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GOTCHA! Teaneck Fugitive Accused Of Running Sex Trafficking Ring Captured At Newark Airport GOTCHA! Teaneck Fugitive Accused Of Running Sex Trafficking Ring Captured At Newark Airport
Gotcha! Teaneck Fugitive Accused Of Running Sex Trafficking Ring Captured At Newark Airport A fugitive from Bergen County wanted for running a massive sex-trafficking ring in North Jersey, Rockland and New York City was captured trying to re-enter the United States from Colombia, authorities confirmed. Birmania “Nancy” Rincon, 62, a Colombian national living in Teaneck, was among the ringleaders of a crew that forced dozens of women into prostitution, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. She was in the wind, however, when authorities seized 21 defendants during a series of early-morning raids at 19 homes and other locations in Bergen and Hudson counties exactly two weeks ag…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
CRYPTO CRIME: Rapping 'Crocodile of Wall Street,' Husband Nabbed In $4.5 Billion Bitcoin Bust CRYPTO CRIME: Rapping 'Crocodile of Wall Street,' Husband Nabbed In $4.5 Billion Bitcoin Bust
Crypto Crime: Rapping 'Crocodile of Wall Street,' Husband Nabbed In $4.5 Billion Bitcoin Bust The self-described “Crocodile of Wall Street” and her husband were arrested by federal agents in Manhattan on Tuesday, Feb. 8, on charges of conspiring to launder billions of dollars in cryptocurrency stolen in a bombshell hack of a virtual currency exchange. Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, 34, and Heather Rhiannon Morgan, a 31-year-old business blogger/rapper, weren’t charged in the 2016 theft from Bitfinex of what at the time was $71 million worth of cryptocurrency – now valued at $4.5 billion. They are charged with conspiring to (a) commit money laundering and (b) defraud the United States, …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Police: Drill Music Rapper Bizzy Banks Busted With Drugs, Loaded Gun In Hackensack SWAT Raid Police: Drill Music Rapper Bizzy Banks Busted With Drugs, Loaded Gun In Hackensack SWAT Raid
Police: Drill Music Rapper Bizzy Banks Busted With Drugs, Loaded Gun In Hackensack SWAT Raid Drill music rapper Bizzy Banks was busted with drugs and a loaded revolver during a SWAT team raid Friday morning at his Hackensack apartment, authorities said. Born Majesty Blessed Moses, the 23-year-old Brooklyn native was processed on drug, weapons and money laundering charges and sent to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, City Detective Capt. Michael Antista said. Police found more than two pounds of pot, $2,750 in proceeds and the gun, which was loaded with hollow-point bullets following an investigation by Detectives…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Paterson Man Admits Laundering $1.94 Million For Drug Cartels Paterson Man Admits Laundering $1.94 Million For Drug Cartels
Paterson Man Admits Laundering $1.94 Million For Drug Cartels A Paterson man admitted in federal court on Friday that he laundered nearly $2 million for Central and South American drug cartels operating in New Jersey and New York, authorities said. Julio De La Cruz Acosta, 42, accepted the cash to buy 67 cashier’s checks at banks in and around New Jersey and elsewhere, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. He was one of a half-dozen residents from the area accused of laundering more than $27 million for the cartels, Sellinger said. Morristown police helped the DEA and IRS crack the case, in which the defendants and other conspirators converted cash…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Sussex Man Who Spent $5.6M COVID Relief Money On Stock Market, Luxury Car, More Sentenced Sussex Man Who Spent $5.6M COVID Relief Money On Stock Market, Luxury Car, More Sentenced
Sussex Man Who Spent $5.6M COVID Relief Money On Stock Market, Luxury Car, More Sentenced A Sussex County man was sentenced Tuesday to more than five years in federal prison for spending $5.6 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic business loans for himself, authorities said. Azhar Sarwar Rana, 31, of Newton will have to serve out just about all of the 64-month sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. The federal Paycheck Protection Program was designed to keep struggling small businesses afloat during the pandemic. Rana used the money, instead, to invest millions in the stock market, make a payment to a luxury car dealership and send hundreds of thous…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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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…

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by Jillian Pikora
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NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam
NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam The mastermind of a GoFundMe scheme that conned 14,000 donors across the country out of $400,000 to purportedly benefit a homeless veteran admitted in federal court in New Jersey on Monday that he and his ex-girlfriend pocketed most of the money. Mark D’Amico, 42, formerly of Bordentown, admitted concocting a bogus feel-good story about the supposed victim coming to the rescue of Katelyn McClure after she ran out of gas on Route 95 on her way home to New Jersey from Philadelphia. Both McClure and the homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., were in on the scheme, authorities said. Together, D’Am…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
PA Man Stopped For Busted Headlight Rats Out Prostitute In North Jersey: Police PA Man Stopped For Busted Headlight Rats Out Prostitute In North Jersey: Police
PA Man Stopped For Busted Headlight Rats Out Prostitute In North Jersey: Police A routine traffic stop led to prostitution charges for a Pennsylvania man and Ohio woman in North Jersey, police said. Emmanuel Ojo-Powerson of Pocono Pines, PA, was spotted by Secaucus police officers stopped  on the side ramp of Paterson Plank Road onto Route 3 west around 1:05 a.m. Nov. 16, Police Chief Dennis Miller said. During the stop, the 34-year-old driver admitted he was at the Extended Stay Hotel on Plaza Drive engaging in prostitution, Miller said. Officers went to the hotel and found Crystal Hotlosz of Clairsville, OH, 41, the chief said. Ojo-Powerson was c…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Cyber-Casanova From NJ Admits Duping Dozens Of Lonely Hearts Out Of $1.14M Cyber-Casanova From NJ Admits Duping Dozens Of Lonely Hearts Out Of $1.14M
Cyber-Casanova From NJ Admits Duping Dozens Of Lonely Hearts Out Of $1.14M A New Jersey man admitted that he orchestrated an online scam that conned dozens of unsuspecting women on dating sites out of more than a million dollars – and led one of them to suicide. Rubbin Sarpong, 37, of Millville pocketed the money and bought property in Ghana, along with luxury cars, expensive jewelry, top-shelf booze, designer clothes and more, federal authorities said. Then he flaunted it on Instagram. Sarpong had catfishing accomplices, several of whom live in Ghana, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael Honig said. Posing as American military personnel stationed oversea…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Passaic County Duo Admits Laundering $4 Million For International Drug Cartels Feds: Passaic County Duo Admits Laundering $4 Million For International Drug Cartels
Feds: Passaic County Duo Admits Laundering $4 Million For International Drug Cartels Two Passaic County men admitted in federal court that they laundered nearly $4 million in drug cash for international cartels operating in New Jersey and New York, authorities announced. Erickson Checo-Almonte, 31 of Passaic, and Jordano Abreu-Diaz, 24 of Clifton, were among six defendants charged in the operation. Morristown police helped the DEA and IRS crack the case, in which those involved converted cash from drug sales in the two states to more than 1,000 cashier’s checks, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael Honig said. The checks were then sent to brokers “acting on behalf o…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
AT LAST: Accused Leaders Of Nigerian Online Romance Scams Taken Into Custody AT LAST: Accused Leaders Of Nigerian Online Romance Scams Taken Into Custody
AT Last: Accused Leaders Of Nigerian Online Romance Scams Taken Into Custody Several accused leaders of a Nigerian syndicate that victimized countless Americans through online romance scams were seized in Cape Town and will be brought to the United States to face prosecution, federal authorities said. The leaders of the Cape Town Zone of the Neo Black Movement of Africa and a co-conspirator are charged with pulling the scams on hundreds of thousands of victims -- some widowed or divorced -- for at least the past 10 years. From at least 2011 through 2021, leaders of the Mafia-styled organization -- better known as “Black Axe” -- conspired with others to con lonely Am…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Ex-Hedge Fund Manager From NY, FL Admits $6.8M COVID-19 Scam In NJ Federal Court Ex-Hedge Fund Manager From NY, FL Admits $6.8M COVID-19 Scam In NJ Federal Court
Ex-Hedge Fund Manager From NY, FL Admits $6.8M Covid-19 Scam In NJ Federal Court A dual New York/Florida resident admitted in federal court in Newark that he schemed to steal more than $6.8 million in COVID-19 payroll protection loans -- $3 million of which the government said he flushed away in the stock market. Gregory J. Blotnick applied to 13 lenders for 21 loans over a period of nearly a year, beginning in March 21, 2020, lying about the number of employees at nine companies whom he supposedly needed to pay, federal authorities said. Blotnick, 34, dumped the money into a personal brokerage account instead, then poured nearly 45% of it into losing stock trades, Acti…

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by Jerry DeMarco