Overcast 33°
News
Bergen Tour Company Manager, 76, Headed To Federal Prison For Embezzlement Scheme Bergen Tour Company Manager, 76, Headed To Federal Prison For Embezzlement Scheme
Bergen Tour Company Manager, 76, Headed To Federal Prison For Embezzlement Scheme UPDATE: A 76-year-old former Bergen County guided-tour company manager is headed to federal prison for 27 months for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from her employer. Estela Laluf Genin -- formerly of Rutherford and River Edge -- must serve the entire sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Laluf Genin began working at the East Rutherford-based company in 1989 and took a management position in 1996, federal authorities said. Between 2010 and 2016, she and an unidentified company accountant conspired to write checks against the firm’s bank accounts to c…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Tax Scammer From Bergen Gets 24 Months, No Bail, For Posing As 18 Different Refund Recipients Tax Scammer From Bergen Gets 24 Months, No Bail, For Posing As 18 Different Refund Recipients
Tax Scammer From Bergen Gets 24 Months, No Bail, For Posing As 18 Different Refund Recipients UPDATE: A confessed ID scammer from Tenafly was sentenced to two years and two days in federal prison for posing as 18 different people to collect tax refunds, authorities said. Emmanuel A. Barrientos-Fermin, 39, must serve all of the term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Barrientos-Fermin previously admitted in US. District Court in Newark that he gave an unnamed co-conspirator a photo of himself that was used to produce bogus driver’s licenses with his picture on them. The co-conspirator also gave him matching Social Security cards, driver’s licenses and W-2 forms …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Nationwide Hotel Chain's Corporate Credit Chief From NJ Admits Embezzling $300,000 Nationwide Hotel Chain's Corporate Credit Chief From NJ Admits Embezzling $300,000
Nationwide Hotel Chain's Corporate Credit Chief From NJ Admits Embezzling $300,000 A New Jersey employee who ran the company’s corporate credit card program for a nationwide hotel chain admitted embezzling $300,000, federal authorities said. Marco Alvarez, 46, of Bloomfield, admitted that he “knowingly opened and used corporate credit cards to make $317,582 in unauthorized personal purchases” from April 2014 through January 2020, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Alvarez, who worked as a senior analyst for strategic sourcing, tried to hide the thefts by “transferring credits owed to the hotel to these credit cards to offset the unauthorized charges made,” Sellinger …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Feds: California Gal Admits Running $9.9 Million Counterfeit Coupon Scam NJ Feds: California Gal Admits Running $9.9 Million Counterfeit Coupon Scam
NJ Feds: California Gal Admits Running $9.9 Million Counterfeit Coupon Scam UPDATE: A California woman admitted in federal court in New Jersey that she created and sold more than $9.9 million worth of counterfeit coupons used at retail stores throughout the country. Using the name “Mandy Carr,” Tong Lor printed Carolina coupons with fake bar codes for household items such as diapers, laundry detergent, and toiletries and then mailed them to customers nationwide, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Lor, 34, of Modesto sold the counterfeit coupons via invitation-only Internet groups associated with her businesses: Mandy’s Treasure Box, Mandy's Knitting …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ ID Thief Gets 6½ Years In Federal Prison For $450K New York State PUA Scam NJ ID Thief Gets 6½ Years In Federal Prison For $450K New York State PUA Scam
NJ ID Thief Gets 6½ Years In Federal Prison For $450K New York State PUA Scam A Union County ID thief is headed to federal prison for 6½ years for illegally collecting $450,000 in pandemic unemployment insurance benefits from New York State. Maurice Mills, 30, of Union Township must serve just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal court system. Mills submitted bogus applications for the benefits, funded by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, "using the names of other individuals," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Mills took a deal from the government rather than face trial, pleading guilty to wi…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Conspirator Who Used NJ High School Students To Cash Stolen COVID Stimulus Checks Gets 4 Years Conspirator Who Used NJ High School Students To Cash Stolen COVID Stimulus Checks Gets 4 Years
Conspirator Who Used NJ High School Students To Cash Stolen COVID Stimulus Checks Gets 4 Years One of a nest of criminals who paid New Jersey high school students to cash COVID stimulus checks stolen from the mail was sentenced to four years in federal prison. Because there's no parole in the federal prison system, Jeffrey Bennett, 27, of Irvington, must serve just about all of the plea-bargained sentence rubber-stamped by a U.S. District Court judge in Newark via videoconference on Monday, Feb. 14. Bennett -- a reputed associate of a group called "The Members" -- recruited U.S. Postal Service employees to steal checks, checkbooks, debit cards, and credit cards from the mail in excha…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
