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Securities Fraud

'Heartless And Despicable': NJ Broker Who Scammed $3.7M From Gold Star Families Sentenced 'Heartless And Despicable': NJ Broker Who Scammed $3.7M From Gold Star Families Sentenced
'Heartless And Despicable': NJ Broker Who Scammed $3.7M From Gold Star Families Sentenced A former Army financial counselor from Colts Neck will spend more than a decade in prison after admitting to scamming Gold Star families out of more than $3 million, authorities said. Caz Craffy, 42, was sentenced on Wednesday, Aug. 21 to 12 years and seven months in prison, New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a news release. He pleaded guilty to 10 charges on Tuesday, Apr. 16. Craffy, who's also known as "Carz Craffey," had been a major in the U.S. Army Reserve since 2003. His Army affiliation was terminated in January 2023, according to military records. Ac…
Ex-NJ Corrections Officer's Crypto Scam Targeted Police, Firefighters, EMTs: Authorities Ex-NJ Corrections Officer's Crypto Scam Targeted Police, Firefighters, EMTs: Authorities
Ex-NJ Corrections Officer's Crypto Scam Targeted Police, Firefighters, EMTs: Authorities A retired New Jersey corrections lieutenant preyed on his peers with a cryptocurrency scheme that cost participating police, firefighters, EMTs, and other first responders more than $620,000, state and federal authorities said. John DeSalvo, 47, of Linwood, also pulled a $100,000 investment scam that authorities said went to covering his credit card bills, day trading in cryptocurrencies and payments to a contractor who handled a luxury bathroom renovation for him. DeSalvo -- who worked for the New Jersey Department of Corrections for 13 years before retiring in 2010 -- created and promote…
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…
'We Don't Want To End Up In Orange Jumpsuits,' Said CEO Arrested For $175M Scam In NJ 'We Don't Want To End Up In Orange Jumpsuits,' Said CEO Arrested For $175M Scam In NJ
'We Don't Want To End Up In Orange Jumpsuits,' Said CEO Arrested For $175M Scam In NJ A former CEO whose star once shone so bright she made the Forbes 30-Under-30 list could soon be swapping her business suits for prison jumpsuits — something she'd been dreading. "We don't want to end up in orange jumpsuits," is what Charlie Javice apparently said months before her New Jersey arrest Monday, April 3, according to federal prosecutors. The 31-year-old founder of Frank, a for-profit company that simplified the student loan application process, is facing federal charges for falsifying data sets, ultimately scamming J.P Morgan Chase out of $175 million officials said. It wasn't i…
Ex-Trump PAC Exec Who Blamed 'That B****' Hillary Clinton For Probe Indicted By Feds In NJ Ex-Trump PAC Exec Who Blamed 'That B****' Hillary Clinton For Probe Indicted By Feds In NJ
Ex-Trump PAC Exec Who Blamed 'That B****' Hillary Clinton For Probe Indicted By Feds In NJ A former pro-Trump PAC exec who blamed "that b**** Hillary Clinton" for his troubles with the law swindled more than two dozen investors out of $7 million, an indictment returned Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Newark alleges. U.S. Homeland Security agents a year ago this month smashed the alleged Ponzi scheme that they said New Jersey-based businessman David Schamens, 65, used to fund a lavish lifestyle. Now comes a March 28 indictment that charges him with wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. Schamens, of Greensboro, North Carolina, used some of the investment money fro…
Phucket Fugitive Returned To Face Charges In NJ Deli Fraud Scheme Phucket Fugitive Returned To Face Charges In NJ Deli Fraud Scheme
Phucket Fugitive Returned To Face Charges In NJ Deli Fraud Scheme A fugitive from Thailand was returned to the United States to face charges in a massive market manipulation scheme involving a New Jersey deli company whose stock was once valued at an illogical $100 million, federal authorities announced. A U.S. District Court magistrate judge in Newark ordered one-time Hong Kong businessman Peter Coker Jr. held after he was flown in custody from a Bangkok jail. Coker, 54, formerly of North Carolina, was seized at a hotel in the resort area of Phuket in mid-January following the arrests of his father, Peter Coker Sr., and James Patten in North Carolina. C…
NJ Deli Fraud Scheme Mastermind Arrested In Thailand: Feds NJ Deli Fraud Scheme Mastermind Arrested In Thailand: Feds
NJ Deli Fraud Scheme Mastermind Arrested In Thailand: Feds An international company chairman charged over a purported scheme to manipulate the stock market — one that resulted in a bogus $100M valuation for a Gloucester County deli despite minimal sales — was arrested in Thailand, the feds confirmed. Peter Coker Jr., 54, had been a fugitive since September when prosecutors filed 12 federal charges against him, his father, Peter Coker Sr., 80, and associate James Patten, 63. The trio allegedly boosted the share prices of Hometown International Inc. and another firm, E-Waste Corp. Matthew Reilly, a spokesperson for the New Jersey US Attorney’s Offic…
$116M COVID Test Scam: Federal Grand Jury In NJ Indicts Ex-NYC Health Care Company CEO From CT $116M COVID Test Scam: Federal Grand Jury In NJ Indicts Ex-NYC Health Care Company CEO From CT
$116M COVID Test Scam: Federal Grand Jury In NJ Indicts Ex-nyc Health Care Company CEO From CT The former CEO of a New York-based health care company was charged with orchestrating a coronavirus rapid-test investment scam that fleeced victims of $116 million, federal authorities said. Marc Schessel, 62, of Greenwich, CT, had his company, SCWorx Corps, make bogus public claims that it was buying and selling at least 48 million COVID test kits that it never received, an indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Newark alleges. "The claims share price surged, rising by over 400 percent from approximately $2.25 per share to an intraday high of $14.88. per share," according to a relea…
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…
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…
NJ FEDS: Miracle-Aspirin Investment Scam Sends Long Island Man To Prison For 4½ Years NJ FEDS: Miracle-Aspirin Investment Scam Sends Long Island Man To Prison For 4½ Years
NJ Feds: Miracle-Aspirin Investment Scam Sends Long Island Man To Prison For 4½ Years A Long Island man must spend the next 4½ years in prison for scamming investors out of $3.5 million through what he claimed was a revolutionary new aspirin, federal authorities in New Jersey said. Donald A. Milne III, a 57-year-old repeat offender from Massapequa, defrauded more than 70 victims from throughout the country, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. All thought they'd invested in what he touted as a “fast-acting form of powdered aspirin that could instantly stop heart attacks and strokes," Sellinger said. Milne used the money instead for a Caribbean vacation, boating expe…
$1.5M Cosmetics Company Scam Sends Englewood Swindler To Federal Prison For 2½ Years $1.5M Cosmetics Company Scam Sends Englewood Swindler To Federal Prison For 2½ Years
$1.5M Cosmetics Company Scam Sends Englewood Swindler To Federal Prison For 2½ Years A former Englewood resident must serve nearly 2½ years in federal prison for scamming three investors out of $1.5 million. Matthew Benjamin, 54, used the victims' money for car and house rental payments, food, international travel, legal fees, technology equipment and summer camp tuition for family members, among other purposes, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Benjamin, currently of New York, told the victims that his purported company, Clear Solutions Group, had lucrative contracts to purchase closeout or excess cosmetic inventory from one company that he planned to …
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…