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New Jersey Bureau of Securities

Police & Fire
Bergen Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme Bergen Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme
Bergen Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme It seemed state and federal prosecutors had thrown all they could at a Bergen County father and son for a series of multi-million-dollar investment scams. But state authorities announced a new indictment against both men on Monday, Nov. 6. This time, George Bussanich, Sr., 65, of Park Ridge, and George Bussanich, Jr., 43, of Upper Saddle River, are charged with defrauding investors and mortgage lenders out of more than $2.5 million through a “fix and flip” investment scam involving Jersey Shore real estate. Victims believed they were funding the purchase, renovation, and resale of four…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Advisor Who Swindled Mentally Impaired Elderly Siblings Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen Jersey Shore Advisor Who Swindled Mentally Impaired Elderly Siblings Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen
Jersey Shore Advisor Who Swindled Mentally Impaired Elderly Siblings Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen UPDATE: A former investment advisor from the Jersey Shore who admitted swindling elderly and impaired clients out of more than $625,000 to partly fund a gambling habit was sentenced to a plea-bargained 3½ years in federal prison this week. Mario E. Rivero Jr., 39, of Red Bank, must serve out the entire term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Rivero, a former Wells Fargo agent and investment adviser representative who had an office in Elizabeth, convinced five clients to transfer investment funds to their personal bank accounts, federal authorities charged. Many of his …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Broker Loses Registration, Fined $150G For Going Rogue With Hudson Valley Tequila Startup NJ Broker Loses Registration, Fined $150G For Going Rogue With Hudson Valley Tequila Startup
NJ Broker Loses Registration, Fined $150G For Going Rogue With Hudson Valley Tequila Startup A former New Jersey broker-dealer agent from Rockland County had his registration revoked and was fined $150,000 for steering clients to a Hudson Valley tequila startup whose founder went to federal prison. Michael W. Mandel of Suffern sold the securities in the form of ownership interests in "6 Degree Tequila" via unauthorized private transactions, state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.  Records show Mandel was working at the time as an agent and investment adviser representative for two New Jersey broker-dealers -- Royal Alliance Associates in Old Tappan and, later, LPL Fina…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Jersey Shore Financial Advisors Fined $800K, Licenses Revoked: AG Jersey Shore Financial Advisors Fined $800K, Licenses Revoked: AG
Jersey Shore Financial Advisors Fined $800K, Licenses Revoked: AG A Monmouth County investment firm has been fined $800,000 for hiring an unregistered financial advisor, New Jersey authorities said. The advisor had been barred from the securities industry, according to Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. The New Jersey Bureau of Securities took further action against the Atlantic Highlands investment firm by revoking its registrations, Plotkin said. Acting Bureau Chief Amy G. Kopleton found that Steven Gluckstein and his advisory firm, Seaview Global Advisors LLC, employed Anthony Calascione from approximately 2017 through 2021, and allowed him t…

