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Former Gottheimer Aide Admits Forging Congressional Letters Former Gottheimer Aide Admits Forging Congressional Letters
Former Gottheimer Aide Admits Forging Congressional Letters A now-former aide to New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer admitted using the U.S. House of Representatives seal to falsify letters written on the federal lawmaker’s letterhead. Patrick Sheehan, 29, of West Milford, was working as director of community outreach in Gottheimer’s Sussex County office in Newton when he “falsified and mailed” a series of letters that purported to be from another staffer containing false information about the congressman and that employee, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said following Friday's guilty plea. Sheehan then “falsified multiple copies of a letter on [G…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
South Jersey Grocery Store Owner Admits $260,000 Food Stamp Scam South Jersey Grocery Store Owner Admits $260,000 Food Stamp Scam
South Jersey Grocery Store Owner Admits $260,000 Food Stamp Scam A Camden grocery store owner admitted trading drugs and cash for government-issued debit cards that he and several accomplices used to steal $260,000 in benefits intended for families in need. Luciano Estevez, 50, pleaded guilty on Wednesday via teleconference after federal agents caught him and three of the others in a sting, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, allows users to buy necessary groceries. Although exchanging SNAP cards for cash is illegal, Estevez and his acco…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: NJ Postal Worker Admits $687,000 Slip And Fall Scam Feds: NJ Postal Worker Admits $687,000 Slip And Fall Scam
Feds: NJ Postal Worker Admits $687,000 Slip And Fall Scam A former U.S. Postal Service worker from Essex County admitted Monday that she pocketed unreported income -- and traveled to France and Africa -- while collecting $686,588 in workers compensation payments for an on-the-job slip and fall that she claimed disabled her, federal authorities said. Janeide Chillis, 53, of Irvington, pleaded guilty during a teleconference in exchange for leniency at a scheduled Sept. 10 sentencing on fraud and making false statements charges. Chillis began receiving workers compensation benefits from the U.S. Department of Labor after reporting that she'd been inj…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For
Feds Smash Hundreds Of Online Coronavirus Scams -- And Tell You What To Look For Federal authorities said they've gotten help from domain providers and others in smashing hundreds of online sites exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to commit fraud and other crimes. As of Tuesday, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) had received and reviewed more than 3,600 complaints related to COVID-19 scams, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Many of them “operated from websites that advertised fake vaccines and cures, operated fraudulent charity drives, delivered malware, or hosted various other types of scams,” federal officials said in a release. To attract traffic, t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
COVID-19 SCAM ALERT: Here’s How Stimulus Scammers Try To Steal Your Money COVID-19 SCAM ALERT: Here’s How Stimulus Scammers Try To Steal Your Money
Covid-19 Scam ALERT: Here’s How Stimulus Scammers Try To Steal Your Money Fear and uncertainty created by the coronavirus have made victims of people who’ve ended up giving what amounts to blank checks to scammers who claim to be contacting them about stimulus payments. Stimulus payments are automatic for seniors and taxpayers who filed tax returns in 2018 or 2019, state New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Friday. There are no phone calls, no need to do anything but count the amount when it comes in the mail or is directly deposited sometime this month. If you do get a call, text or email from someone asking for your Social Security, checking accou…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: Ex-Jerseyan Calls In Bogus Coronavirus Pizza 'Donations' For NJ Police, Hospitals Authorities: Ex-Jerseyan Calls In Bogus Coronavirus Pizza 'Donations' For NJ Police, Hospitals
Authorities: Ex-Jerseyan Calls In Bogus Coronavirus Pizza 'Donations' For NJ Police, Hospitals BEYOND BELIEF: A transplanted New Jerseyan has preyed on the goodwill of Garden State pizzerias and restaurants amid the coronavirus pandemic to phone in several thousands of dollars worth of bogus food orders that he claims are for hospitals and first responders, authorities said. Then he says he hates Italians and hopes they get the virus, they said. "We have had several residents send us food, which I appreciate tremendously, but this has gone to a new low,” South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond Hayducka said. "It is incomprehensible." Sudeep Khetani, 34, formerly of South Brunswick, has…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Maywood Detectives Nab 15 In $40,000 Mailbox Checks Theft Maywood Detectives Nab 15 In $40,000 Mailbox Checks Theft
