Tag:

Gurbir S. Grewal

NJ Police Can Now Pursue Stolen Vehicles, AG Says NJ Police Can Now Pursue Stolen Vehicles, AG Says
NJ Police Can Now Pursue Stolen Vehicles, AG Says Police in New Jersey can now pursue stolen vehicle thieves, state Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced on Friday, April 29. Officers and officials at all levels of law enforcement in New Jersey welcomed the news -- with one caveat: A repeal or readjustment of bail reform must be next. Platkin's move, which is effective immediately, reverses a policy update made by his predecessor, Gurbir S. Grewal, in December 2020. "Based upon recommendations from Law enforcement executives, county prosecutors and OPIA (Office of Public Integrity and Accountability) staff, I have dete…
Billion-Dollar Stock Fraud: Indicted Bergen County Businessman Freed On $100M Bond Billion-Dollar Stock Fraud: Indicted Bergen County Businessman Freed On $100M Bond
Billion-Dollar Stock Fraud: Indicted Bergen County Businessman Freed On $100M Bond A Bergen County businessman was arrested by federal agents on charges of orchestrating a massive market manipulation scheme that caused one of the biggest Wall Street trading collapses in history. Sung Kook “Bill” Hwang put the entire financial system at risk by conspiring with his former chief financial officer to boost profits for his Archegos Capital Management by lying to banks to inflate the stock prices of publicly traded companies, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday, April 27. The fraud scheme ballooned Hwang’s personal fortune from $1.5 billion to more than $35 billion in a singl…
Feds: Ponzi Schemer Funded House, Car, More With $6.8M From Investors In NJ, Elsewhere Feds: Ponzi Schemer Funded House, Car, More With $6.8M From Investors In NJ, Elsewhere
Feds: Ponzi Schemer Funded House, Car, More With $6.8M From Investors In NJ, Elsewhere New Jersey residents were among more than two dozen victims who lost a combined $6.8 million to a North Carolina con man running a Ponzi scheme, federal authorities charged. David Schamens, 64, of Greensboro, NC, promised annual return rates of 12% to 30% when he began soliciting investments in 2014 in Secaucus-based TradeStream Analytics LTD, as well as in other entities with names such as TD Trading LLC, TFG Trading LLC, and Tradedesk Financial Group Inc., U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. He then launched Tradestream Algo Fund, an algorithm-based trading pool that he clai…
NJ-Based Crypto Firm Will Pay SEC, States Unprecedented $100M Penalty NJ-Based Crypto Firm Will Pay SEC, States Unprecedented $100M Penalty
Nj-based Crypto Firm Will Pay SEC, States Unprecedented $100M Penalty A Jersey City-based cryptocurrency company will pay a record $100 million to settle alleged violations of investor-protection laws, state and federal authorities jointly announced. BlockFi Lending LLC neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing when it agreed to the highest fine ever by a cryptocurrency company, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Monday, Feb. 14. However, it did take a different course than many of its crypto rivals by not fighting the fine. Of the total, $50 million will be paid to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and up to $50 millio…
HEROES: Officers Justified In Gunning Down Heavily Armed Irvington Killer, Grand Jury Finds HEROES: Officers Justified In Gunning Down Heavily Armed Irvington Killer, Grand Jury Finds
Heroes: Officers Justified In Gunning Down Heavily Armed Irvington Killer, Grand Jury Finds A New Jersey grand jury has cleared a trio of hero police officers from Irvington who gunned down a rifle-wielding man after he'd killed an unarmed civilian and wounded two of them. Kaizen Crossen, 39, had shot and killed Jason Caudle, a father of two, point-blank in the chest when responding officers confronted him in the 300 block of Myrtle Avenue on Aug. 8, 2019, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Thursday. Crossen, who was wearing an Army fatigue vest filled with ammunition, exchanged gunfire with the officers before shots to his shoulder and thigh brought him down, Grewal sai…
Predators, Pedophiles And Perverts: Horror Stories Abound In NJ Online Child-Sex Abuse Roundup Predators, Pedophiles And Perverts: Horror Stories Abound In NJ Online Child-Sex Abuse Roundup
