NJ COVID Scammer Who Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans Gets Three Years In Fed Pen NJ COVID Scammer Who Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans Gets Three Years In Fed Pen NJ COVID Scammer Who Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans Gets Three Years In Fed Pen
NJ COVID Scammer Who Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans Gets Three Years In Fed Pen UPDATE: A North Jersey businessman who collected $1.8 million in COVID-19 pandemic loans that he wasn't entitled to, then diverted the money into accounts held by family members -- including his young children -- was sentenced to three years in federal prison on Wednesday. Rocco A. Malanga, 39, formerly of Hackettstown, must serve out the entire plea-bargained sentence approved by a U.S. District Court judge in Newark on March 22 because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Malanga lied on documents to three different lenders to secure federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) mo…
Phucket Fugitive Returned To Face Charges In NJ Deli Fraud Scheme Phucket Fugitive Returned To Face Charges In NJ Deli Fraud Scheme Phucket Fugitive Returned To Face Charges In NJ Deli Fraud Scheme
Phucket Fugitive Returned To Face Charges In NJ Deli Fraud Scheme A fugitive from Thailand was returned to the United States to face charges in a massive market manipulation scheme involving a New Jersey deli company whose stock was once valued at an illogical $100 million, federal authorities announced. A U.S. District Court magistrate judge in Newark ordered one-time Hong Kong businessman Peter Coker Jr. held after he was flown in custody from a Bangkok jail. Coker, 54, formerly of North Carolina, was seized at a hotel in the resort area of Phuket in mid-January following the arrests of his father, Peter Coker Sr., and James Patten in North Carolina. C…
TAPPIN' IT: Manager Admits Embezzling $4.5M From NJ Brain Injury Fund For Sex With Gal Pals TAPPIN' IT: Manager Admits Embezzling $4.5M From NJ Brain Injury Fund For Sex With Gal Pals TAPPIN' IT: Manager Admits Embezzling $4.5M From NJ Brain Injury Fund For Sex With Gal Pals
Tappin' IT: Manager Admits Embezzling $4.5M From NJ Brain Injury Fund For Sex With Gal Pals The now-former manager of a fund for traumatic brain injury patients in New Jersey admitted diverting more than $4.5 million in public money to women he was having sex with, authorities said. Harry Pizutelli, 64, of Edison, pleaded guilty by videoconference to conspiring to commit health care fraud before a federal judge in Trenton, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced on Wednesday, Jan. 4. One of the women who benefitted from the scheme, Maritza Flores, 45, of Toms River, pleaded guilty to the same charge, as well as to tax evasion, Sellinger said. In exchange, Pizutelli had amorou…
Feds: Ex-Owner, CEO 'Pilfered' $3.9M From Bergen Pharma Company To Fund Lavish Lifestyle Feds: Ex-Owner, CEO 'Pilfered' $3.9M From Bergen Pharma Company To Fund Lavish Lifestyle Feds: Ex-Owner, CEO 'Pilfered' $3.9M From Bergen Pharma Company To Fund Lavish Lifestyle
Feds: Ex-Owner, CEO 'Pilfered' $3.9M From Bergen Pharma Company To Fund Lavish Lifestyle The former founder and CEO of a Bergen County pharmaceutical firm embezzled $3.9 million from the business to help pay credit card charges, property taxes and his kid's private school tuition, an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Friday says. John Klein, 76, was arrested by federal agents last December. By that point, he'd been sued in federal court by several people with whom he either worked or collected investment money from at Cambridge Therapeutic Technologies in Teaneck, records show. Klein -- now of Tampa, Florida -- "looted and pilfered" the company to fund a "lavish" …
NJ Woman Who Pulled $400,000 GoFundMe Scam With Homeless Vet, Ex-BF Gets Federal Prison Time NJ Woman Who Pulled $400,000 GoFundMe Scam With Homeless Vet, Ex-BF Gets Federal Prison Time NJ Woman Who Pulled $400,000 GoFundMe Scam With Homeless Vet, Ex-BF Gets Federal Prison Time
NJ Woman Who Pulled $400,000 GoFundMe Scam With Homeless Vet, Ex-BF Gets Federal Prison Time UPDATE: A New Jersey woman who helped pull a scam that conned 14,000 GoFundMe donors across the country out of $400,000 to purportedly benefit a homeless veteran is headed to federal prison. Katelyn McClure, 32, of Bordentown got a far lighter sentence under the terms of her plea deal with the government than did her former boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, who concocted the cruel scheme. McClure was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Camden on Thursday to a plea-bargained year and a day in a federal penitentiary. D’Amico, the "mastermind," earlier this year got 27 months in a fed pen in exchange …
Passaic County Man Admits Laundering More Than $2.8 Million For International Drug Cartels Passaic County Man Admits Laundering More Than $2.8 Million For International Drug Cartels Passaic County Man Admits Laundering More Than $2.8 Million For International Drug Cartels
