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Matthew J. Platkin

Police & Fire
Feds Charge NJ, PA Firearm Companies With Illegally Storing, Selling Ghost Guns Feds Charge NJ, PA Firearm Companies With Illegally Storing, Selling Ghost Guns
Feds Charge NJ, PA Firearm Companies With Illegally Storing, Selling Ghost Guns Three New Jersey and Pennsylvania-based firearms dealers and vendors are being charged with civil complaints for failing to comply with New Jersey’s firearms public nuisance law, federal officials announced. The charges come against FSS Armory, a New Jersey licensed gun dealer, and two Pennsylvania-based gun companies, Patriot Enterprises Worldwide LLC, a gun show company known more commonly as Eagle Shows, and Not An LLC, a ghost gun products vendor doing business as JSD Supply, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Tuesday, Dec. 12. FSS Armory, in Pine Brook, stored …

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
SLEAZEBAG: NJ Case Worker Admits Groping Clients, Sexting Wank Pics, Threatening To Take Kids SLEAZEBAG: NJ Case Worker Admits Groping Clients, Sexting Wank Pics, Threatening To Take Kids
Sleazebag: NJ Case Worker Admits Groping Clients, Sexting Wank Pics, Threatening To Take Kids It’s about as low as someone who works in child welfare services can go. A now-former case worker with the New Jersey Department of Children and Families admitted groping women he was investigating, sending unwanted masturbation pics and threatening to have children taken from those who didn’t go out with him, authorities said on Friday. Gilberto Ortiz Jr., a 53-year-old bilingual family services specialist, told a mom he was investigating that he’d “help her” if she had a relationship with him, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Ortiz warned the woman during a home visi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Montclair State Junior Who Collected Child Porn Got Kids To Send Sex Vids, Authorities Charge Montclair State Junior Who Collected Child Porn Got Kids To Send Sex Vids, Authorities Charge
Montclair State Junior Who Collected Child Porn Got Kids To Send Sex Vids, Authorities Charge Investigators who arrested a student at Montclair State University for collecting child porn made a frightening discovery after raiding his dorm room, authorities said. The MSU junior from Burlington County had contacted underage children online using a bogus identity, then engaged them in sexually explicit chats – and even had some send him videos of them pleasuring themselves, they said. Keyon Luff, 21, of Edgewater Park, was arrested by state Division of Criminal Justice detectives assisted by Montclair State police during a raid of his on-campus dorm room last week, New Jersey Attorney …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Officer Facing Long Recovery, Suspect In South Jersey Police Shooting ID'd Officer Facing Long Recovery, Suspect In South Jersey Police Shooting ID'd
Officer Facing Long Recovery, Suspect In South Jersey Police Shooting ID'd UPDATE: Authorities identified a civilian killed during a struggle in which a South Jersey police officer was shot as a 24-year-old local resident. Ring video from the Gloucester County neighborhood reportedly captured a significant portion of the incident. Mitchell Negron Jr., 24, first ran and then struggled with Deptford Police Officer Robert Shisler after being approached on dead-ended Delsea Drive shortly after 12:30 p.m. Friday, March 10, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. "Both individuals were shot in the area of Doman Avenue," Platkin said on Sunday. Negron wa…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
BETRAYER OF THE BADGE: NJ Officer Admits Using Authority On Duty To Pressure Women Into Sex BETRAYER OF THE BADGE: NJ Officer Admits Using Authority On Duty To Pressure Women Into Sex
Betrayer OF THE Badge: NJ Officer Admits Using Authority On Duty To Pressure Women Into Sex UPDATE: A Vernon Township police officer who was accused of groping a Bergen County woman during a domestic violence call admitted abusing his authority on duty to force women to submit to his sexual advances. Emanuel Rivera, 38, acknowledged the “imbalance of power” between him and the women he was hitting on, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Acting Sussex County Prosecutor Annmarie Taggart said in a joint statement. This left them unable to consent, he admitted, because of the “coercive, intimidating nature of such requests” coming from a uniformed police officer," the s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Abused Woman Held Captive By NJ Man During Year-Long Cross-Country Trip Escapes: Authorities Abused Woman Held Captive By NJ Man During Year-Long Cross-Country Trip Escapes: Authorities
