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53°
Saturday, apr 27
Tag:
Wire Fraud
Police & Fire
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…
Police & Fire
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…
Police & Fire
$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…
Police & Fire
'PlugwalkJoe' Admits Unprecedented Twitter Hack That Included Musk, Kardashian, Biden: Feds
A 23-year-old British citizen who hacked the Twitter accounts of Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian and Bill Gates, among others, pleaded guilty in federal court to a host of related charges as part of a deal with the government. Joseph James O'Connor -- also known as "PlugwalkJoe" -- technically faces up to 77 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines but will likely get somewhere between 10 to 20 years when all is said and done. The Liverpudlian hacker admitted during a plea hearing in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 9, that he committed one of the largest high-pro…
News
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…
News
Ex-Trump PAC Exec Who Blamed 'That B****' Hillary Clinton For Probe Indicted By Feds In NJ
A former pro-Trump PAC exec who blamed "that b**** Hillary Clinton" for his troubles with the law swindled more than two dozen investors out of $7 million, an indictment returned Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Newark alleges. U.S. Homeland Security agents a year ago this month smashed the alleged Ponzi scheme that they said New Jersey-based businessman David Schamens, 65, used to fund a lavish lifestyle. Now comes a March 28 indictment that charges him with wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. Schamens, of Greensboro, North Carolina, used some of the investment money fro…
News
Heard But Not Seen: Nigerian National Nabbed In $250,000 Audiobooks Scheme, NJ Feds Say
A Nigerian national living in Bangladesh contracted with more than 600 voice actors to produce audiobooks of written works that he didn't hold the rights to, federal authorities in New Jersey charged. Anyanwu Benjamin Chizitere, 30, of Enugu, Nigeria, was part of a group that collected more than $250,000 by infringing on the copyright of a Newark-based company and its authors, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Chizitere worked for a financial services business that provided online money transfer and digital payment services to the company, the U.S. attorney said. He po…
News
Boyfriend Of NJ Woman Missing For Years Charged With Stealing Disabled Son's Benefits
The former live-in boyfriend of a Newark woman who's been missing more than five years accessed her personal information and within days began embezzling benefit payments meant for her disabled son, federal authorities charged. Asmar Earp, a 37-year-old ex-con with an extensive criminal record, first changed the pin code on the benefits debit card belonging to Venika Williams less than a week after she was reported missing in December 2017, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. A few months later, he used Williams's name, date of birth and Social Security number to receive …
News
Prominent NJ Attorney Stole $2M From Family's Offshore Bank Account, Feds Charge
A prominent attorney from Jersey City went to great lengths to swindle $2 million from a family he represented, federal authorities charged. The family had retained James R. Lisa, 67, to gather millions that had been moved into offshore bank accounts by relatives decades ago and to resolve any tax issues that arose as a result, they said. Soon after being retained, he moved more than $6 million back into the United States but told the family the funds still remained offshore, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Lisa kept them waiting for two years before giving them $4 million while cl…
Police & Fire
Convicted NJ Wife-Killer Guilty Of Selling Phony Cancer Cure For Dogs In PA
A Montgomery County man who was convicted of killing his wife was found guilty in federal court of selling bogus cancer cures to desperate dog owners, authorities say. Jonathan Nyce, a 73-year-old Collegeville resident who spent five years in prison for his wife's 2004 Hopewell Township murder is convicted of wire fraud and other counts related to his phony veterinary business, said US Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero in a statement Friday, Dec. 23. According to evidence reviewed in court, created a series of companies under the names "Canine Care," "ACGT," and "CAGT" and claimed to sell ca…
News
Match
DOT CON: It's Back To Prison For NJ Serial Dating Scammer Who Escaped Federal Custody
