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Feds Charge MD Man In $246,390 401(k) Theft From NJ Employee Feds Charge MD Man In $246,390 401(k) Theft From NJ Employee
Feds Charge MD Man In $246,390 401(k) Theft From NJ Employee A Maryland man conspired with others to steal $246,390 from a New Jersey worker’s 401(k), federal authorities charged. Oladapo Sunday Ogunbiyi, 40, of Greenbelt, and others secretly tapped into the fund, added a bank account belonging to someone else and began steering money into it, an indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court alleges. “Ogunbiyi and others directed that the fraud proceeds be converted into cashier’s checks, which were provided to Ogunbiyi,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. “He then deposited the cashier’s checks into bank accounts under his control…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Accused Police Imposters From Jersey Shore Charged In Botched Bergen County Kidnapping Accused Police Imposters From Jersey Shore Charged In Botched Bergen County Kidnapping
Accused Police Imposters From Jersey Shore Charged In Botched Bergen County Kidnapping It took over a year and a half, but relentless detective work aided by modern tech produced the arrests of two accused police imposters from the Jersey Shore who authorities said tried to abduct an East Rutherford man from outside his home. Anthony Naso of Seaside Heights, Nicholas Polimeni of Toms River and an unidentified accomplice were all wearing bogus police badges when they rushed the victim on Sept. 11, 2020, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The victim told police he'd just returned to his Lincoln Place home shortly before 10 p.m. when the trio “grabbed him on his stairca…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Five From NJ Charged With Pocketing More Than $1M From Aircraft Equipment Scam Five From NJ Charged With Pocketing More Than $1M From Aircraft Equipment Scam
Five From NJ Charged With Pocketing More Than $1M From Aircraft Equipment Scam A crew of con artists from New Jersey swindled more than $1 million from businesses nationwide that thought they were buying aircraft equipment and replacement parts, state authorities charged. For five years, the thieves cut deals online for the purported sale of specialized equipment, including airline ground support parts and hydraulic jacks, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. As soon as the payments arrived, members of the crew either made a bunch of cash withdrawals or slid the money into a Somerset County accomplice's account, Platkin said. The buyers got bup…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Getaway Driver Takes Guilty Plea In Armed Robbery Spree Across NJ, PA Getaway Driver Takes Guilty Plea In Armed Robbery Spree Across NJ, PA
Getaway Driver Takes Guilty Plea In Armed Robbery Spree Across NJ, PA A Trenton resident admitted driving the getaway car for a stickup man who robbed a string of convenience stores at gunpoint in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Omar Feliciano-Estremera, 44, took a deal from the government rather than go to trial after accused robber Gabriel Lopez died. Feliciano-Estremera pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Trenton on Tuesday, March 15, to three counts of robbery and one each of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the possession of a gun that was fired during one of the holdups, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. He and Lopez committed the robberies i…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds: ID Thief Gets 4 Years For Stealing $600,000 From NJ Bank Customers Feds: ID Thief Gets 4 Years For Stealing $600,000 From NJ Bank Customers
Feds: ID Thief Gets 4 Years For Stealing $600,000 From NJ Bank Customers UPDATE: An admitted identity thief was sentenced to four years in federal prison for conspiring with a South Jersey bank employee and others to steal more than $600,000 from unsuspecting victims, federal authorities said. Lamar Melhado, 32, of the Bronx will have to serve just about all of the plea-bargained sentence handed down in U.S. District Court in Camden on Monday, March 7, because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Melhado received photos and screenshots of customers’ information and signatures from Mount Laurel bank call center employee Jamere Hill-Birdsong of Gloucest…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Defendant In Murder Of Paterson Woman Found Stuffed In Car Trunk Points To BF, His Dad Defendant In Murder Of Paterson Woman Found Stuffed In Car Trunk Points To BF, His Dad
Defendant In Murder Of Paterson Woman Found Stuffed In Car Trunk Points To BF, His Dad UPDATE: One of three people charged with the brutal murder of a Paterson woman told detectives that she saw her live-in boyfriend and his father carry a large box from their Totowa home to the victim's car the night she was believed killed, authorities said. The victim, Stephanie DeJesus, 38, had driven to the Gordon Avenue home where Justin Fisher and Joelle Martucci lived with their young son the night of Feb. 23, documents say security video shows. She'd driven there from a nearby pharmacy, according to an affidavit filed in Superior Court in Paterson. Martucci, 24, pulled up afterward…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Totowa Trio Charged With Killing Paterson Woman Found Stuffed In Car Trunk Totowa Trio Charged With Killing Paterson Woman Found Stuffed In Car Trunk