Predators, Pedophiles And Perverts: Horror Stories Abound In NJ Online Child-Sex Abuse Roundup A mail carrier, a train conductor and a retired corrections officer are among 31 men charged amid a massive roundup that produced some horrifying stories about online child sex abuse in the age of COVID, New Jersey authorities announced Wednesday. One of them offered money and other prizes through a social media “game” that he created to convince underage girls to send him nude photos, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Another got victims between 7 and 15 years old to send him sexual photos, then pressured them to send more by threatening to share those he had online, he said. …
New Jersey AG Releases Bodycam Video Of Knife-Wielding Bayonne Man Shot Dead By Police New Jersey AG Releases Bodycam Video Of Knife-Wielding Bayonne Man Shot Dead By Police
New Jersey AG Releases Bodycam Video Of Knife-Wielding Bayonne Man Shot Dead By Police VIDEO: New Jersey's chief law enforcement official on Tuesday released video from three different body cameras that he said captured the shooting death by Bayonne police of a knife-wielding man in his home. Uniformed officers had gone to the West 1st Street home on a 6:30 a.m. call of a domestic disturbance on June 7, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Video shows them being met by a woman whom sources said was the mother of Lee Waskiewicz, 47, with whom she lived. She escorts the officers in and calls Waskiewicz down from the third floor. Seeing police, Waskiewicz  goes "…
Jersey Shore Man Forced Girl, 14, To Carve His Initials Above Her Breast, Indictment Charges Jersey Shore Man Forced Girl, 14, To Carve His Initials Above Her Breast, Indictment Charges
Jersey Shore Man Forced Girl, 14, To Carve His Initials Above Her Breast, Indictment Charges A Jersey Shore man who convinced a 14-year-old girl he met online to carve his initials above her breast with a razor blade threatened to hurt her and her family if she didn’t meet his demands, an indictment returned Wednesday by a state grand jury alleges. Jason Berry, 40, of Keansburg also “demanded that the girl photograph herself engaging in acts of sexual penetration,” then sent some of the images to her mother, the indictment returned in Trenton charges. He also sent the girl “sexually explicit photos and videos of himself,” it adds. The case “demonstrates how powerful online predato…
Authorities ID Pedestrian Struck, Killed By Camden County Police Car, AG Says Authorities ID Pedestrian Struck, Killed By Camden County Police Car, AG Says
Authorities ID Pedestrian Struck, Killed By Camden County Police Car, AG Says The 66-year-old pedestrian struck and fatally injured by a police car in South Jersey last week has been identified, authorities said. Zandra Baez of Camden was pronounced dead shortly after the collision on June 9, according to state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal. Grewal previously said his office was investigating the crash, which is normal state protocol when a police officer is involved in a deadly incident. The patrol officer driving the police vehicle that struck Baez was identified as Officer Kevin Randolph Gilbert Jr. of the Camden County Metro Police Department, Grewal said on…
NJ Motorcyclist Struck By Truck, Killed During Police Pursuit, AG Says NJ Motorcyclist Struck By Truck, Killed During Police Pursuit, AG Says
NJ Motorcyclist Struck By Truck, Killed During Police Pursuit, AG Says A fatal motorcycle crash during a Central Jersey police pursuit is under investigation by the state Attorney General's Office. The motorcycle rider, identified as Odean Cummings of Woodbridge, was struck by a truck after Woodbridge police tried to make a traffic stop, authorities said. The motorcyclist  was pronounced dead at the scene of the Route 1 crash, according to state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal. All northbound lanes were closed from South Inman Avenue to The scene of a fatal crash on Route 1 at Randolph Avenue in Woodbridge. (Photo courtesy of All County News)Facebook/ A…
Clifton Ortho Doc Who State Said Freely Doled Out Opioids Permanently Barred From Practice Clifton Ortho Doc Who State Said Freely Doled Out Opioids Permanently Barred From Practice