A serial dating scammer from Atlantic City who escaped from custody while serving time for conning women throughout the country must spend another 5½ years in federal prison. Patrick Giblin, 58, had already served several years behind bars -- and was months short of freedom -- when he made a break for it in July 2020, authorities said. Giblin bolted while being transitioned to a halfway house in Newark from a federal prison in Lewisburg, PA, to serve out the rest of his sentence for duping multiple women in an online dating scam, they said. It was the second time that he'd escaped federal …
News
$2.4M Eagles Ticket Scam: Ex-South Jersey Lawyer Gets 4 Years In Fed Pen
A disgraced South Jersey attorney with a confessed gambling habit must spend the next four years in federal prison for conning an investor out of $2.4 million in a loan scheme involving supposed Philadelphia Eagles season ticket holders. Frank N. Tobolsky, 60, of Cherry Hill told the Delaware investor that he was funding loans for clients using season ticket licenses as collateral, an indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Camden says. U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said Tobolsky put a "substantial portion" of the $2.4 million toward personal expenses, some of which…
Police & Fire
Philly Area Mom Who Once Faked Daughter's Kidnapping Now Accused Of Embezzlement In NJ
A former Pennsylvania mom now living in New Jersey who was once accused of faking her daughter's kidnapping has been charged with embezzling "tens of thousands" of dollars from her employer, authorities said. Bonnie Sweeten, 51, of Delanco, faces two counts of federal wire fraud charges, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced in a release on Monday, Oct. 17. It's the second time Sweeten, formerly of Feasterville, has been accused of fleecing her employer — in 2012, she was sentenced to 100 months in prison after a federal court convicted her o…
News
Airline Workers At Philadelphia International Airport Indicted In $283K Skimming Scheme
Three airline workers at Philadelphia International Airport were arrested and indicted Tuesday, Sept. 20 for skimming $283,000 from their employer by manipulating its booking system, federal authorities announced. Taylor Thompson, 27, Tiana Fairfax, 29, both of Philadelphia, and Theodore Robinson, 29, of Upper Darby, each face seven counts of wire fraud in the case, United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said. The Indictment alleges that between December 2017 and August 2018, the employees, along with two other co-schemers, charged customers who wanted to change their itineraries …
News
7 Bounty Hunter Bloods Banged By Feds In NJ Gang War That's Left Four Dead, 10 Wounded
An ongoing gang war that has ignited gunfire during a funeral and outside a hospital has led to charges against seven reputed members of a New Jersey gang associated with the Bounty Hunter Bloods. Federal authorities used the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law to secure a grand jury indictment charging the defendants with conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said Tuesday, Sept. 20. All seven are members or associates of the Bounty Hunter Bloods, which operated under the umbrella of neighborhood street gangs known as “Parkside” in Somerset and “The Ville” in N…
News
Bucks Man Causes $1.5M In Damage Stealing Copper Wire From Old Power Plants To Resell: Feds
A 43-year-old Bucks County man has been charged with causing at least $1.5 million in damage to old power plants while stealing copper wire, authorities said. The crimes were allegedly committed at four coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania and Maryland, according to US Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero. Michael Garrison, of Croydon, PA, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to destroy an energy facility, eight counts of wire fraud, two counts of destruction of an energy facility, and one count of filing a false tax return, Romero said. S…
News
NJ Tour Company Manager, 76, Headed To Fed Prison For Embezzlement Scheme
UPDATE: A 76-year-old former Bergen County guided-tour company manager is headed to federal prison for 27 months for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from her employer. Estela Laluf Genin -- formerly of Rutherford and River Edge -- must serve the entire sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Laluf Genin began working at the East Rutherford-based company in 1989 and took a management position in 1996, federal authorities said. Between 2010 and 2016, she and an unidentified company accountant conspired to write checks against the firm’s bank accounts to c…
News
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 …
News
$1.5M Cosmetics Scam Sends NJ Swindler To Fed Pen For 2½ Years