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by Jon Craig
News
NJ: Elderly Siblings With 8th-Grade Educations Swindled In $500,000 Investment Scam NJ: Elderly Siblings With 8th-Grade Educations Swindled In $500,000 Investment Scam
NJ: Elderly Siblings With 8th-Grade Educations Swindled In $500,000 Investment Scam A former investment adviser swindled four elderly New Jersey customers out of $529,780 that he used for gambling, meals and car payments, state authorities said. Three of the victims conned by Mario E. Rivero, Jr. were elderly siblings who had eighth-grade educations, couldn't speak or read English and had "diminished capacity," Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Monday, March 14. Rivero -- who'd known the siblings for more than 10 years before becoming their financial professional -- told them and others that their money "would be invested in his mother's and fr…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Authorities: Long Island Couple In $1 Million Securities Scam Targeted Elderly NJ Investors Authorities: Long Island Couple In $1 Million Securities Scam Targeted Elderly NJ Investors
Authorities: Long Island Couple In $1 Million Securities Scam Targeted Elderly NJ Investors Several New Jersey seniors were scammed out of more than $1 million combined by a Long Island couple, Garden State authorities have charged. Salvatore Magaraci, 63, and A. Kirsten Gallardo, 60, of Huntington, NY specifically targeted elderly victims to pitch unregistered securities to for a crooked – and now defunct -- company, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said. The Woodbridge Group of Companies purported to be a commercial lender that made hard-money loans secured by mortgages on commercial property. It ended up being ordered to pay $1 billion -- and saw its foun…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
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…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
New Fraud Cases Name Relatives Of Imprisoned Father, Son Scammers From Mahwah, Saddle River New Fraud Cases Name Relatives Of Imprisoned Father, Son Scammers From Mahwah, Saddle River
New Fraud Cases Name Relatives Of Imprisoned Father, Son Scammers From Mahwah, Saddle River It seemed that state and federal prosecutors had thrown all they could at Bergen County’s George Bussanich and his son for a series of multi-million-dollar investment scams the past several years. But state authorities announced a new case Friday that also includes Bussanich's daughter and son-in-law as co-defendants. George Bussanich Sr., 62, of Park Ridge is already serving a 27-month federal prison stretch in Allenwood, PA for defrauding mortgage lenders and is due for release in 10 months. His son, George Bussanich Jr., 41, of Saddle River is up for parole this November from an eight-y…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Morristown Adviser In Investment Scams Fined $750,000, Loses Registration Morristown Adviser In Investment Scams Fined $750,000, Loses Registration
Morristown Adviser In Investment Scams Fined $750,000, Loses Registration A Morristown investment adviser was fined $750,000 and had his registration pulled for selling more than $12 million of unregistered securities in New Jersey, some of which were tied to Ponzi schemes and other scams, state authorities said Tuesday. Gary Scheer, managing member and sole investment adviser representative of Retirement Financial Advisors, LLC in Morristown, recommended and sold unregistered securities to at least 50 investors from 2010 through 2018, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. He made more than $600,000 in commissions on the sales, which involved franchises, …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Father-Son Investment Scammers From Bergen Get State Prison Time Tacked Onto Federal Sentences Father-Son Investment Scammers From Bergen Get State Prison Time Tacked Onto Federal Sentences
Father-Son Investment Scammers From Bergen Get State Prison Time Tacked Onto Federal Sentences Having been sentenced to federal time, two members of a Bergen County family of con artists received state prison terms Friday in Hackensack for defrauding investors in back-to-back multi-million dollar scams. George Bussanich Sr., 61, of Park Ridge, was sentenced to 10 years in state prison, while George Bussanich Jr., 40, of Saddle River, was sentenced to eight years in state prison. Bussanich Sr.’s wife, Wilma Bussanich, 58, was sentenced Friday to five years of probation and 125 hours of community service for a previous guilty plea to money laundering. Last March, George Bussanich Sr. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Broker From Livingston Stole $270K From Elderly Couple Broker From Livingston Stole $270K From Elderly Couple
Broker From Livingston Stole $270K From Elderly Couple An investment broker must pay restitution to an elderly widow after admitting he stole more than a quarter of a million dollars from her and her husband, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Monday. Michael Alan Siegel, 62, of Livingston, who pleaded guilty to theft by deception in Essex County Superior Court, is scheduled to be sentenced in September. Prosecutors wilk ask for a three-year sentence. Siegel was friends with the couple when he suggested they transfer their investment accounts, which totaled more than $2 million, to the brokerage Siegel went to work for in 2013. The husband…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Park Ridge Father, Upper Saddle River Son Admit Conning Elderly Investors Out Of Millions Park Ridge Father, Upper Saddle River Son Admit Conning Elderly Investors Out Of Millions
Park Ridge Father, Upper Saddle River Son Admit Conning Elderly Investors Out Of Millions A Bergen County father and son admitted they conned mostly elderly investors out of $3 million – after getting caught earlier scamming the very same people and others out of $5.5 million. George Bussanich Sr. and his son “ruthlessly stole the life savings of elderly investors to bankroll their own expensive homes, high-end cars, and luxury dining and travel,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. George Bussanich Jr., for example, bought a house in Upper Saddle River worth nearly $1 million. “What makes this case even more egregious is that they defrauded many of the same elderly r…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
FINED: River Vale Hustler Used Investments For Strip Club, Limos, More FINED: River Vale Hustler Used Investments For Strip Club, Limos, More
Fined: River Vale Hustler Used Investments For Strip Club, Limos, More Investors who “thought they were getting in on the ground floor of a legitimate business venture” were instead funding the lavish lifestyle of a River Vale man who used their money on steak dinners, limo service, $8,800 worth of visits to a strip club and other personal expenses, authorities charged. Eric J. Bruno and his company, Mirakill Brands, “misled at least eight investors – including at least seven from New Jersey – into buying unregistered securities in the form of membership interests and warrants to buy membership interests in Mirakill,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal sai…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Former Alpine Businessman Gets 19 Months In $5M Investment Scam Former Alpine Businessman Gets 19 Months In $5M Investment Scam
Former Alpine Businessman Gets 19 Months In $5M Investment Scam A former Alpine businessman who scammed investors out of more than $5 million was sentenced to 19 months in federal prison on Tuesday. James Trolice, 64, previously admitted selling investors interests in companies that he and Lee Vaccaro, 46, of Las Vegas, claimed held securities that “gave holders the right to buy common stock at a specific price within a certain time frame,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Trolice at the time was president and owner of Trolice Consulting Services LLC and president and chief marketing officer of eAgency, a California-based company that developed mobil…

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by Jerry DeMarco