Fair 46°
Police & Fire
Morris County Resident Loses $6K Cash In ‘Grandparent Scam,’ Sketch Of Driver Released Morris County Resident Loses $6K Cash In ‘Grandparent Scam,’ Sketch Of Driver Released
Morris County Resident Loses $6K Cash In ‘Grandparent Scam,’ Sketch Of Driver Released Recognize this sketch? Police say it depicts the driver involved in a recent ‘grandparent scam’ that robbed a Morris County resident of $6,000 cash. Morris Plains Police said the scam occurred on Monday, March 27. The victim received a call stating that her grandson “was currently in police custody following a serious motor vehicle crash and a payment was needed for his release.” The caller then elaborated, claiming that both drivers were serious condition, before stating that $15,000 would be required to have her grandson released and have a courier pick up the money. Though the victim …

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by Valerie Musson
Lifestyle
Fyre Festival II Is On, NJ Fraudster Founder Says Fyre Festival II Is On, NJ Fraudster Founder Says
Fyre Festival II Is On, NJ Fraudster Founder Says Lovers of bland cheese sandwiches rejoice! Fyre Festival II is finally happening, so Billy McFarland says. Which means it's probably not happening. McFarland, who was raised in Short Hills, tweeted on Sunday, April 9: For those who don't remember, Fyre Festival I, organized by McFarland and Ja Rule was a massive debacle.  What was supposed to be a planned music festival and luxury weekend on the Bahamas promoted by social media influencers ended with guests sleeping in shoddy tents, served bland cheese sandwiches and being the subject of epic schadenfreude by bemused onlookers relishing ev…

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by Sam Barron
News
Wildwood Mayor Admits Tax Dodge: Feds Wildwood Mayor Admits Tax Dodge: Feds
Wildwood Mayor Admits Tax Dodge: Feds Wildwood Mayor Peter J. Byron admitted Friday that he ducked paying taxes on $40,425 that he received for working as a salesman for a law firm, federal authorities said. Byron, 67, officially pleaded guilty to twice willfully "aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of fraudulent tax returns" to the IRS for calendar years 2017 and 2018, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced on March 24. The mayor still has a state case to deal with. He, former Mayor Ernest V. Troiano Jr. and City Commissioner Steven E. Mikulski were charged last year with fraudulently collecting stat…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
IRS Bags Hundreds Of Tax Cheats, Money Launderers As COVID Relief Fraud Tops $3.2 Billion IRS Bags Hundreds Of Tax Cheats, Money Launderers As COVID Relief Fraud Tops $3.2 Billion
IRS Bags Hundreds Of Tax Cheats, Money Launderers As COVID Relief Fraud Tops $3.2 Billion It wasn't long after the government began offering COVID relief loans three years ago that IRS investigators were hot on the tails of scammers. Since then, agents with IRS Criminal Investigation have pursued 975 tax and money-laundering cases nationwide involving $3.2 billion worth of fraudulently obtained loans, credits and payments meant to help American workers, families, and small businesses who were rocked by the pandemic. Over that time, IRS-CI has kept its conviction rate at nearly 100%, federal authorities say. It has produced indictments against 458 defendants, …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds Charge Exiled Chinese Tycoon With $1B Fraud That Funded $26.5M Mahwah Mansion, More Feds Charge Exiled Chinese Tycoon With $1B Fraud That Funded $26.5M Mahwah Mansion, More
Feds Charge Exiled Chinese Tycoon With $1B Fraud That Funded $26.5M Mahwah Mansion, More Exiled Chinese tycoon Miles Guo was arrested by the FBI Wednesday on charges of swindling his online followers out of more than $1 billion that the government said he used, in part, to buy a 58-room mansion in Mahwah. Some of the agents were still at Guo’s 15-room penthouse in the Sherry-Netherland Hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side the afternoon of March 15, six hours after he’d been arrested there, when a mysterious fire broke out on the 18th floor, responders said. No injuries were reported, but authorities said the blaze significantly damaged Guo’s unit. No one drew any immediate conn…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
'Bling Bishop' From Bergen Accused Of Faking Docs To Finance Paramus Mansion: 'FBI Set Me Up' 'Bling Bishop' From Bergen Accused Of Faking Docs To Finance Paramus Mansion: 'FBI Set Me Up'
'Bling Bishop' From Bergen Accused Of Faking Docs To Finance Paramus Mansion: 'FBI Set Me Up' A flashy Brooklyn bishop who lives in Bergen County – and was infamously robbed at gunpoint during a live-streamed church service last year – claims the FBI set him. Lamor Whitehead was already facing charges of swindling a female parishioner out of $90,000 in retirement money when a new indictment this week accused him of fabricating bank records to try and finance his million-dollar mansion in Paramus. Whitehead made it appear on paper that he controlled an LLC that had an average balance of more than $2 million when it actually had less than 10 bucks, the indictment returned in the Sout…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lifestyle
Gia Giudice Inks Position With Immigration Firm Years After Dad's Deportation Gia Giudice Inks Position With Immigration Firm Years After Dad's Deportation
Gia Giudice Inks Position With Immigration Firm Years After Dad's Deportation "What, like it's hard?" The Martinez Immigration firm channeled its inner Elle Woods in welcoming Gia Giudice to the firm. The 22-year-old Morris County native, whose mom Teresa starred on "Real Housewives of New Jersey," announced she accepted a post-grad position at the immigration firm. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kathleen Martinez (@attorneymartinez) The Rutgers University student is set to graduate in the fall, and will join Martinez Immigration, a virtual firm helmed by Kathleen Martinez. Gia's dad, Joe Giudice, infa…