Abused Woman Held Captive By NJ Man During Year-Long Cross-Country Trip Escapes: Authorities A South Jersey man kidnapped a woman in New Mexico, then held her hostage during a nearly year-long cross-country trip before she managed to escape, authorities said Friday. James W. Parrillo Jr., 57, may have done the same thing to other women in other states, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and State Police Supt. Colonel Patrick J. Callahan said in a joint statement on  Feb. 17. Parillo was captured after the woman escaped from a residence in Bass Township where she’d been confined and fled to a nearby gas station, they said. Authorities charged Parillo with first-deg…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Boardwalk Operator Banned 10 Years For Using Overinflated Basketballs, Posting False Prizes NJ Boardwalk Operator Banned 10 Years For Using Overinflated Basketballs, Posting False Prizes
NJ Boardwalk Operator Banned 10 Years For Using Overinflated Basketballs, Posting False Prizes A Jersey Shore game operator was banned from business for 10 years and fined $15,500 for over-inflating basketballs and displaying prizes that couldn’t be won, state authorities said. Some basketballs at games owned by Christine Strothers on the boardwalks in Wildwood and North Wildwood packed up to three times the amount of required pounds per square inch of inflation, state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. This, as most players know, can make a ball ricochet wildly off a backboard or rim, the attorney general noted. Strothers also broke New Jersey’s amusement games lic…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Law Enforcement 'Supergroups' In NJ Unite To Fight Organized Violent Criminals Law Enforcement 'Supergroups' In NJ Unite To Fight Organized Violent Criminals
Law Enforcement 'Supergroups' In NJ Unite To Fight Organized Violent Criminals A collection of crime-fighting 'supergroups' nailed 42 defendants in a series of pinpointed attacks on organized gangs dealing drugs, packing weapons and waging street warfare in North Jersey, authorities announced. The Violent Crime Initiative, as it's called, targeted what had been thriving criminal organizations in Newark, Paterson and elsewhere, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Shooting incidents statewide and in cities where the VCIs operate are “appreciably lower” than the year-to-date total from last year, including a 23% reduction statewide, a 30% reduction in …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Bad Heart Killed NJ Man, 73, While In Police Custody, Grand Jury Finds Bad Heart Killed NJ Man, 73, While In Police Custody, Grand Jury Finds
Bad Heart Killed NJ Man, 73, While In Police Custody, Grand Jury Finds Newark police bore no responsibility in the death from heart disease of a 73-year-old man who collapsed in the back seat of a patrol car, a state grand jury has found. Juan Restrepo of Summit had been taken into custody by officers who'd responded to a report of an intoxicated man behind the wheel of a vehicle on June 15, 2020, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. “He was then transported to [an] NJ TRANSIT station, where officials attempted to obtain a Breathalyzer reading,” the attorney general said. “A reading was not able to be obtained.” Restrepo “was subsequent…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
FATAL SHOOTOUT: West New York Gunman Fires Point-Blank At Police, Shot Dead In Exchange (VIDEO) FATAL SHOOTOUT: West New York Gunman Fires Point-Blank At Police, Shot Dead In Exchange (VIDEO)
Fatal Shootout: West New York Gunman Fires Point-Blank At Police, Shot Dead In Exchange (Video) Dramatic footage shows a fully-armed man shooting point-blank at West New York police, then being shot dead himself. The incident is captured in a compilation of police bodycam footage and home surveillance video released late Tuesday, Sept. 6, by Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. Several uniformed officers responding to a domestic dispute at the 59th Street home of Kevin Colindres, 32, of West New York on June 3, 2022 had their body cameras activated, Platkin said. Home security cameras in the neighborhood were working, as well. Bodycam footage video recorded throug…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
GOTCHA! Gunman Who Carjacked Couple Captured Thanks To Police Drone: NJ Authorities GOTCHA! Gunman Who Carjacked Couple Captured Thanks To Police Drone: NJ Authorities