DUMB CRIMINAL FILE: Gunman Botches Robberies Of Mail Carriers In Bergen, Passaic, Feds Charge DUMB CRIMINAL FILE: Gunman Botches Robberies Of Mail Carriers In Bergen, Passaic, Feds Charge
Dumb Criminal File: Gunman Botches Robberies Of Mail Carriers In Bergen, Passaic, Feds Charge A 20-year-old Paterson man was arrested after he tried and failed to rob postal carriers in Bergen and Passaic counties at gunpoint on the same day, federal authorities said. Yeniser Cruz Perez was carrying a gun when he approached one of the U.S. Postal Service carriers in the area of Brownstone Court and Wyckoff Avenue in Wyckoff on Jan. 20, 2020 and demanded the master key used to open mail collection boxes and apartment panels, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. The only problem: The worker didn't have one, Sellinger said. That same day, he said, Cruz Perez approached another USPS…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
$6 MILLION SCAM: Man Admits Role In Nigerian Bank Fraud Network Operating In NJ, PA, MD $6 MILLION SCAM: Man Admits Role In Nigerian Bank Fraud Network Operating In NJ, PA, MD
$6 Million Scam: Man Admits Role In Nigerian Bank Fraud Network Operating In NJ, PA, MD A member of a sophisticated Nigerian-based fraud ring admitted his role in a massive conspiracy that scammed banks in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland out of $6 million. Ayanniyi Alayande, 47, of Darby, PA wasn't involved in the crudely constructed "Nigerian prince" emails schemes of the past. He ran with a ring that altered and cashed business checks stolen from the mail, authorities said. Alayande is the first of 12 defendants in the case to take a deal from the government and plead guilty rather than face trial. Members of the highly organized group altered the payee on the checks …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Ring Member Convicted In $565,091 IRS Scam That Sent Refund Checks To Same NJ Town Ring Member Convicted In $565,091 IRS Scam That Sent Refund Checks To Same NJ Town
Ring Member Convicted In $565,091 IRS Scam That Sent Refund Checks To Same NJ Town A New Jersey woman was convicted of participating in a massive ID theft scheme that had $565,091 in tax refunds from the IRS sent to a small section of the same town. Awilda Henriquez, 35, took her chances with a trial after three of her accomplices took guilty pleas. She was found guilty in U.S. District Court in Camden on Thursday of 27 counts involving defrauding the federal government, mail theft, stealing government money and aggravated ID theft, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Ring members filed more than 3,300 tax returns in 2013 using the names and Social Security numbe…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: NJ Ex-Con Caught With 33 Guns, High-Capacity Mags, Silencer, Ammo Takes Plea Feds: NJ Ex-Con Caught With 33 Guns, High-Capacity Mags, Silencer, Ammo Takes Plea
Feds: NJ Ex-Con Caught With 33 Guns, High-Capacity Mags, Silencer, Ammo Takes Plea UPDATE: A South Jersey ex-con found with dozens of guns, high-capacity magazines and ammo admitted having others buy guns for him, federal authorities said. Darick Nollett, 32, who lives in Cumberland County near the Delaware Bay, caught the attention of law enforcement when he bought a “fuel filter” – a device commonly used to silence firearms -- from China, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. As a convicted felon, Nollett was prohibited from having weaponry, Honig said. So he got straw purchasers to buy guns for him, she said. A court-approved search of his Heislerville home in …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Jersey City Man Gets 27 Months In Fed Pen For $450,000 Phony Passport Bank Fraud Scheme Jersey City Man Gets 27 Months In Fed Pen For $450,000 Phony Passport Bank Fraud Scheme
Jersey City Man Gets 27 Months In Fed Pen For $450,000 Phony Passport Bank Fraud Scheme A Jersey City man must spend more than two years in federal prison for his role in a ring that used bogus passports and IRS refund checks to pocket more than $450,000. Mamadou Diallo, 44, also must pay $150,052 in restitution as part his plea deal with the government, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. For 6½ years, beginning in 2012, Diallo admitted, he and others stuck photos of themselves to passports bearing others’ names. They then used the bogus IDs to open bank accounts into which they deposited phony IRS refund checks. They withdrew the funds from ATM and teller termi…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Man Admits Bribing Postal Workers To Steal Credit Cards From Mail To Fuel Shopping Sprees NJ Man Admits Bribing Postal Workers To Steal Credit Cards From Mail To Fuel Shopping Sprees
NJ Man Admits Bribing Postal Workers To Steal Credit Cards From Mail To Fuel Shopping Sprees A Union County man admitted bribing postal employees to steal credit cards that federal authorities said he then activated and used on shopping sprees. Syid Boyd, 26, of Union, paid the government workers in cash for the stolen cards from the mail, then activated them "by posing as the actual account holders," Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael A. Honig said. He then bought himself electronics and other items at various retail stores throughout New Jersey, she said. Rather than face trial, Boyd took a deal from the government, pleading guilty via videoconference with a federal ju…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco