Tag:

Mail Fraud

York Judge Indicted For 31 Counts Of Fraud, Witness Tampering: USDOJ York Judge Indicted For 31 Counts Of Fraud, Witness Tampering: USDOJ
Judge Steven Stambaugh Indicted For Witness Tampering: Usdoj A federal grand jury has indicted a Pennsylvania judge and lawyer on 31-counts of wire and mail fraud, as well as witness tampering and obstruction of justice, the US Department of Justice announced on Tuesday, Oct. 8.  Steven Stambaugh, age 61, of York, has been charged with twenty-six counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, two counts of tampering with a witness, and one count of obstruction of justice for a COVID-19 scheme, according to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam explained.  Stambaugh is accused of defrauding the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania "to ob…
Mastermind Of Historic $175M Psychic Mail Scam Convicted, Feds Cite More Than 1M Victims Mastermind Of Historic $175M Psychic Mail Scam Convicted, Feds Cite More Than 1M Victims
Mastermind Of Historic $175M Psychic Mail Scam Convicted, Feds Cite More Than 1M Victims The mastermind of a mass-mailing scam that stole $175 million from more than a million victims, most of them elderly or ailing, was convicted by a federal jury in New York City. Patrice Runner, a 57-year-old Canadian and French citizen, directed a ruthless psychic mail scheme for over two decades, beginning in 1994, the jurors found. It was one of the largest -- if not the largest -- scam of its kind ever, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday, June 16, in announcing the verdict reached a day earlier on Long Island. Runner sent mailings to millions of Americans that claimed t…
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…
PA Dad Gets Probation In College Admissions Scandal PA Dad Gets Probation In College Admissions Scandal
PA Dad Gets Probation In College Admissions Scandal A Pennsylvania man was sentenced in Boston on Thursday, Aug. 11 to one year of probation for bribing a Georgetown University coach into recruiting his daughter, according to the US Attorney's Office for Massachusetts. Robert Repella, 63, of Ambler, will serve the first 25 days of his sentence in home detention, as well as complete 220 hours of community service and pay a $220,000 fine, the office said. The former CEO of Harmony Biosciences pleaded guilty in May 2020 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Repella agreed to pay Gordon E…
Amtrak Worker Gets 18 Months Without Parole For Selling Stolen Agency Equipment Amtrak Worker Gets 18 Months Without Parole For Selling Stolen Agency Equipment
Amtrak Worker Gets 18 Months Without Parole For Selling Stolen Agency Equipment UPDATE: A now-former Amtrak employee from the Jersey Shore was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for selling hundreds of chainsaws and chainsaw parts that he stole from the agency. Jose Rodriguez, 49, of Brick, will have to serve out the entire sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Rodriguez had collected 114 chainsaws, 122 chainsaw replacement bars and 222 replacement chains worth more than $76,000 before he was caught, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. He sold the items through online auction and directly to buyers, using the U.S. Postal Serv…
NJ Feds: California Gal Admits Running $9.9 Million Counterfeit Coupon Scam NJ Feds: California Gal Admits Running $9.9 Million Counterfeit Coupon Scam
NJ Feds: California Gal Admits Running $9.9 Million Counterfeit Coupon Scam UPDATE: A California woman admitted in federal court in New Jersey that she created and sold more than $9.9 million worth of counterfeit coupons used at retail stores throughout the country. Using the name “Mandy Carr,” Tong Lor printed Carolina coupons with fake bar codes for household items such as diapers, laundry detergent, and toiletries and then mailed them to customers nationwide, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Lor, 34, of Modesto sold the counterfeit coupons via invitation-only Internet groups associated with her businesses: Mandy’s Treasure Box, Mandy's Knitting …
NJ Scammer Admits Selling Bogus Tom Brady Super Bowl Rings NJ Scammer Admits Selling Bogus Tom Brady Super Bowl Rings
NJ Scammer Admits Selling Bogus Tom Brady Super Bowl Rings A 24-year-old New Jersey man pleaded guilty to fraud for pretending to be a New England Patriots player to buy and sell Super Bowl rings engraved with Tom Brady's last name, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday, Feb. 2. Scott V. Spina Jr., of Roseland, could face decades in prison when he's sentenced May 23, for charges of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft, authorities said. Spina's guilty plea comes one day after the quarterback announced his retirement after 22 seasons and seven Super Bowl titles. Spina ordered three replica Super Bo…