Gotcha! Gunman Who Carjacked Couple Captured Thanks To Police Drone: NJ Authorities A gunman who carjacked a couple waiting to pick up food outside an Elizabeth restaurant was captured by police thanks to a Newark police drone that followed their Mercedes to Jersey City, authorities said. Rahmel Belle, 22, of Jersey City, and another man were both wearing masks when they got out of a car behind the couple on Morris Avenue around 7:30 p.m. this past April 23, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Pointing a grey handgun with a laser at them, Belle ordered the victims out of the Mercedes and took their keys, cellphones and other valuables – as well as $…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Charged With Scamming Health Benefits Program Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Charged With Scamming Health Benefits Program
Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Charged With Scamming Health Benefits Program The city of Wildwood’s former and current mayor and a city commissioner broke the law – committing “breaches of the public trust” -- by collecting health benefits that they didn’t earn, state authorities said Friday. Wildwood Mayor Peter J. Byron, former Mayor Ernest V. Troiano Jr., and current City Commissioner Steven E. Mikulski were charged criminally for fraudulently participating in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP), Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. In order to be eligible for the benefits, they needed to be full-time employees “whose hours of work are…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Video Released Of Crash That Killed Two Philadelphia Passengers In Montclair Police Pursuit Video Released Of Crash That Killed Two Philadelphia Passengers In Montclair Police Pursuit
Video Released Of Crash That Killed Two Philadelphia Passengers In Montclair Police Pursuit Video of a brief Montclair police chase that ended in a crash killing two passengers from Philadelphia last month was released by New Jersey’s attorney general on Thursday (scroll down for video). Gregory Dukes, 42, and Cecil Richardson, 47, were killed when a car driven by robbery suspect Todd Hill, 45, also of Philadelphia, crashed on Bloomfield and Ridgewood avenues in Glen Ridge shortly after 4:30 a.m. May 10, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Video released by Platkin shows Hill first stopping the four-door silver Hyundai for police investigating a robbery an…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
21 Men Luring Children For Sex Online Busted In Undercover NJ Sting: Prosecutor 21 Men Luring Children For Sex Online Busted In Undercover NJ Sting: Prosecutor
21 Men Luring Children For Sex Online Busted In Undercover NJ Sting: Prosecutor Four Megan’s Law registrants, an injury lawyer from Georgia and a dump truck driver were among the 21 individuals caught chatting with undercover agents posing as underage children online, authorities in New Jersey announced (scroll down for the list of defendants). Most of the defendants in "Operation Risky Business" were arrested at either the undercover residence in Hamilton Township or another meet-up location, including the Hamilton Train Station, New Jersey Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Those who went to the undercover house allegedly expected to find their vic…

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by Jon Craig
News
Three NJ Auto Dealers Pony Up $400,000 To Resolve Ripoff Claims, Promise Not To Do It Again Three NJ Auto Dealers Pony Up $400,000 To Resolve Ripoff Claims, Promise Not To Do It Again
Three NJ Auto Dealers Pony Up $400,000 To Resolve Ripoff Claims, Promise Not To Do It Again Three New Jersey auto dealers accused of ripping off customers agreed to pay nearly $400,000 combined to end a state investigation while promising not to do it again, authorities announced. Buyers of both new and used vehicles have already been frustrated by supply chain issues, Acting Attorney Matthew J. Platkin said in a joint release with the state Division of Consumer Affairs on Friday, May 20. Now this. “Dodging illegal practices should be the last thing New Jerseyans have to worry about as they search for a vehicle in this challenging market,” the attorney general said. Platkin iden…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Police Can Now Pursue Stolen Vehicles, AG Says NJ Police Can Now Pursue Stolen Vehicles, AG Says
NJ Police Can Now Pursue Stolen Vehicles, AG Says Police in New Jersey can now pursue stolen vehicle thieves, state Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced on Friday, April 29. Officers and officials at all levels of law enforcement in New Jersey welcomed the news -- with one caveat: A repeal or readjustment of bail reform must be next. Platkin's move, which is effective immediately, reverses a policy update made by his predecessor, Gurbir S. Grewal, in December 2020. "Based upon recommendations from Law enforcement executives, county prosecutors and OPIA (Office of Public Integrity and Accountability) staff, I have dete…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Bye, Bye, Birdie: State Authorities Accuse NJ Golf Club Of Male-Dominated Discrimination Bye, Bye, Birdie: State Authorities Accuse NJ Golf Club Of Male-Dominated Discrimination
Bye, Bye, Birdie: State Authorities Accuse NJ Golf Club Of Male-Dominated Discrimination A male-dominated South Jersey golf club kept women from becoming members, prevented them from owning homes on its property and handicapped those employed there, state authorities charged. As of last July, only three of the Pine Valley Golf Club’s 700 members were women, Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said in announcing a state Division of Civil Rights complaint against the historically male-dominated club in Camden County on Wednesday, April 27. It took a DCR investigation to get the club to relax restrictions on women to golf and access its facilities, Platkin said. Pine Valle…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Man Shot By Police In Edison Identified, Was Wielding Short-Handled Ax, Attorney General Says Man Shot By Police In Edison Identified, Was Wielding Short-Handled Ax, Attorney General Says
Man Shot By Police In Edison Identified, Was Wielding Short-Handled Ax, Attorney General Says UPDATE: A man was wielding an ax when police who encountered him outside his Edison home shot and killed him, state authorities said. Merrill Rambarose, 49, was pronounced dead at the scene after two officers opened fire on Judson Street at the Margate co-op complex just off Route 1 and the Menlo Park Mall at 4:41 p.m. April 12, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. "A short-handled ax was recovered near Mr. Rambarose," the attorney general said Police had been called there a little under an hour earlier. There they "encountered Mr. Rambarose in a parking lot of the …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
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
News
US Marshal Justified In Killing Armed Fugitive In Paterson Wanted For Ex-GF's NYC Murder US Marshal Justified In Killing Armed Fugitive In Paterson Wanted For Ex-GF's NYC Murder
US Marshal Justified In Killing Armed Fugitive In Paterson Wanted For Ex-GF's NYC Murder A U.S. Marshal was justified in killing a fugitive ex-con who fired a shot at him and fellow officers in a Paterson apartment, a New Jersey grand jury has found. A loaded 9mm handgun was found near the body of Malik Canty after he was taken out by members of the U.S. Marshals Service NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force in a second-floor Hamilton Avenue apartment, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Canty, a 36-year-old Bloods gang member, was wanted by the NYPD for the brutal beating death of his sometimes-girlfriend on a Harlem street. Canty wasn’t in the front room…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
SUICIDE BY COP: Video Shows Detective Shooting Knife-Wielding Man At NJ Apartment Complex SUICIDE BY COP: Video Shows Detective Shooting Knife-Wielding Man At NJ Apartment Complex
Suicide BY COP: Video Shows Detective Shooting Knife-Wielding Man At NJ Apartment Complex Eight videos released by authorities show the shooting of a knife-wielding man by a sheriff's detective at an apartment complex in Plainsboro last month, but one of them is particularly chilling. That's the bodycam footage recorded by the detective himself. Four other officers firing Tasers couldn't disarm an agitated Atiba Lewis, 45, as he advanced on them at the Crest at Princeton Meadows Apartment Complex off Plainsboro Road between Routes 1 and 130 on Feb. 16. The standoff ended when Lewis rushed the detective. Middlesex County sheriff's officers had gone to the complex that morning …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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
Exec Fired By NJ Company After Maternity Leave, Breastfeeding Request Gets $195,000 Settlement Exec Fired By NJ Company After Maternity Leave, Breastfeeding Request Gets $195,000 Settlement
Exec Fired By NJ Company After Maternity Leave, Breastfeeding Request Gets $195,000 Settlement A Hudson County company agreed to pay $195,000 to a former executive who was fired after taking maternity leave and seeking breastfeeding accommodations when she returned, state authorities said. The marketing director was on federal leave time when VCNY Home, a North Bergen-based manufacturer and importer of bedding, bath textiles and other home products, told her she couldn't take an additional 12 weeks allowed under state law to bond with and care for her newborn, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. VCNY contended that the time she was taking under the federal Fam…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Attorney General Co-Leads National Probe Into Whether TikTok Harms Kids, Teens, Young Adults NJ Attorney General Co-Leads National Probe Into Whether TikTok Harms Kids, Teens, Young Adults