A former Englewood resident must serve nearly 2½ years in federal prison for scamming three investors out of $1.5 million. Matthew Benjamin, 54, used the victims' money for car and house rental payments, food, international travel, legal fees, technology equipment and summer camp tuition for family members, among other purposes, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Benjamin, currently of New York, told the victims that his purported company, Clear Solutions Group, had lucrative contracts to purchase closeout or excess cosmetic inventory from one company that he planned to …
News
Feds: Ponzi Schemer Funded House, Car, More With $6.8M From Investors In NJ, Elsewhere
New Jersey residents were among more than two dozen victims who lost a combined $6.8 million to a North Carolina con man running a Ponzi scheme, federal authorities charged. David Schamens, 64, of Greensboro, NC, promised annual return rates of 12% to 30% when he began soliciting investments in 2014 in Secaucus-based TradeStream Analytics LTD, as well as in other entities with names such as TD Trading LLC, TFG Trading LLC, and Tradedesk Financial Group Inc., U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. He then launched Tradestream Algo Fund, an algorithm-based trading pool that he clai…
News
NJ ID Thief Gets 6½ Years In Federal Prison For $450K New York State PUA Scam
A Union County ID thief is headed to federal prison for 6½ years for illegally collecting $450,000 in pandemic unemployment insurance benefits from New York State. Maurice Mills, 30, of Union Township must serve just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal court system. Mills submitted bogus applications for the benefits, funded by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, "using the names of other individuals," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Mills took a deal from the government rather than face trial, pleading guilty to wi…
News
Feds: NJ Steel Drum Company Owner Admits Conning MD Manufacturer Out Of $20M
The owner of a New Jersey-based steel drum wholesaler admitted he conned a Maryland-based manufacturer out of nearly $20 million, federal authorities said. Anthony P. Urcioli, Sr., 78, of Park Ridge, conspired with an employee of a New York company to produce bogus invoices for more drums than his Tunnel, Barrel & Drum Co, Inc. had delivered to the company's facility in Harford County, MD, U.S. Attorney for Maryland Erek L. Barron said. Urcioli, who's TBD's owner and president, split the excess funds he received with the employee -- who, in turn, gave 25% to a co-worker, Barron said. …
News
Shameless
: NJ Con Woman Admits Swindling Elderly Victims Of $675K In 'Lottery Winner' Scam
A New Jersey woman admitted scamming seniors nationwide out of huge sums of money -- including $500,000 from one 94-year-old victim -- by telling them they'd won the lottery. Shanile Lyle, 28, of Orange, was part of an international crew that called and conned seniors across the U.S. out of at least $675,000, federal authorities said. The vulnerable victims “received telephone calls alerting them that they had won large sums of money and various other prizes,” according to a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark. They were then told they'd have to "pre-pay" taxes in order to c…
Police & Fire
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…
News
South Jersey, PA Diving School Pioneer Gets 27 Months In Fed Pen For $1.1M Funding Fraud
UPDATE: A New Jersey woman considered a pioneer of commercial diving instruction was sentenced Wednesday to a plea-bargained 27 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $1 million in public funds to keep her Pennsylvania diving school in business. Tamara Brown, 58, of Haddon Heights, began submitting false information to keep her Divers Academy International just outside of Philadelphia accredited beginning in 2012, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. As a for-profit institution, the diving school required accreditation to be eligible to receive tuition funds from …
News
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 …
News
FBI: NJ Moving Company Jacked Up Estimates, Held Belongings Hostage
The FBI charged a Paterson fugitive captured in New Mexico, his brother and another man with ripping off vulnerable customers of their moving company. There may be more victims of 11Even Movers & Storage out there who haven’t contacted authorities, bureau officials said Monday, urging them to come forward. Abdal Abuawad, 26, was brought before a federal judge in Newark on Monday following his arrest in New Mexico last week, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. He was released on a $300,000 unsecured bond, as were his brother, Abdalh Abuawad, 28, a Jordanian national, …
News
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…
News
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…
News
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…
News
NY Man, 79, Charged in $13M 'Cash Prize' Mail Scam That Duped Mostly Elders
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…
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