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Marine Corps Vet From NJ Admits Defrauding VA Out Of $119,000, Threatening Agent
A U.S. Marine Corps veteran from New Jersey admitted that he threatened to harm a federal agent after defrauding the VA out of $118,979 in disability benefits, authorities said.
Kamil Wakulik, 38, lied when he claimed that he'd suffered PTSD from active-duty service that included having to recover human remains following natural disasters in the Philippines and Thailand, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
Wakulik, who lives in the Morris County community of Long Valley and was in the Corps from 2003 to 2007, wasn't involved in such operations, the U.S. attorney said.
Ba…
Tappin' IT: Manager Admits Embezzling $4.5M From NJ Brain Injury Fund For Sex With Gal Pals
The now-former manager of a fund for traumatic brain injury patients in New Jersey admitted diverting more than $4.5 million in public money to women he was having sex with, authorities said.
Harry Pizutelli, 64, of Edison, pleaded guilty by videoconference to conspiring to commit health care fraud before a federal judge in Trenton, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced on Wednesday, Jan. 4.
One of the women who benefitted from the scheme, Maritza Flores, 45, of Toms River, pleaded guilty to the same charge, as well as to tax evasion, Sellinger said.
In exchange, Pizutelli had amorou…
Lab Operators In Bergen, Morris Defrauded Government Out Of $3.5M For COVID Tests: Feds
Two business partners from Bergen and Morris counties operated a clinical lab that defrauded government health insurance programs out of an estimated $3.5 million for COVID testing, federal authorities charged.
Tariq Din, 55, of Saddle River, and Abid Syed, 45, of East Hanover, paid kickbacks to "marketers" for referrals to their Metpath Laboratories in Parsippany, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Two of the accused marketers, Muhammed Aurangzeb, 45, of Robbinsville, and David Weathers, 59, of the Bronx, received $5 to $30 per referral from Metpath, the U.S. attorney said.
Weathers …
Armed Robber Admits Role In Multiple Liquor, Convenience Store Holdups In NJ, NY
UPDATE: A member of a New Jersey-based armed robbery crew copped to holding up five liquor and convenience stores in two states, federal authorities said.
Jaime Fontanez, 45, of Elizabeth and two accomplices went on a six-month armed robbery spree beginning in August 2018, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Federal authorities tied the crew to 13 holdups in all in Essex, Union and Middlesex counties, as well as in the Bronx and upstate New York, the U.S. attorney said.
The robbers followed a basic script, with two of them going into the business with their faces covered while a wheelm…
Mortgage Fraud: NJ Developer, Attorney Admit Swindling Lenders Out Of $3.5M
A New Jersey real estate developer and a lawyer admitted running a multi-layered mortgage fraud that cost banks more than $3.5 million in losses, federal authorities said.
Developer Victor Santos, 63, of Watchung, paid stand-in "straw" buyers $5,000 each to first purchase a dozen properties in Newark and then secure tenants to lease them, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
A group of conspirators including him and attorney Fausto Simoes, 69, of Millington, covered the costs -- including fees and mortgage payments, the U.S. attorney said.
"Santos, Simoes, and others also caused the sub…
Feds: Getaway Minivan Driver Gets 12 Years, No Parole, For Armed Robbery Spree In NJ, PA
UPDATE: The man who drove the getaway car -- actually a minivan -- in an armed robbery spree in New Jersey and Pennsylvania must spend the next 12 years in federal prison.
Omar Feliciano-Estremera, 45, was the wheelman for a fellow Trentonian Gabriel Lopez, who authorities said fired a gun during one of the holdups.
The pair committed the robberies at mostly convenience stores in Mercer and Union counties in New Jersey and in Bucks County, PA in May and June of 2019, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Lopez "entered the businesses, brandished a handgun, and demanded money from the sto…
Plea Deal: 10 Years, No Parole, Awaits Philly Dealer Who Slung Meth In NJ
UPDATE: A plea deal is sending a Philadelphia drug dealer who slung meth in New Jersey to federal prison for 10 years without parole, authorities said.
Nasir White, 30, took the deal, pleading guilty to drug conspiracy, rather than risk the consequences of being convicted at a trial. He must serve out the entire sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system.
A fellow dealer, Shawn McGuriman, took the same deal and was sentenced in August 2021 to a decade behind bars, as well, authorities said.
White and McGuriman had a half-pound of meth that they'd agreed to sell to anot…
Ex-Trump Stalker Gets 6 Years, No Parole, For Threatening Secret Service Agent, Vets Officer
UPDATE: A former longtime stalker of former President Trump must spend nearly six years in federal prison for threatening to assault a Secret Service agent and "shoot up" an officer at a VA hospital in New Jersey.
Frank Monte, 52, of Passaic County, NJ, must serve out just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal court system.
Monte, of the Oak Ridge section of West Milford, "repeatedly called the emergency line of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Police at the VA Lyons hospital campus" in Somerset County, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said on Tuesd…
