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Police & Fire
South Korean Clothing Manufacturer Admits Customs Fraud, Agrees To Pay US $2 Million South Korean Clothing Manufacturer Admits Customs Fraud, Agrees To Pay US $2 Million
South Korean Clothing Manufacturer Admits Customs Fraud, Agrees To Pay US $2 Million A South Korean company has agreed to reimburse the United States $2 million for defrauding Customs officials about the value of imported clothing and apparel. Principals with Anyclo International Inc. admitted this week that the company evaded duties on clothing and apparel that it manufactured abroad and imported into the U.S. for nearly seven years, beginning in October 2012, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. The fraud involved preparing two invoices for the same shipments, the U.S. attorney said. One invoice bore the true value of the merchandise, Sellinger said. Th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
$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…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Psychic Pulls 'Death Card' Con On PA Couple: Police NJ Psychic Pulls 'Death Card' Con On PA Couple: Police
NJ Psychic Pulls 'Death Card' Con On PA Couple: Police A Pennsylvania-based fortune teller from New Jersey not only failed to predict the future but allegedly conned a family while doing it, according to court documents obtained by Daily Voice.  Police in Pennsylvania have formally charged 25-year-old Billie Loren Mitchell of Kearny, NJ on April 27, 2023, but have yet to apprehend and arraign her, according to a police release on May 9, 2023.  Mitchell runs Psychic World at 501 East Main Street in Palmyra, PA, and claims to be a "Clairvoyant psychic and certified holistic healer," as stated on her Facebook page.  An elderly coup…

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by Jillian Pikora
Police & Fire
PA High School Music Booster Treasurer Spoiled Herself Using Thousands In Stolen Cash: Police PA High School Music Booster Treasurer Spoiled Herself Using Thousands In Stolen Cash: Police
PA High School Music Booster Treasurer Spoiled Herself Using Thousands In Stolen Cash: Police A school district volunteer in Bucks County faces criminal charges after police claim she used her role as treasurer in the Music Boosters Association to steal over $25,000 in club funds.  Rebekah Ann Watson, 46, of Bensalem, surrendered to authorities on Friday, March 24, and was charged with access device fraud, theft by unlawful taking, and theft by failure to make required deposits, township police said in a statement.  The investigation into the Bensalem High School Music Booster Association's treasury was launched on Feb. 8, when the club's president and vice president repor…

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by Mac Bullock
News
Feds Charge Exiled Chinese Tycoon With $1B Fraud That Funded $26.5M Mahwah Mansion, More Feds Charge Exiled Chinese Tycoon With $1B Fraud That Funded $26.5M Mahwah Mansion, More
Feds Charge Exiled Chinese Tycoon With $1B Fraud That Funded $26.5M Mahwah Mansion, More Exiled Chinese tycoon Miles Guo was arrested by the FBI Wednesday on charges of swindling his online followers out of more than $1 billion that the government said he used, in part, to buy a 58-room mansion in Mahwah. Some of the agents were still at Guo’s 15-room penthouse in the Sherry-Netherland Hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side the afternoon of March 15, six hours after he’d been arrested there, when a mysterious fire broke out on the 18th floor, responders said. No injuries were reported, but authorities said the blaze significantly damaged Guo’s unit. No one drew any immediate conn…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
PA Man Disguised Himself As Late Dad To Get Social Security, Pension: Feds PA Man Disguised Himself As Late Dad To Get Social Security, Pension: Feds
PA Man Disguised Himself As Late Dad To Get Social Security, Pension: Feds A Pennsylvania man has admitted to fraudulently collecting his late father's retirement checks, and even disguising himself as an older man to sell the lie, federal authorities say. Timothy Gritman, a 55-year-old resident of Brodheadsville in Monroe County, pleaded guilty to Social Security and wire fraud in a federal court on Tuesday, Feb. 14, said US Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero in a statement.  According to prosecutors, Gritman's father Ralph was 79 and "in poor health" when he was last seen alive by other family members in 2016. The next summer, authorities say Gritman moved with …