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by Annie DeVoe
News
‘Bling’ Bishop From Bergen Seized By FBI, Charged With Swindling Retiree Out Of $90,000 ‘Bling’ Bishop From Bergen Seized By FBI, Charged With Swindling Retiree Out Of $90,000
‘Bling’ Bishop From Bergen Seized By FBI, Charged With Swindling Retiree Out Of $90,000 A flashy Brooklyn bishop who lives in Bergen County – and was infamously robbed at gunpoint during a live-streamed church service earlier this year – swindled one of his parishioners out of $90,000 in retirement money that he used for himself, federal authorities charged. Lamor Whitehead, a 44-year-old Paramus resident known for his Rolls Royce, Gucci suits and bling, was arrested by federal agents on Monday, Dec. 19, on an indictment that charges him wire fraud, extortion and lying to the FBI. The indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan accuses Whitehead of …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Hoboken Influencer Ran $114 Million 'Pump And Dump' Stock Scheme: Feds Hoboken Influencer Ran $114 Million 'Pump And Dump' Stock Scheme: Feds
Hoboken Influencer Ran $114 Million 'Pump And Dump' Stock Scheme: Feds A social media influencer from Hoboken and seven other men were charged with running a $114 million "pump and dump" stock scheme. Mitchell Hennessey, 24, used his extensive social media following to hype interest in particular securities by posting false and misleading information on Twitter and Discord, according to prosecutors in the Southern District of Texas. The influencers and self-proclaimed traders artificially inflated the prices of the securities by hyping them up on their platforms, only to "dump" them after the fact, prosecutors said.From in or around January 2020 to in or aroun…

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by Annie DeVoe
Police & Fire
Felony ID Theft Charges For NJ Man With 7 Verizon iPads In Lehigh Valley Delivery Scheme: PD Felony ID Theft Charges For NJ Man With 7 Verizon iPads In Lehigh Valley Delivery Scheme: PD
Felony ID Theft Charges For NJ Man With 7 Verizon iPads In Lehigh Valley Delivery Scheme: PD A Passaic County man who was found with seven iPads during a delivery scheme involving a bogus Verizon customer service rep in the Lehigh Valley area was arrested and charged with felony identity theft and several other offenses, authorities said. Officers responding to a fraudulent activity report on the 1800 block of Felicity Lane in Lower Saucon Township met with a victim around 5:50 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 30, the department said. The victim told police that she had received a Verizon package in the mail with an Apple IPad Pro that had been fraudulently purchased through her Verizon acc…

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by Valerie Musson
Schools
Ex-NJ Assistant Principal Who Faked Reason For Slip-Fall Getting Job Back Ex-NJ Assistant Principal Who Faked Reason For Slip-Fall Getting Job Back
Ex-NJ Assistant Principal Who Faked Reason For Slip-Fall Getting Job Back A former assistant principal of a Hudson County school who faked her slip-and-fall in a stairwell will be getting her job back, the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division ruled. Amanda Sanjuan was hired as a bilingual education teacher in West New York in 1997, and was appointed assistant principal at Memorial High School in 2019. One night in February 2020, Sanjuan was attending an event at the high school when she fell down a flight of stairs and landed on the floor, according to court papers. After hearing a commotion, a teacher and a custodian rushed to the stairs wh…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Cardinal Tobin Imposter Busted On Instagram: Report Cardinal Tobin Imposter Busted On Instagram: Report
Cardinal Tobin Imposter Busted On Instagram: Report If you interacted with Cardinal Joseph Tobin on Instagram, no you didn't. Tobin only has one social media account, and it's Twitter, the Archdiocese of Newark said. An imposter of his was recently busted on Instagram, NJ Advance Media reports. It wasn't clear what type of content the imposter was posting. "Cardinal Tobin only uses a Twitter account, which is monitored daily. The Cardinal’s official, and only, Twitter account is @CardinalJWTobin," the archdiocese said.  "Any other communication allegedly from Cardinal Tobin on any other social media platform, such as a differing T…

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by Cecilia Levine