South Jersey Doc Goes To Federal Prison For Forging $500,000 Worth Of Employer's Checks South Jersey Doc Goes To Federal Prison For Forging $500,000 Worth Of Employer's Checks
South Jersey Doc Goes To Federal Prison For Forging $500,000 Worth Of Employer's Checks A South Jersey doctor was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison for stealing more than $500,000 from his previous employer and using it to pay his bills. Walter Sytnik, 35, of Voorhees, forged checks for five years from checks he stole from the medical practice where he worked as a bookkeeper before going to medical school, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Sytnik also opened and maintained credit card accounts at the same banks as the doctor at the medical practice, then forged the doctor’s signature on the stolen checks and paid his credit card bills with them, Sellinger s…
Ex-Amtrak Worker From NJ Admits Stealing, Selling Agency Equipment Ex-Amtrak Worker From NJ Admits Stealing, Selling Agency Equipment
Ex-Amtrak Worker From NJ Admits Stealing, Selling Agency Equipment UPDATE: For more than eight years, a now-former Amtrak employee from the Jersey Shore collected chainsaws and chainsaw parts from the agency, then sold them and kept the money. Federal authorities eventually caught on to Jose Rodriguez, 49, of Brick, then got a conviction for mail fraud. Hired in October 2007, Rodriguez worked as a senior engineer and repairman at Amtrak's North Brunswick facility, authorities said. Five years later, Rodriguez admitted in federal court, he began gathering equipment under the false pretense that they'd be used for company projects. Before he was caught in …
NJ Man Busted By FBI For Selling Bogus Tom Brady Super Bowl Rings NJ Man Busted By FBI For Selling Bogus Tom Brady Super Bowl Rings
NJ Man Busted By FBI For Selling Bogus Tom Brady Super Bowl Rings A New Jersey man admitted posing as a former New England Patriots player in order to buy and sell specially made Super Bowl rings that he claimed were given to Tom Brady's family as gifts, federal authorities charged. Scott V. Spina Jr., 24, of Roseland ordered three replica Super Bowl LI rings engraved with the name "Brady," then sold them to an auction house for $100,000, receiving a significant profit, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a release. One ring reportedly sold for more than $337,219 at an auction. Spina took a deal from the government …
POSTAGE SCAM: Brothers Who Co-Owned Bergen E-Commerce Company Admit Cheating Gov't Out Of $3M POSTAGE SCAM: Brothers Who Co-Owned Bergen E-Commerce Company Admit Cheating Gov't Out Of $3M
Postage Scam: Brothers Who Co-Owned Bergen E-Commerce Company Admit Cheating Gov't Out Of $3M Two brothers who co-owned a Bergen County e-commerce company admitted short-changing the government by more than $3 million in postage by altering hundreds of thousands of labels intended for envelopes and slapping them on outbound packages. Jack Koch, 44, of Elmwood Park, and Steven Koch, 43, of Pompton Lakes, owned Fresh N Clear, a high-volume business that sold various household items online that were shipped o customers via the Postal Service, federal authorities said. Over the course of several months in 2020, the company bought 240,471 USPS Priority Mail postage labels, “almost all fo…
Nigerian Man Named 'Godspower' Stole $1.89 Mil From Pennsylvania Women: USDOJ Nigerian Man Named 'Godspower' Stole $1.89 Mil From Pennsylvania Women: USDOJ
Nigerian Man Named 'Godspower' Stole $1.89 Mil From Pennsylvania Women: Usdoj A Nigerian man has been sentenced after being found guilty of laundering $1.89 million in a mail and wire fraud scheme that targeted Pennsylvania women, according to a release by the US Department of Justice. Jabin Godspower Okpako, 36, and his wife, Christine Bradley Okpako, 54, of Sayre, Pennsylvania, used three bank accounts in Nigeria to transfer funds out of the United States, prosecutors say according to the release. The couple targeted women, ranging in age from 55 to 85, using Instagram, Facebook, Words with Friends, and What’s App, according to the release. After cultivating onlin…
Long Island Man, 79, Charged in $13M 'Cash Prize' Mail Scam That Duped Seniors Nationwide Long Island Man, 79, Charged in $13M 'Cash Prize' Mail Scam That Duped Seniors Nationwide
Long Island Man, 79, Charged in $13M 'Cash Prize' Mail Scam That Duped Seniors Nationwide A 79-year-old Long Island man and two accomplices scammed mostly elderly victims out of $13 million through a pair of bogus "cash prize" direct-mail scams, federal authorities charged. Hundreds of thousands of mailings claimed the victims were "specially chosen" to receive a large cash prize, the government said. All they had to do was pay a "fee" of from $20 to $40 to collect their prize, a federal indictment says. Many unfortunately fell for it, authorities said. The indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn names Shawn Phillips, 52, of British Columbia, Canada, as the ring…