Maywood Detectives Nab 15 In $40,000 Mailbox Checks Theft Maywood police snared a whopping 15 people in the mailbox theft of what turned into more than $40,000 worth of checks. Police responding to a citizen’s call at 3:23 a.m. last Aug. 19 found a mailbox pried open, and its contents removed, at the intersection of West Pleasant and Wyoming avenues, Detective Sgt. William Phayre said Tuesday. “Over the course of the next several weeks, more than a dozen victims reported fraudulent activity involving checks that were placed in the mailbox during the days leading up to the theft,” Phayre said. “Many of the checks were altered and deposited into va…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Newark Grocery Store Father, Son Sentenced In $3.49M Federal SNAP Benefits Fraud Newark Grocery Store Father, Son Sentenced In $3.49M Federal SNAP Benefits Fraud
Newark Grocery Store Father, Son Sentenced In $3.49M Federal SNAP Benefits Fraud A Newark man was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison and his son to 15 months of home detention Thursday for blatantly exchanging federal food benefits for $3.49 million in cash. Juan Perdomo ran M&R Supermarket in Newark, which accepted Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments through government-issued debit cards issued to families in need. The federally funded program, formerly known as food stamps, allows users to purchase food, but the benefit cannot be exchanged for cash. Authorities say Perdomo, along with his son, Jose, and wife, Maria Rodrigue…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Paterson Police Sergeant Indicted By Federal Grand Jury Paterson Police Sergeant Indicted By Federal Grand Jury
Paterson Police Sergeant Indicted By Federal Grand Jury A Paterson police sergeant stole money from a suspect, then lied on reports to protect himself and his department accomplices, an indictment returned Thursday by a federal grand jury in Newark charges. Sgt. Michael Cheff, 49, of Paterson signed off on bogus reports submitted by a group of rogue officers he supervised who routinely violated citizens’ civil rights by stopping and searching them on the street and in vehicles, the indictment says. Cheff “routinely received a portion of these stolen monies from some of these officers and signed off on corresponding false police reports about th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Teaneck Church Treasurer, Preacher Headed To Fed Pen For Taking $5.3M From Religious Hate Group Teaneck Church Treasurer, Preacher Headed To Fed Pen For Taking $5.3M From Religious Hate Group
Teaneck Church Treasurer, Preacher Headed To Fed Pen For Taking $5.3M From Religious Hate Group A Teaneck man was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison Tuesday for helping a religious hate group preacher steal more than $5.3 million from the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ to pay for luxury cars, lavish vacations and private school for his children. Lincoln Warrington, the 49-year-old church treasurer, teamed up with Jermaine Grant, 44, of Burlington Township to funnel the money into Warrington's pockets through a dummy entertainment company, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. They bought buy luxury cars, designer clothing and real estate, took family trips to Disne…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: Belleville Real Estate Investor Nabbed In Million-Dollar Mortgage Scheme Feds: Belleville Real Estate Investor Nabbed In Million-Dollar Mortgage Scheme
Feds: Belleville Real Estate Investor Nabbed In Million-Dollar Mortgage Scheme A Belleville real estate investor doctored applications to obtain more than $1 million in mortgages that all defaulted, federal authorities said. Cabral Simpson, 43, and a group of co-conspirators left lenders and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development holding the bag by creating bogus bank statements and fake employee verification records for unqualified property buyers, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. They then transferred enough money into the buyers’ bank accounts to cover the property deposit, Carpenito said. The scheme "induced lenders to issue more than $1 million …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Scammers Who Paid Bills, Bought Fancy Cars With Homemade Money Orders Headed To Fed Pen NJ Scammers Who Paid Bills, Bought Fancy Cars With Homemade Money Orders Headed To Fed Pen
NJ Scammers Who Paid Bills, Bought Fancy Cars With Homemade Money Orders Headed To Fed Pen Two New Jersey men are bound for federal prison for producing bogus money orders and cashier’s checks that they used to buy themselves luxury cars, pay off credit card bills and clear a mortgage. Germaine Howard King, 47, of Elizabeth was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Newark to 70 months. Daniel D. Dxrams (currently known as “Daniel Kusi”), 41, of Maplewood was sentenced to 57 months. Both must serve their entire terms because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. “King was convicted for his role in a scheme to defraud banks and other lenders using phony money order…

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by Jerry DeMarco