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Tag: U.S. Postal Inspection Service
Chesco Identity Thief Stole Victims' Mail, Opened Credit Cards In Their Names: DA
A Spring City man is charged with more than 500 counts in two separate cases of alleged forgery, identity theft, and related offenses, according to the Chester County District Attorney's Office.
Joshua Hartmann, 41, stole mail from residents in Schuylkill Township, Phoenixville, Malvern, Tredyffrin, Upper Providence, and Lower Providence for months, prosecutors claim.
Authorities say he used the victims' information to change their addresses on file with government agencies, then stole their identities and opened credit cards in their names.
Tredyffrin…
Feds: Crooked Bookkeeper Admits Embezzling $900G From Restaurants In NJ, NY, PA (Update)
A bookkeeper from New Jersey admitted in federal court that he embezzled more than $900,000 from restaurants he worked for in the Garden State, New York and Pennsylvania, authorities said.
Richard Winter, 53, of Pompton Lakes authorized bank wire transfers from some of them, pocketed vendor payments to others and issued checks payable to cash that he then deposited into his own bank accounts, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said.
Winter serviced the clients' accounts payable through a company he created called Back Office Pro, a complaint on file in federal court in Newark say…
3rd Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, Cops Plea
UPDATE: A third member of a burglary ring that targeted Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware has pleaded guilty, authorities confirmed.
Kevin Jackson, 57, of Rahway, was part of a second-story crew that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in four states based on “stereotype and opportunity."
One of Jackson's associates told detectives that Asians were targeted “because it was believed that the victims kept large sums of currency and jewelry in their residences,” an FBI complaint says.
Notes found in the defendants’ cars …
Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Cops Plea
UPDATE: A burglar from a crew that targeted Asian and Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware took a deal from the government rather than risk the outcome of a trial, federal authorities said.
James Hurt, 47, of New York, was part of a second-story outfit that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in four states based on “stereotype and opportunity."
One of Hurt's associates told detectives that Asians were targeted “because it was believed that the victims kept large sums of currency and jewelry in their residences,” an FBI c…
Burglar With Hit List Of Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Gets 50 Months In Federal Prison
UPDATE: A member of a second-story crew who targeted Asian and Asian-American homeowners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware for burglaries was sentenced to a plea-bargained four years and two months in federal prison, authorities said.
Randi Barr, 42, of Union County, NJ, was part of a group that worked from a hit list of dozens of homes based on “stereotype and opportunity,” federal authorities said.
Local, state and federal law enforcement authorities who teamed up to smash the ring found notes in the defendants’ cars that had the home addresses of individuals of Asian des…
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
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…
Nationwide Hotel Chain's Corporate Credit Chief From NJ Admits Embezzling $300,000
A New Jersey employee who ran the company’s corporate credit card program for a nationwide hotel chain admitted embezzling $300,000, federal authorities said.
Marco Alvarez, 46, of Bloomfield, admitted that he “knowingly opened and used corporate credit cards to make $317,582 in unauthorized personal purchases” from April 2014 through January 2020, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Alvarez, who worked as a senior analyst for strategic sourcing, tried to hide the thefts by “transferring credits owed to the hotel to these credit cards to offset the unauthorized charges made,” Sellinger …
Confessed NJ ID Thief Admits Stealing $450,000 In Pandemic Unemployment Benefits From NY State
A Union County man admitted Monday that he stole $450,000 in pandemic unemployment insurance benefits from New York State by using other people's identities.
Maurice Mills, 29, of Union Township took a deal from the government rather than face trial, pleading guilty to wire fraud during a video conference with a federal judge in Newark.
Mills admitted that he submitted the bogus applications last year for the benefits, funded by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, "using the names of other individuals," Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
U.S. Di…
Grandparent Scam: Here’s How Pair From PA, NY Stole $300,000 From Elderly Victims Across US
At least 50 elderly victims across the United States were conned out of more than $300,000 by a ring of grandparent scammers who included a Pennsylvania woman and New York City man who confessed in federal court.
Jacqueline Velazquez, 37, of Reading, and Daniel Duran, 33, of Queens played key roles in the phone and email-based scheme, Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said.
Here’s how it worked, Williams said:
Co-schemers based in the Dominican Republic called elderly victims throughout the U.S. Posing as a grandchild, or the grandchild’s attorney, they claimed they’d been j…
Philly Man Admits Smuggling $200K In Gun Parts To Turkey, Republic Of Georgia
A Philadelphia man admitted Tuesday that he conspired to smuggle more than than $200,000 worth of gun parts out of the United States to Turkey and the Republic of Georgia, authorities said.
Samet Doyduk, 35, told a federal judge in Camden that he and others bought upper receivers, barrels, and magazines for several different types of Glock handguns from suppliers in the United States.
After repackaging them, he said, they exported the defense parts to their customers using false labels.
Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said Doyduk and the others used credit cards, Pay-Pal accounts, an…