Totowa Trio Charged With Killing Paterson Woman Found Stuffed In Car Trunk UPDATE: One of three people charged with the brutal murder of a Paterson woman told detectives that she saw her live-in boyfriend and his father carry a large box from their Totowa home to the victim's car the night she was believed killed, authorities said. The victim, Stephanie DeJesus, 38, had driven to the Gordon Avenue home where Justin Fisher and Joelle Martucci lived with their young son the night of Feb. 23, documents say security video shows. She'd driven there from a nearby pharmacy, according to an affidavit filed in Superior Court in Paterson. Martucci, 24, pulled up afterward…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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SHAMELESS: NJ Con Woman Admits Swindling Elderly Victims Of $675K In 'Lottery Winner' Scam SHAMELESS: NJ Con Woman Admits Swindling Elderly Victims Of $675K In 'Lottery Winner' Scam
Shameless: NJ Con Woman Admits Swindling Elderly Victims Of $675K In 'Lottery Winner' Scam A New Jersey woman admitted scamming seniors nationwide out of huge sums of money -- including $500,000 from one 94-year-old victim -- by telling them they'd won the lottery. Shanile Lyle, 28, of Orange, was part of an international crew that called and conned seniors across the U.S. out of at least $675,000, federal authorities said. The vulnerable victims “received telephone calls alerting them that they had won large sums of money and various other prizes,” according to a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark. They were then told they'd have to "pre-pay" taxes in order to c…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Conspirator Who Used NJ High School Students To Cash Stolen COVID Stimulus Checks Gets 4 Years Conspirator Who Used NJ High School Students To Cash Stolen COVID Stimulus Checks Gets 4 Years
Conspirator Who Used NJ High School Students To Cash Stolen COVID Stimulus Checks Gets 4 Years One of a nest of criminals who paid New Jersey high school students to cash COVID stimulus checks stolen from the mail was sentenced to four years in federal prison. Because there's no parole in the federal prison system, Jeffrey Bennett, 27, of Irvington, must serve just about all of the plea-bargained sentence rubber-stamped by a U.S. District Court judge in Newark via videoconference on Monday, Feb. 14. Bennett -- a reputed associate of a group called "The Members" -- recruited U.S. Postal Service employees to steal checks, checkbooks, debit cards, and credit cards from the mail in excha…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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East Coast Luxury Car Theft Ring Smashed By PalPark Detectives East Coast Luxury Car Theft Ring Smashed By PalPark Detectives
East Coast Luxury Car Theft Ring Smashed By PalPark Detectives What at first seemed like a run-of-the-mill package theft led Palisades Park detectives to an organized theft ring that used bogus IDs to buy high-end luxury cars, authorities said. Jeon Kichul, a 43-year-old Korean national, was arrested last December after Detective David Chun identified him as the porch pirate who swiped a package containing a baseball glove from outside a resident’s home, Capt. Shawn Lee said. Kichul, who was also carrying bogus ID, was released pending further investigation, said Lee, the officer in charge of the department. Chun then learned that Jeon was "part of a …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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West New York Killer Brutally Beat Inmate For Latin Kings 'Hit Squad,' Indictment Charges West New York Killer Brutally Beat Inmate For Latin Kings 'Hit Squad,' Indictment Charges
West New York Killer Brutally Beat Inmate For Latin Kings 'Hit Squad,' Indictment Charges A convicted killer from West New York sent a fellow inmate to the hospital with a severe head injury as part of a deal with a prison "hit squad" run by a Latin Kings leader, authorities said. Daniel Balbuena, 29, carried out the beating in exchange for an assault on a rival of the Gran Familiar Mexicana gang by hit squad members, an indictment returned by a grand jury in Trenton alleges. Authorities last year charged Frank “Lafay” Blake of Hillside and several other current and former shank-armed inmates with an assault at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, as well as with plans to carry …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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MURDER FOR HIRE: NJ Political Operative Admits Paying Hit Men To Kill Longtime Associate MURDER FOR HIRE: NJ Political Operative Admits Paying Hit Men To Kill Longtime Associate
Murder FOR Hire: NJ Political Operative Admits Paying Hit Men To Kill Longtime Associate A New Jersey-based political consultant admitted Tuesday that he hired two hitmen to kill a longtime associate from Hudson County who had worked for him on various election campaigns, federal authorities said. Sean Caddle, 44, a former aide to former State Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) paid the killers -- one from Connecticut, the other from Pennsylvania -- to get rid of Michael Galdieri, the son of former State Sen. James Galdieri (D-Jersey City) and a prominent figure in local Hudson County politics. Galdieri, 52, was stabbed to death in May 2014 before his Jersey City apartmen…

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by Jerry DeMarco