Clifton Ortho Doc Who State Said Freely Doled Out Opioids Permanently Barred From Practice UPDATE: A Clifton orthopedic surgeon who prescribed addictive opioid painkillers to patients who abused, sold or otherwise didn't need them was permanently barred from practicing medicine or prescribing drugs in New Jersey, state authorities announced Monday. Evangelos Megariotis – who owned and operated Clifton Orthopedic Associates -- told one patient that "anything that drugs can do on the street, my medications will do better and safer,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. "Just call me,” Grewal quoted him as saying. Megariotis also treated patient complaints of hypertension…
NJ Attorney General Confirms Bayonne Man Shot Dead By Police During Domestic Call NJ Attorney General Confirms Bayonne Man Shot Dead By Police During Domestic Call
NJ Attorney General Confirms Bayonne Man Shot Dead By Police During Domestic Call UPDATE: State authorities were reviewing the events that led up to Bayonne police shooting and killing a man who reportedly lunged at two city officers with a knife. Police were responding to a 911 of a domestic incident at 6:30 a.m. Monday when Lee Waskiewicz, 47, was shot at the West 1st Street home across from Dennis Collins Park where he lived with his mother, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. According to a preliminary investigation, officers approached Waskiewicz in a stairwell, Grewal said, but he "retreated up the stairs" and returned with a knife. "During a second…
State Attorney General Reviews Death Of Trenton Man, 21, In Scooter Crash State Attorney General Reviews Death Of Trenton Man, 21, In Scooter Crash
State Attorney General Reviews Death Of Trenton Man, 21, In Scooter Crash New Jersey Attorney Gurbir S. Grewal said his office was reviewing the death of a 21-year-old Trenton man in a scooter crash because it somehow involved law enforcement. The man, who wasn't identified, was riding a Yamaha scooter without a helmet near the intersection of Route 33 and Whitehorse-Mercerville Road in Hamilton Township when a township officer in an unmarked car spotted him shortly after 9 p.m. on May 25, Grewal said. A release issued by Grewal on Thursday doesn't say whether the officer initiated a pursuit. What it does say is: "Before the officer could stop the scooter opera…
2nd Arrest Made, 3rd Victim Dies In South Jersey Birthday Party Shooting 2nd Arrest Made, 3rd Victim Dies In South Jersey Birthday Party Shooting
2nd Arrest Made, 3rd Victim Dies In South Jersey Birthday Party Shooting A second person was arrested and a third victim died following a birthday party shooting over the weekend in Cumberland County, authorities announced. Darrell Dawkins, 30, of Bridgeton, was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun days after Kevin Dawkins, 36, was arrested on similar charges, New Jersey State Police said. The younger Dawkins was not believed to be a shooter in the incident, in which 14 people were struck by gunfire. Braylin Holmes, 19, of Millville City, died of injuries sustained in the shooting and was pronounced dead Monday night at Cooper University Hospital, pol…
'Birthday Party Turned Deadly': Arrest Made In South Jersey Mass Shooting, 2 Victims ID'd 'Birthday Party Turned Deadly': Arrest Made In South Jersey Mass Shooting, 2 Victims ID'd
'Birthday Party Turned Deadly': Arrest Made In South Jersey Mass Shooting, 2 Victims ID'd A 36-year-old man was arrested in a mass shooting that left two people dead and 12 others injured at a South Jersey birthday party over the weekend, authorities said Monday (scroll to bottom for video of full press briefing). Kevin Dawkins, of Bridgeton, was charged with multiple weapons offenses in connection with the Saturday night shooting during a party with hundreds of people in Cumberland County, state and county officials announced. Kevin Elliot, 30, and Asia Hester, 25 -- both of Bridgeton -- were killed in the shooting, with one of the other 12 people shot in critical condition, a…
Jackson Township Officials 'Weaponized' Zoning Laws To Suppress Orthodox Jews, State Charges Jackson Township Officials 'Weaponized' Zoning Laws To Suppress Orthodox Jews, State Charges
Jackson Township Officials 'Weaponized' Zoning Laws To Suppress Orthodox Jews, State Charges Jackson Township officials “weaponized” zoning laws against Orthodox Jews, making it difficult for them to practice their religion while discouraging others from moving in, state authorities charged Tuesday. Mayor Michael Reina and members of the township council, planning board and zoning board of adjustment devised the anti-Semitic scheme to stop what a former official called “the tsunami of orthodoxy that is mounting at the border," alleges a lawsuit filed by the state. The group was trying to appease a number of intolerant residents who complained to them at public meetings and in hatef…