NJ Attorney General Co-Leads National Probe Into Whether TikTok Harms Kids, Teens, Young Adults New Jersey law enforcers are co-leading a multi-state investigation into whether TikTok puts youngsters at physical and emotional risk, Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced. The probe centers on what Platkin called techniques used by TikTok to "increase both the frequency and duration of engagement by young users – children, teenagers and young adults – and on the potential harms that may result from such engagement." It will also explore "what TikTok knows about such harms," the attorney said in announcing the endeavor on Wednesday, March 2. A coalition of attorneys genera…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Authorities Smash Atlantic City-Based Operation That Trafficked Guns, Drugs Authorities Smash Atlantic City-Based Operation That Trafficked Guns, Drugs
Authorities Smash Atlantic City-Based Operation That Trafficked Guns, Drugs Authorities seized nine guns, 14 large-capacity ammo magazines, seven bricks of heroin and more in the takedown of a crew that they said sold large amounts of drugs and guns in and around Atlantic City. Four men were arrested following a joint investigation by local, state, county and federal law enforcers that included nearly two dozen undercover buys of heroin, fentanyl, meth and firearms, Acting Attorney New Jersey General Matthew J. Platkin announced Thursday, Feb. 24. Arrested were: Ricardo Lugo Jr., 21, of Egg Harbor Township; Jamal M. George, 26, of Mays Landing; Rashawn S. Parks, …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Correctional Officer Admits Assaulting, Breaking Wrist Of Detainee, 16, With No Cause NJ Correctional Officer Admits Assaulting, Breaking Wrist Of Detainee, 16, With No Cause
NJ Correctional Officer Admits Assaulting, Breaking Wrist Of Detainee, 16, With No Cause UPDATE: A retiring New Jersey correctional officer admitted breaking the wrist of a detainee during an unprovoked attack at a state facility for juvenile offenders, authorities said. Lt. Edward Day, 52, of Paulsboro, assaulted the 16-year-old without cause or justification at the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission's medium-security facility in Bordentown on Oct. 25, 2020, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. The boy had his arms handcuffed behind his back during a transfer from his room to another location at the facility when Day "grabbed the victim’s ankle from …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Officer-Involved Shooting At Apartment Complex Near Princeton Undergoes State Review Officer-Involved Shooting At Apartment Complex Near Princeton Undergoes State Review
Officer-Involved Shooting At Apartment Complex Near Princeton Undergoes State Review A knife-wielding man was shot and killed by law enforcement officers at a Plainsboro housing complex, state authorities said. The shooting occurred on Ravens Crest Drive at the Crest at Princeton Meadows Apartment Complex off Plainsboro Road between Routes 1 and 130 during what witnesses said began as the serving of an eviction notice around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16. "Law enforcement officers, including members of the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office, were outside a residence when they encountered the decedent," Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. "During …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ-Based Crypto Firm Will Pay SEC, States Unprecedented $100M Penalty NJ-Based Crypto Firm Will Pay SEC, States Unprecedented $100M Penalty
Nj-based Crypto Firm Will Pay SEC, States Unprecedented $100M Penalty A Jersey City-based cryptocurrency company will pay a record $100 million to settle alleged violations of investor-protection laws, state and federal authorities jointly announced. BlockFi Lending LLC neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing when it agreed to the highest fine ever by a cryptocurrency company, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Monday, Feb. 14. However, it did take a different course than many of its crypto rivals by not fighting the fine. Of the total, $50 million will be paid to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and up to $50 millio…

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by Jerry DeMarco