$6M Ponzi Scheme: Braggart Hedge Fund 'Tycoon' Busted By Undercover NJ Fed $6M Ponzi Scheme: Braggart Hedge Fund 'Tycoon' Busted By Undercover NJ Fed
$6M Ponzi Scheme: Braggart Hedge Fund 'Tycoon' Busted By Undercover NJ Fed The well-heeled hedge fund tycoon from Chicago seemingly couldn’t help but boast of some spectacular achievements during a meeting with an investment manager in New Jersey. There were annual returns of 336 percent, more than $2 billion raised in just 60 days and a list of investors that included a well-known owner of a professional sports team, authorities said. Phillip Galles, 57, also took a page from George Santos’s book, claiming that he’d graduated from a prominent university in the Midwest, they said. Galles’s “outlandish claims of experience, expertise and success” were all BS, a co…
Israel-Bound Flight U-Turns Back To Newark Three Hours In, Unruly Passenger Blamed Israel-Bound Flight U-Turns Back To Newark Three Hours In, Unruly Passenger Blamed
Israel-Bound Flight U-Turns Back To Newark Three Hours In, Unruly Passenger Blamed A United Airlines flight bound for Israel had been in the air for nearly three hours when it suddenly turned around and headed back to Newark because of what the airline confirmed was a "disruptive" passenger. The passenger apparently sat in a crew seat while waiting to use the bathroom and ended up in a shouting match with a flight attendant, according to multiple reports. Crew members warned the man that Flight 90 -- which had left Newark early Sunday, April 23, on its way to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv -- would have to head back if he didn't return to his seat, one pass…
Ex-Con Kidnapper Gets 43 Years, No Parole, For Rape, Arson, Assault Rampage Through NJ, NY, PA Ex-Con Kidnapper Gets 43 Years, No Parole, For Rape, Arson, Assault Rampage Through NJ, NY, PA
Ex-Con Kidnapper Gets 43 Years, No Parole, For Rape, Arson, Assault Rampage Through NJ, NY, PA UPDATE: An ex-con who kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend in Pennsylvania, then torched a used car dealership in Paterson and rammed a stolen SUV into police cars at both ends of the George Washington Bridge was sentenced to 43 years in federal prison. Luis Figueroa, 42, first took a plea deal from the government that called for him to serve 26 years in a federal penitentiary. Then he abruptly withdrew his plea, took his chances with a trial – and lost. Federal jurors in Newark convicted Figueroa in May 2022 of kidnapping, criminal sexual abuse, illegal gun possession and assaulting…
Love At First Site: Ex-NJ Couple, Nigerian Wingman Charged In $4.5M Cyberfootsies Scam Love At First Site: Ex-NJ Couple, Nigerian Wingman Charged In $4.5M Cyberfootsies Scam
Love At First Site: Ex-NJ Couple, Nigerian Wingman Charged In $4.5M Cyberfootsies Scam A former New Jersey couple and a Nigerian national scammed more than 100 lonely hearts out of $4.5 million in an elaborate online romance scheme, federal authorities charged. Martins Inalegwu, 34, of Philadelphia and Steincy Mathieu, 26, of Brooklyn cooked up the plot with Moses Chukwuebuka Alexander and several of his Nigerian brethren, an indictment returned by a federal grand jury alleges. Together, they trolled online dating and social media sites for willing marks, whom they “wooed with words of love” on the phone and in emails, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. T…
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…
Heard But Not Seen: Nigerian National Nabbed In $250,000 Audiobooks Scheme, NJ Feds Say Heard But Not Seen: Nigerian National Nabbed In $250,000 Audiobooks Scheme, NJ Feds Say
Heard But Not Seen: Nigerian National Nabbed In $250,000 Audiobooks Scheme, NJ Feds Say A Nigerian national living in Bangladesh contracted with more than 600 voice actors to produce audiobooks of written works that he didn't hold the rights to, federal authorities in New Jersey charged. Anyanwu Benjamin Chizitere, 30, of Enugu, Nigeria, was part of a group that collected more than $250,000 by infringing on the copyright of a Newark-based company and its authors, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Chizitere worked for a financial services business that provided online money transfer and digital payment services to the company, the U.S. attorney said. He po…
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…