Video Released Of Jersey Shore Man Shot Dead After Stealing Police Car Video Released Of Jersey Shore Man Shot Dead After Stealing Police Car
Video Released Of Jersey Shore Man Shot Dead After Stealing Police Car Video released Tuesday shows the final moments after a Wildwood Crest man stole a police car, got out and ran at pursuing officers before one of them shot him earlier this month. Roy K. Jackel, 41, was “holding his arm behind his back and ignoring their commands to show his hands” when Franklin Township Police Sgt. David Jernegen finally shot him in Buena Vista on April 5, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Officers provided medical aid until EMS arrived and pronounced Jackel dead, Grewal said. Township police, who are in Gloucester County, had responded to a mutual aid call fro…
Passaic County Prosecutor Takes Over Paterson Police Internal Affairs Unit Passaic County Prosecutor Takes Over Paterson Police Internal Affairs Unit
Passaic County Prosecutor Takes Over Paterson Police Internal Affairs Unit Passaic County’s prosecutor on Tuesday took control of the Paterson Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division following the civil rights arrests of two city officers by the FBI.  Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes “will have full oversight” over the division, which is responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct against members of the department, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said in a joint announcement with her. By so doing, she will “ensure that current and future investigations are conducted thoroughly and fairly, and that officers who engage in misconduct are he…
FBI Charges Paterson Officers With Civil Rights Violations In Beating Of Arab-American Resident FBI Charges Paterson Officers With Civil Rights Violations In Beating Of Arab-American Resident
FBI Charges Paterson Officers With Civil Rights Violations In Beating Of Arab-American Resident Two Paterson police officers beat a 19-year-old Arab-American man and then lied about it, said federal authorities who charged them with violating the victim's civil rights. Officers Kevin Patino, 29, surrendered to federal agents Tuesday morning and was expected to be followed by Kendry Tineo-Restituyo, 28, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Both are charged with “depriving a victim of his Constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by law enforcement officers and with filing a false police report,” Honig said. ****** IN ADDITION: Passaic County’s prosecu…
Popular Wildwood Bar Banned From Serving Alcohol During Summer Over COVID-19 Violations Popular Wildwood Bar Banned From Serving Alcohol During Summer Over COVID-19 Violations
Popular Wildwood Bar Banned From Serving Alcohol During Summer Over Covid-19 Violations A popular Wildwood bar will not be serving alcohol this summer over repeated violations of COVID-19 restrictions, state officials said. Shamrock Beef and Ale (Shamrock), on Pacific Avenue, agreed to stop serving alcohol between May 1 and Sept. 30 under a settlement between the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and Tommy G’s Shamrock, LLC (Tommy G’s) -- the bar's holding company, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Two other venues operating under the Tommy’ G’s license at that location – Castaway’s Pirate Bar and Club Amnesia – must also cease serving alcohol during the suspens…
Passaic County Adviser Conned Investors Out Of $471,602, State Authorities Charge Passaic County Adviser Conned Investors Out Of $471,602, State Authorities Charge
Passaic County Adviser Conned Investors Out Of $471,602, State Authorities Charge An investment adviser from Passaic County stole $471,602 from two dozen investors he recruited for an unregulated commodities trading group, state authorities charged. The business he the Think Big Institute was failing when Scott Nicholson, 53, of North Haledon, began to “misappropriate investor monies by withdrawing existing investment monies and new investments for his personal benefit,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Over the course of five years, Nicholson transferred $373,823 in investment money to his personal checking account and paid $271,129 worth of personal expens…
