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U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General

Police & Fire
IN PLAIN SIGHT: Postal Carrier Collected Disability While Operating Morris Travel Agency: Feds IN PLAIN SIGHT: Postal Carrier Collected Disability While Operating Morris Travel Agency: Feds
IN Plain Sight: Postal Carrier Collected Disability While Operating Morris Travel Agency: Feds A Morris County postal carrier collected $155,000 in disability benefits from the federal government while continuing to operate the travel agency that she founded nearly 20 years ago, authorities charged. Pamela VanSyckle, 60, of Oak Ridge, was released on $100,000 unsecured bond following a first appearance in U.S. District Court in Newark on Wednesday. VanSyckle -- who owns and operates Kingdom Konsultants Travel -- is charged with federal employee compensation fraud and making false statements. VanSyckle began receiving disability benefits in September 2020 for an injury that she clai…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Multitude Of Government Agencies Victimized Out Of $4M By NJ Man: Feds Multitude Of Government Agencies Victimized Out Of $4M By NJ Man: Feds
Multitude Of Government Agencies Victimized Out Of $4M By NJ Man: Feds A New Jersey man stole more than $4 million through a clutch of schemes that included defrauding three different government programs, authorities charged. Gbenga Akinbode, 33, of Newark, opened a bank account and then used 120 different debit cards to buy $500,000 worth of money orders that were deposited into the account, according to a complaint filed by Homeland Security Investigations in U.S. District Court in Newark. Investigators discovered that the debit cards were funded with $4 million in fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits, bogus Paycheck Protection Program loans…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: ID Thief Fraudulently Collected $140,000 In Pandemic Insurance While In Prison Feds: ID Thief Fraudulently Collected $140,000 In Pandemic Insurance While In Prison
Feds: ID Thief Fraudulently Collected $140,000 In Pandemic Insurance While In Prison People from all walks of life have fraudulently collected pandemic benefits, but Devontae Stokes took it to a different level. Stokes, a 27-year-old identity thief, was serving time at Fort Dix on an unspecified conviction when he schemed with others to collect $140,000 in COVID unemployment benefits while they were federal prisoners. That’s right. Stokes was a prisoner at the low-security Federal Correctional Institution adjacent to the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington County when he and a group of co-conspirators “obtained personal identification information, including nam…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Cyber-Footsie Scammers From NJ, MD, VA Swindle $7 Million From Mostly Elderly Victims, Feds Say Cyber-Footsie Scammers From NJ, MD, VA Swindle $7 Million From Mostly Elderly Victims, Feds Say
Cyber-Footsie Scammers From NJ, MD, VA Swindle $7 Million From Mostly Elderly Victims, Feds Say Mostly elderly victims across the United States were conned out of a whopping $7 million by a quartet of romance scammers from New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia – all of whom were arrested by the FBI, authorities said. The victims sent the money to the imposters thinking that they were helping out love interests, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. They lost a lot. Arrested this past week, Sellinger said, were: Nana Yaw Marfo, 37, of Virginia, who was accused of receiving at least $4.7 million; Chevon Braxton, 42, of Maryland, who was accused of collecting at least $1.3 million; Will…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: ID Thief From NJ Filed $1M In Unemployment Claims In NY Feds: ID Thief From NJ Filed $1M In Unemployment Claims In NY
Feds: ID Thief From NJ Filed $1M In Unemployment Claims In NY A North Jersey ID thief used personal information stolen from 20 people to file $1 million worth of unemployment claims to New York State, federal authorities said. Federal agents tracked all of the claims for benefits to a single IP address and telephone number belonging to Maurice Mills, 28, of Union Township, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Surveillance cameras also caught Mills using an unemployment insurance benefits debit card to make an ATM withdrawal, he said. “Many of these claims were in the names of individuals located in Texas and directed the benefits to be sent to locatio…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Essex OSHA Inspector, Brother Caught On Wire Shaking Down Hudson Job Site Contractor Feds: Essex OSHA Inspector, Brother Caught On Wire Shaking Down Hudson Job Site Contractor
Feds: Essex Osha Inspector, Brother Caught On Wire Shaking Down Hudson Job Site Contractor An OSHA officer from Bloomfield and his brother conspired to extort a general contractor at a North Bergen work site, said federal authorities who tapped one of their meetings. Assigned to investigate the alleged misuse of an extension ladder, Alvaro Idrovo, 44, told the contractor he was violating OSHA regulations for not having the necessary safety training certificates for his workers to be on ladders, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Idrovo told the owner he’d be “subject to exorbitant fines and possible arrest” if he didn’t obtain the certificates, which he said were available throu…

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by Jerry DeMarco