Boyfriend Of Newark Woman Missing Since 2017 Charged With Stealing Disabled Son's Benefits Boyfriend Of Newark Woman Missing Since 2017 Charged With Stealing Disabled Son's Benefits
Boyfriend Of Newark Woman Missing Since 2017 Charged With Stealing Disabled Son's Benefits The former live-in boyfriend of a Newark woman who's been missing more than five years accessed her personal information and within days began embezzling benefit payments meant for her disabled son, federal authorities charged. Asmar Earp, a 37-year-old ex-con with an extensive criminal record, first changed the pin code on the benefits debit card belonging to Venika Williams less than a week after she was reported missing in December 2017, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. A few months later, he used Williams's name, date of birth and Social Security number to receive …
Shooter Of NJ Trooper Captured In South Carolina, Video Shows Him Opening Fire, AG Says Shooter Of NJ Trooper Captured In South Carolina, Video Shows Him Opening Fire, AG Says
Shooter Of NJ Trooper Captured In South Carolina, Video Shows Him Opening Fire, AG Says The man who shot a New Jersey State Police trooper early Thursday was captured by US Marshals in South Carolina and will be extradited to face attempted murder charges, State Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced on Friday. Jocquice Ray Timmons, 28, is seen on Ring video “stepping out from behind a parked vehicle, assuming a shooting stance, and opening fire” on two troopers near the corner of East 26th Street and 9th Avenue shortly before 1 a.m. March 2, Platkin said. The troopers were in unmarked cars following a vehicle tied to an attempted burglary in that same neighborhood hours e…
Bergen Ex-Con Tried Boarding Newark Flight With AR-15, Taser, Fake US Marshal Creds, More: Feds Bergen Ex-Con Tried Boarding Newark Flight With AR-15, Taser, Fake US Marshal Creds, More: Feds
Bergen Ex-Con Tried Boarding Newark Flight With AR-15, Taser, Fake US Marshal Creds, More: Feds A convicted felon from Bergen County was seized while trying to bring two rifles, a handgun, a Taser, a switchblade and bogus U.S. Marshals credentials onto a flight from Newark to Fort Lauderdale, federal authorities said. Seretse Clouden, 42, of Wallington had a .308-caliber DPMS Panther Arms rifle, a 5.56-caliber AR-15 rifle, a .40-caliber Glock 22 handgun and the phony creds -- which bore his name, photograph and a U.S. Marshal badge -- in his checked baggage, the FBI charged in a complaint. His bags also contained a ballistic vest that said "Deputy Marshal," two magazines containing 15…
UPDATE: Admitted Hit Man From Philly Gets 20 Years In Bizarre Murder-For-Hire Of NJ Politico UPDATE: Admitted Hit Man From Philly Gets 20 Years In Bizarre Murder-For-Hire Of NJ Politico
Update: Admitted Hit Man From Philly Gets 20 Years In Bizarre Murder-For-Hire Of NJ Politico A currently incarcerated career criminal from Philadelphia was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for the contract killing of a veteran campaign consultant in New Jersey. Bomani Africa, 62, previously admitted accepting payment from former political operative Sean Caddle to whack former associate Michael Galdieri. Galdieri, the 52-year-old son of former State Sen. James Galdieri (D-Jersey City), was stabbed to death in his Jersey City apartment, which was then set on fire, in May 2014. The killing had publicly remained a cold case until January 2022, when Caddle pleaded guilty in U.S…
NJ Army Vet Who Supported Syrian Terrorist Lover Gets 3 Plea-Bargained Years In Federal Prison NJ Army Vet Who Supported Syrian Terrorist Lover Gets 3 Plea-Bargained Years In Federal Prison
NJ Army Vet Who Supported Syrian Terrorist Lover Gets 3 Plea-Bargained Years In Federal Prison A U.S. Army veteran from Sussex County must spend more than three years in federal prison for deliberately concealing money and guidance she gave to a Syrian terrorist she'd fallen in love with. Because there's no parole in the federal prison system, Maria Bell, 55, must serve out just about all of the plea-bargained 36-month sentence approved by a federal judge in Newark on Tuesday, Jan. 24, Bell, of Hopatcong, offered not only money and military intelligence but the benefit of her experience in specialized weapons training to Syria-based factions fighting the Assad regime, a complaint on…