Passaic County Man Admits Laundering More Than $2.8 Million For International Drug Cartels UPDATE: A Passaic County man admitted laundering more than $2.8 million in drug cash for international cartels operating in New Jersey and New York, authorities announced. Enmanuel Nunez-Reyes, 29, of Paterson became the fifth of six county residents charged in the case to take a deal from the government rather than face trial. Nunez-Reyes told a federal judge in Newark via videoconference that he accepted more than $2.8 million in cash and bought more than 100 cashier’s checks at local bank branches in New Jersey and elsewhere, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. It was all "part of …
CPA From Passaic County Admits Scheme To Hide $150,000 From IRS CPA From Passaic County Admits Scheme To Hide $150,000 From IRS CPA From Passaic County Admits Scheme To Hide $150,000 From IRS
CPA From Passaic County Admits Scheme To Hide $150,000 From IRS A CPA from Passaic County admitted trying to hide $150,000 from the taxman with a little help from a friend. His unidentified pal compensated William Kawam, 57, of Hewitt, for his accounting services by giving him a credit card belonging to one of the friend’s businesses, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Kawam racked up $146,605 in charges from 2015 through 2017 that neither he nor his friend reported, Sellinger said. The scheme shortchanged the Internal Revenue Service by $54,400, he said. Kawam, a former partner at SKC & Co. LLC in Boonton, took a deal from the government rat…
$6.8M COVID-19 Scam: Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Gets 4+ Years, No Parole $6.8M COVID-19 Scam: Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Gets 4+ Years, No Parole $6.8M COVID-19 Scam: Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Gets 4+ Years, No Parole
$6.8M Covid-19 Scam: Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Gets 4+ Years, No Parole A dual New York/Florida resident was sentenced in New Jersey to a plea-bargained 51 months in federal prison for fraudulently collecting more than $6.8 million in COVID-19 payroll protection loans -- $3 million of which he lost in the stock market. Gregory J. Blotnick, 35, will have to serve just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti sentenced Blotnick in Newark to two years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $4,577,631. Blotnick told the judge last f…
Bean Counter Who Embezzled Hundreds Of Thousands From Bergen Tour Company Sentenced Bean Counter Who Embezzled Hundreds Of Thousands From Bergen Tour Company Sentenced Bean Counter Who Embezzled Hundreds Of Thousands From Bergen Tour Company Sentenced
Bean Counter Who Embezzled Hundreds Of Thousands From Bergen Tour Company Sentenced An accountant from Lyndhurst was sentenced to a plea-bargained 21 months in federal prison for her role in embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a guided tour company she worked for. Ruby Baroni, 55, took a deal from the government rather than face trial – the same as her former manager, Estela Laluf, 76, of River Edge. Laluf was sentenced in April to an agreed-upon 27 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Julien Xavier Neals sentenced Baroni on Thursday to two years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $295,297 in restitution. Between 2010 and 2016, she and Lal…
Bergen Tour Company Manager, 76, Headed To Federal Prison For Embezzlement Scheme Bergen Tour Company Manager, 76, Headed To Federal Prison For Embezzlement Scheme Bergen Tour Company Manager, 76, Headed To Federal Prison For Embezzlement Scheme
Bergen Tour Company Manager, 76, Headed To Federal 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…
Brick City Bribery: Newark Councilman Admits Taking Kickbacks Brick City Bribery: Newark Councilman Admits Taking Kickbacks Brick City Bribery: Newark Councilman Admits Taking Kickbacks
Brick City Bribery: Newark Councilman Admits Taking Kickbacks A sitting Newark councilman admitted pocketing payoffs in exchange for influence, federal authorities said. West Ward Councilman Joseph A. McCallum Jr., 66, schemed to receive under-the-table bribes and kickbacks from consultant Malik Frederick, an FBI complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark says. The kickbacks were "funded by developers, contracting companies, and other businesses seeking contracts and approvals principally related to development, construction, and real estate projects and deals in Newark,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Frederick solicited the de…
Man Admits Role In NJ/NY Network That Laundered $27M For International Drug Cartels Man Admits Role In NJ/NY Network That Laundered $27M For International Drug Cartels Man Admits Role In NJ/NY Network That Laundered $27M For International Drug Cartels
Man Admits Role In NJ/NY Network That Laundered $27M For International Drug Cartels The takedown of a New Jersey and New York network that laundered more than $27 million for Central and South American drug cartels has produced another guilty plea, federal authorities announced. Gilberto Martinez, 33, formerly of Clifton, "cleaned" more than $1 million himself, both by buying and directing others to buy cashier's checks using drug money, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Morristown police helped the DEA and IRS crack the case, in which more than 1,000 cashier’s checks were bought, he said. The buyers typically were paid a fee of $150 to $200 for each check…