Bayonne Dry Cleaner Owner Sexually Discriminated Against Lesbian Worker, State Says Bayonne Dry Cleaner Owner Sexually Discriminated Against Lesbian Worker, State Says
Bayonne Dry Cleaner Owner Sexually Discriminated Against Lesbian Worker, State Says The owner of a Bayonne dry cleaners discriminated against a lesbian employee by mocking her in front of workers and customers, state authorities said Tuesday. The counter worker quit her job at Professional Touch Dry Cleaning & Apparel Repairs after two years because the owner “subjected her to a hostile working environment by openly disclosing, discussing, and deriding her sexual orientation,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Throughout her employment there, the owner – whom Grewal didn’t identify by name – “repeatedly made discriminatory comments about the fact that she i…
Married State Police Couple Lied About Jersey Shore Bar Brawl, NJ Attorney General Charges Married State Police Couple Lied About Jersey Shore Bar Brawl, NJ Attorney General Charges
Married State Police Couple Lied About Jersey Shore Bar Brawl, NJ Attorney General Charges Video shows that a married New Jersey State Police detective couple lied when they claimed they weren’t involved in a North Wildwood bar fight early last year, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Thursday. Detective Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Ogden, 52, and Detective Sgt. Dorothy Ogden, 46, both of Hammonton, received summonses Thursday charging them with falsifying or tampering with records, Grewal said. Video from the bar shows Gregory Ogden pushing people and trying to get at a man who bouncers were escorting out of the Exit 6 bar on Feb. 20, 2020, the attorney general said. Ogen is seen…
FBI: Middlesex Man Admits Trying To Torch Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest FBI: Middlesex Man Admits Trying To Torch Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest
FBI: Middlesex Man Admits Trying To Torch Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest UPDATE: A Middlesex County man admitted Tuesday that he stuffed a rag into the gas tank of a police cruiser and set it on fire during a riot in Trenton following what had been a peaceful protest last year over the death of George Floyd. Justin Spry, 22, of South Plainfield took a deal from the government rather than go to trial, becoming the second of three men involved in the incident to admit their roles. Spry originally tried claiming on Twitter that he was brutalized by police, but federal authorities produced surveillance video showing otherwise. “Law enforcement officers on scene ob…
Indictment: NJSP Trooper Put Female Motorist In Fear By Stopping Her Twice, Following Her Home Indictment: NJSP Trooper Put Female Motorist In Fear By Stopping Her Twice, Following Her Home
Indictment: Njsp Trooper Put Female Motorist In Fear By Stopping Her Twice, Following Her Home A New Jersey state trooper accused of pulling over a female motorist twice and then following her home to hit on her was indicted Thursday by a grand jury in Trenton. Michael Patterson, 29, of Bayonne first the victim for an unspecified offense on the New Jersey Turnpike on Jan. 28, 2020, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. After letting her go with a warning, Paterson “conducted a second, unwarranted stop of her vehicle a few minutes later when she exited the Turnpike at Exit 11….in order to make unwanted advances on the woman,” Grewal said. Patterson “put the victim in fear by …
Four More NJ Prison Officers Charged In Vicious Beatings Of Female Inmates Four More NJ Prison Officers Charged In Vicious Beatings Of Female Inmates
Four More NJ Prison Officers Charged In Vicious Beatings Of Female Inmates UPDATE: Four more correctional officers have been charged in the brutal beating and pepper-spraying of inmates at a New Jersey women’s prison, bringing the total to eight, authorities announced Thursday. Of the four officers newly charged for the January incident at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, one is from Maywood, another from Paterson, a third from Somerset and the other from East Piscataway. All four senior officers “purposely or knowingly attempted to cause serious bodily injury to inmates as an accomplice or as a principal by using force beyond what was objectively reasonable …
