them even further into debt while pocketing more than $5 million. Edward Espinal, 44, of Wayne, who pleaded guilty videoconference to securities fraud and conspiracy in exchange for leniency at sentencing, is “the quintessential con artist,” Acting FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Korneski said. “He played a shell game with other people’s hard-earned money, making promises he never intended to keep, and walking away with ill-gott…
Police & Fire
Piscataway Dad Accused Of Masterminding Sex Cult In College Dorm
A Piscataway man who moved into his daughter’s dorm has been charged with sex trafficking and extortion The 60-year-old is accused of subjecting his daughter's classmates at Sarah Lawrence College “to sexual and psychological manipulation and physical abuse,” according to an indictment unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York. Lawrence Ray, also known as Lawrence Grecco, was charged with extortion, sex trafficking, forced labor, conspiracy and trafficking, two counts of use of interstate commerce to promote unlawful activity and money laundering…
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