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Contractor Ripped Off Philly Area Homeowners For $475K, Faces 300 Felonies: DA Contractor Ripped Off Philly Area Homeowners For $475K, Faces 300 Felonies: DA
Contractor Ripped Off Philly Area Homeowners For $475K, Faces 300 Felonies: DA A Collegeville contractor is accused of defrauding Philadelphia-area homeowners out of nearly half a million dollars, and is now charged with more than 300 felonies as a result, authorities say.  Joseph Ford, the 53-year-old owner of 1st Call Electric LLC, sits in the Montgomery County lockup in lieu of a $50,000 bond, said District Attorney Kevin R. Steele in a statement Monday, Jan. 23.  Investigators began looking into Ford's contracting business last August, when two jilted customers walked into the Lower Providence police station and complained that they'd been ripped off.&nb…

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Fake 'Marine' Who Conned Elderly Bucks Couple For $320K Learns Fate Fake 'Marine' Who Conned Elderly Bucks Couple For $320K Learns Fate
Fake 'Marine' Who Conned Elderly Bucks Couple For $320K Learns Fate The conman who posed as a US Marine Corps veteran to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from an elderly couple in Bucks County is going to prison.  Marc Cheeseman, a 50-year-old Silverdale resident, was sentenced to five to seven years in a Pennsylvania state prison in a hearing on Thursday, Jan. 19, District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said in a statement.  Cheeseman previously pleaded guilty in September to several felony theft charges and one misdemeanor count of impersonating a veteran, the DA said.  In court, prosecutors argued that he carried on a yearslong scheme t…

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Bucks Furniture Company Scammed Customers: Police Bucks Furniture Company Scammed Customers: Police
Bucks Furniture Company Scammed Customers: Police A Bucks County furniture company is accused of pocketing customers' money without actually delivering merchandise.  A&A Custom Furniture of Perkasie advertises unique, handcrafted furniture and home goods on its since-deleted website, but police say the company has been stiffing its clientele.  Investigators say the company, run by Austin and Amanda Smallacombe, accepted "large financial deposits" from customers on Facebook and other social media sites but then never actually fulfilled the orders.  State court records show no active criminal charges against either Smalla…

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Man Fleeced $40K From Disabled Relative, Bucks Jury Finds Man Fleeced $40K From Disabled Relative, Bucks Jury Finds
Man Fleeced $40K From Disabled Relative, Bucks Jury Finds A Carbon County man who reached in his disabled relative's pocket and stole nearly $40,000 in inheritance money is now facing down a prison term.  Patrick Alderton, a 46-year-old Weatherly resident, was convicted Wednesday, Jan. 11 on multiple felonies related to the scam, said Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub.  Investigators were tipped off in October 2020, when Alderton — then living in Whitehall — was the personal representative for the estate of a relative during a guardianship case, the DA said.  The relative, who lives at a nursing home in Qua…

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by Mac Bullock
Police & Fire
Scammer Stole Thousands From Bucks County Grandmother, Police Say Scammer Stole Thousands From Bucks County Grandmother, Police Say
Scammer Stole Thousands From Bucks County Grandmother, Police Say A scam caller who stole thousands of dollars from a Bucks County grandmother is now facing jail time, according to authorities.  Police in Falls Township charged Christopher Mauricio, 19, of Philadelphia, with two felony counts of theft and receiving stolen property, the department announced.  Investigators say Mauricio ran an elaborate scam involving multiple assumed identities and phony paperwork to steal $5,000 from a woman in her 90s.  Officials said a caller contacted the victim on April 25, claiming to be her grandson. He told her he was in jail in Allentown and needed…

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by Mac Bullock
Politics
Philly Political Consultant Forged Signatures For Ballot Access: DA Philly Political Consultant Forged Signatures For Ballot Access: DA
Philly Political Consultant Forged Signatures For Ballot Access: DA A Philadelphia political consultant is facing criminal charges after prosecutors say he forged signatures to gain ballot access for his clients.  Rasheen Crews of Crews Consulting was working on behalf of "multiple candidates" in the 2019 Democratic Philadelphia mayoral primary to help fill out their nominating petitions, said state Attorney General Joshua Shapiro in a statement on Wednesday, Nov. 16.  But to get the forms filled, investigators say Crews hired "individuals" to sit in a hotel room and write "write names, addresses, and forged signatures" on the petitions, investiga…

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by Mac Bullock