Trenton Rioter Threw Makeshift Molotov Cocktail At State Troopers, New Indictment Charges Trenton Rioter Threw Makeshift Molotov Cocktail At State Troopers, New Indictment Charges
Trenton Rioter Threw Makeshift Molotov Cocktail At State Troopers, New Indictment Charges A Trenton man already charged federally with throwing a makeshift Molotov cocktail into a city police vehicle following a protest last year now faces charges of throwing another at New Jersey State Police troopers moments later. The troopers were subduing another rioter when Kadeem Dockery, 29, crouched behind the Trenton police SUV, threw the device at them and ran, an indictment returned by a state grand jury in Trenton charges. The device “exploded at the feet of the troopers, causing one to suffer temporary loss of hearing,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Tuesday. The May…
All Shook Down: Bergen Payroll Manager’s Extortion Racket Shorted Workers By $1M, State Charges All Shook Down: Bergen Payroll Manager’s Extortion Racket Shorted Workers By $1M, State Charges
All Shook Down: Bergen Payroll Manager’s Extortion Racket Shorted Workers By $1M, State Charges The payroll manager of a Saddle Brook construction company shorted a group of employees' pay by more than $1 million by shaking them down for cash kickbacks, state authorities charged. Toni Jovanoski, 44, of Montvale was charged with misconduct by a corporate official and making false payment claims for a public works contract, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced Monday. At the same time, state officials allowed the general contractor, UniMak, to avoid criminal charges by agreeing to repay the seven cheated employees the full $1,082,041 they lost, he said. For more than five …
Rockin' The 60s: Veteran Culprits Nabbed In NJ-Wide Thefts Of Work Vans, Trucks, State Says Rockin' The 60s: Veteran Culprits Nabbed In NJ-Wide Thefts Of Work Vans, Trucks, State Says
Rockin' The 60s: Veteran Culprits Nabbed In Nj-wide Thefts Of Work Vans, Trucks, State Says Two ex-cons in their 60s were part of a ring that stole more than 30 work vehicles from victims in seven North Jersey counties, authorities said. Their end came in a quick succession of arrests that followed an operation led by New Jersey State Police -- and involving dozens of local police departments -- that was dubbed “Operation Cat Burglar.” Crew members in January began snatching work vans and trucks from owners in Bergen, Passaic, Essex, Union, Hudson, Morris, and Middlesex counties, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. They stored the stolen vehicles in a lot in North Berg…
Saddle Brook Chief Charged With Ordering On-Duty Police Escorts For His Funeral Business Saddle Brook Chief Charged With Ordering On-Duty Police Escorts For His Funeral Business
Saddle Brook Chief Charged With Ordering On-Duty Police Escorts For His Funeral Business State authorities on Monday charged Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler with ordering on-duty police officers to conduct escorts for his funeral business using department vehicles. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office has temporarily assumed control over the day-to-day operation of the Saddle Brook Police Department as a result, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced. Kugler, 59, of Saddle Brook, was issued a summons charging him with conspiracy, official misconduct and corruption of public resources, Grewal said. A hearing was yet to be scheduled. He also was suspended wit…
Mahwah Financial Advisor Siphoned $1 Million From 98-Year-Old Widow's Account, State Says Mahwah Financial Advisor Siphoned $1 Million From 98-Year-Old Widow's Account, State Says
Mahwah Financial Advisor Siphoned $1 Million From 98-Year-Old Widow's Account, State Says A financial adviser from Mahwah pocketed nearly $700,000 and diverted another $300,000 or so of a 98-year-old widow’s money, said state authorities who stripped him of his ability to operate any longer in New Jersey. John Joseph Cahill, 71, used the woman’s bank account to write and cash $693,990 worth of checks, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Friday. Cahill also used the account to pay his daughter, his wife, and various others more than $300,000 to provide unexplained services to the woman, the attorney general said. Cahill had been granted power of attorney for the victim,…