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Financial Crime

Police & Fire
California Woman Admits To $800,000 Fraud: Morris County Prosecutor California Woman Admits To $800,000 Fraud: Morris County Prosecutor
California Woman Admits To $800,000 Fraud: Morris County Prosecutor A 63-year-old California woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Jan. 21 to defrauding a Hanover Township resident out of more than $800,000, authorities said. In 2023, Anna Marie Bustamante posed as an authorized vendor when the victim sent her $806,727.92, via a bank account that was made to resemble the bank account of the authorized vendor, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office said. As part of her plea agreement with prosecutors, Bustamante is expected to be sentenced to 364 days in the Morris County Correctional Center as a condition of probation, authorities said.  The victi…

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by Sam Barron
Business
Cash App Users To Get Refunds In $175M Order As Feds Target Fraud Cash App Users To Get Refunds In $175M Order As Feds Target Fraud
Cash App Users To Get Refunds In $175M Order As Feds Target Fraud Cash App's parent company will have to pay $175 million for poorly protecting its users from fraud and financial crimes on the payment platform, officials said. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Block to refund up to $120 million to users harmed by fraud, the federal agency said in a news release on Thursday, Jan. 16. The parent company of Cash App, which has more than 56 million accounts, must also pay a $55 million fine into the CFPB’s victims relief fund. The CFPB found that Block failed to properly investigate unauthorized transactions and deprived users of…

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by Chris Spiker
News
$4.3B Now Recovered For Madoff Ponzi Scheme Victims, DOJ Says $4.3B Now Recovered For Madoff Ponzi Scheme Victims, DOJ Says
$4.3B Now Recovered For Madoff Ponzi Scheme Victims, DOJ Says More than $4.3 billion has now been recovered for victims of Bernie Madoff’s massive and infamous Ponzi scheme, the Justice Department announced, as part of a decade-long effort that has compensated over 40,000 people worldwide for nearly 94 percent of their losses. The DOJ says  its 10th and final distribution from the Madoff Victim Fund (MVF), provided more than $131 million to over 23,000 victims. The latest distribution marks the culmination of a decade-long effort to recover and return forfeited funds tied to Madoff's fraudulent investment empire. Most victims, primarily small inv…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
Bergen County Wife Destroyed Phone To Obstruct Feds In Husband's High-Profile Probe: Officials Bergen County Wife Destroyed Phone To Obstruct Feds In Husband's High-Profile Probe: Officials
Bergen County Wife Destroyed Phone To Obstruct Feds In Husband's High-Profile Probe: Officials Federal authorities have charged the wife of a Bergen County celebrity house flipper with trying to obstruct an investigation into her husband’s alleged multimillion-dollar Ponzi-like real estate scheme. Jennifer Iturralde Pina, 43, of Franklin Lakes, is accused of attempting to stop a witness from cooperating with investigators and destroying one of her phones as federal agents arrived to seize it, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said this week. The alleged obstruction is linked to an ongoing investigation involving her husband, Cesar Humberto Pina, 45, a real estate influencer better kn…

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
NJ-Based TD Bank Fined $3B For Allowing Drug Dealers, Human Traffickers To Launder Money: Feds NJ-Based TD Bank Fined $3B For Allowing Drug Dealers, Human Traffickers To Launder Money: Feds
Nj-based TD Bank Fined $3B For Allowing Drug Dealers, Human Traffickers To Launder Money: Feds TD Bank has agreed to pay about $3 billion in historic penalties after its relaxed policies allowed criminals to launder their money, authorities said. The Canadian bank with U.S. headquarters in Cherry Hill pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to not maintain an anti-money laundering program that complies with the Bank Secrecy Act, filing inaccurate currency transaction reports, and laundering money, the Justice Department said in a news release on Thursday, Oct. 10. TD Bank will pay more than $1.8 billion to resolve the DOJ's investigation and $1.3 billion in a penalty f…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Office Manager Embezzled $350K From North Jersey Synagogue, Feds Say Office Manager Embezzled $350K From North Jersey Synagogue, Feds Say
Office Manager Embezzled $350K From North Jersey Synagogue, Feds Say A 51-year-old Scotch Plains woman is charged with embezzling more than $350,000 from a Union County synagogue she worked at, authorities said.  In 2010, Stacy Margaritondo began working at Congregation Beth Israel in Scotch Plains and was later promoted to bookkeeper and office manager in July 2020, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said.  Margaritondo’s duties included accounting/bookkeeping, payroll, preparing checks for accounts payable, and reporting to the synagogue’s board of directors regarding the synagogue’s financial condition, Sellinger said. From Dec. 2019 to May 20…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Five From NJ Admit Pocketing $1.3M In Aircraft Equipment Scam Five From NJ Admit Pocketing $1.3M In Aircraft Equipment Scam
Five From NJ Admit Pocketing $1.3M In Aircraft Equipment Scam A crew of con artists from New Jersey admitted swindling more than $1.3 million from hundreds of businesses nationwide and abroad that thought they were buying specialized aviation equipment. The head of the operation, Antonio P. Signo, 36, of Somerset – aka "Tony Demetro" – had been the first to take a deal from prosecutors rather than face the potential consequences of a trial. The onetime fugitive pleaded guilty last August -- with no public notice from authorities – to a single count of theft by deception, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin revealed on Thursday, May 25. The…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Hudson Sheriff's Officer Admits $98,000 Short-Sale Mortgage Scheme For Jersey Shore Home Ex-Hudson Sheriff's Officer Admits $98,000 Short-Sale Mortgage Scheme For Jersey Shore Home
Ex-Hudson Sheriff's Officer Admits $98,000 Short-Sale Mortgage Scheme For Jersey Shore Home A former Hudson County sheriff’s officer admitted defrauding a bank to duck $98,000 in mortgage payments on a Jersey Shore home, federal authorities said. Osbado Hernandez, 54, of Avenel, conspired with others to lie about a bogus short sale of his house in Keansburg so that the unidentified bank would discharge what was left on his mortgage, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Hernandez bought the property for $239,900 in 2006, financing it through a mortgage loan from the victimized bank, a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Trenton says. He ended up behind on the payments,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Fraudster Put Her Own Email Address On $100K Loan In Victim's Name: Wayne PD Fraudster Put Her Own Email Address On $100K Loan In Victim's Name: Wayne PD
Fraudster Put Her Own Email Address On $100K Loan In Victim's Name: Wayne PD A 47-year-old Wayne woman was arrested for opening $100,000 in loans under someone else's name after she put her own personal contact information on the account, authorities announced. Cherie Elliott used used her own email address, phone number and physical address on the six loans she took out under the victim's name last April, Wayne Police Det. Capt. Dan Daly said. The victim came to police last June when she noticed her credit score suddenly dropped, Daly said. She was told by a financial institution that loans were opened using her personal information -- but had the email a…

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by Cecilia Levine
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
Police & Fire
Teaneck Preacher Admits Stealing $5.3M From Black Nationalist Hate Group Teaneck Preacher Admits Stealing $5.3M From Black Nationalist Hate Group
Teaneck Preacher Admits Stealing $5.3M From Black Nationalist Hate Group A Teaneck preacher who led a religious hate group admitted in federal court in Newark on Wednesday that he stole what prosecutors said was more than $5.3 million from the organization over nearly a decade to pay for luxury cars, lavish vacations and private school for his children. As part of a plea deal with the government, Lincoln Warrington, 48, admitted pocketing the money from his Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ (ICGJC) through a dummy entertainment company that he created with Jermaine Grant, 43, of Burlington Township. Grant, the organization's treasurer, admitted conspiring …

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by Jerry DeMarco