Feds: NJ Bank Employee, Bronx Buddy Swiped $600,000 From Customers With Stolen IDs Feds: NJ Bank Employee, Bronx Buddy Swiped $600,000 From Customers With Stolen IDs
Feds: NJ Bank Employee, Bronx Buddy Swiped $600,000 From Customers With Stolen IDs FBI agents caught a South Jersey bank employee and an accomplice from the Bronx who authorities said stole more than $600,000 from unsuspecting victims after swiping their IDs. Jamere Hill-Birdsong, 32, of Gloucester City, worked inside a bank call center where he recruited co-workers to help steal the identifications of call-in customers, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said Thursday. The conspirators took photos or screenshots of customers’ information and signatures that they forwarded to Hill-Birdson and Lamar Melhado, 31, of the Bronx, Honig said. They then had phony identificat…
Feds: NJ Veterans Hospital Employee Caught On Camera Stealing $8.2M Worth Of HIV Meds Feds: NJ Veterans Hospital Employee Caught On Camera Stealing $8.2M Worth Of HIV Meds
Feds: NJ Veterans Hospital Employee Caught On Camera Stealing $8.2M Worth Of HIV Meds A now-former employee stole $8.2 million worth of HIV medications from  a New Jersey veterans hospital pharmacy that she sold to a fence from Bergen County, federal authorities said Wednesday. Surveillance video showed pharmacy technician Lisa M. Hoffman of Orange “regularly taking dozens of bottles of HIV medications" from the shelves of the outpatient pharmacy at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in East Orange, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. The video then shows her “placing them in a white mail bin, and then transferring the medications from the mail bin to he…
Ex-Middlesex Officer Admits Recruiting Brothers In Blue For Multi-Million-Dollar Drug Scam Ex-Middlesex Officer Admits Recruiting Brothers In Blue For Multi-Million-Dollar Drug Scam
Ex-Middlesex Officer Admits Recruiting Brothers In Blue For Multi-Million-Dollar Drug Scam A former North Brunswick police officer admitted Monday that he cashed in on a multi-million-dollar health insurance scam by recruiting patients to obtain prescriptions for drugs they didn’t need. Daniel Passafiume, 45, of Monroe took a plea deal from federal prosecutors after an unidentified co-conspirator agreed to cooperate with the government, records show. Passafiume and the accomplice cut deals with pharmacies to collect large commissions for each prescription they delivered for “compounded medications,” including vitamins and pain creams, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. …
Bergen Businessman In Previous Coach-Stalking Case Charged With Tax Evasion Bergen Businessman In Previous Coach-Stalking Case Charged With Tax Evasion
Bergen Businessman In Previous Coach-Stalking Case Charged With Tax Evasion A once-renowned Bergen County businessman who has had more than his share of publicized predicaments is now in hot water with the IRS. David Kushner, a 55-year-old real-estate investor and property manager from of Cresskill, ducked hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal income taxes without even getting creative, the government alleges. He simply “deposited payments and income from the businesses and elsewhere into the accounts and then used most of the funds for personal expenses,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Kushner also “failed to file any income tax returns, faile…
COVER-UP: Essex Correctional Officers Beat Detainee As Sergeant Stood By, Feds Charge COVER-UP: Essex Correctional Officers Beat Detainee As Sergeant Stood By, Feds Charge
Cover-up: Essex Correctional Officers Beat Detainee As Sergeant Stood By, Feds Charge Three Essex County correctional officers beat a federal detainee as a sergeant stood by, said authorities who charged all four with civil rights violations. The detainee – who was being held pending a federal trial -- squirted a mixture of urine, yogurt, and milk onto a correctional officer at the Essex County Correctional Facility (ECCF) the evening of Aug. 17, 2020, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said Friday. The detainee was brought to a disciplinary cell and beaten by Officers Angel Chaparro, 38, Damion James, 40, and Luis Ortiz, 29, in front of Sgt. Herman Pride, 51, Honig said.…
Jersey City Jeweler From Clifton Admits Lying To FBI To Protect Customers Jersey City Jeweler From Clifton Admits Lying To FBI To Protect Customers
Jersey City Jeweler From Clifton Admits Lying To FBI To Protect Customers A Jersey City mall jewelry store manager from Clifton admitted lying to the FBI to protect investigative targets who were his customers, authorities said. Khaled Hamade, 60, told a federal judge in Newark via videoconference Tuesday that he lied when he told agents investigating a fraud against a financing company that he didn’t know the suspects. “Hamade denied knowledge of the identities and personal information of numerous customers of his jewelry store who were believed to have engaged in the fraud,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. The Lebanese immigrant, who managed the Ne…
SMACKDOWN: Federal Drug Task Force Seizes Enough Heroin In Paterson To Fill 400,000 Single Bags SMACKDOWN: Federal Drug Task Force Seizes Enough Heroin In Paterson To Fill 400,000 Single Bags
Smackdown: Federal Drug Task Force Seizes Enough Heroin In Paterson To Fill 400,000 Single Bags Members of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force seized 44 pounds of heroin in Paterson while arresting two men after learning that one of them bought a huge amount of materials used to package the drug for on-street sale, authorities said. Luis Cepeda-Capellan, 25, was carrying nearly nine pounds of the drug – enough to fill more than 81,500 individual heroin folds – when agents moved in and captured him during a stop in Paterson late last week, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said Monday. They found 35 more pounds of heroin – enough to fill nearly 320,000 more envelopes – in Cepe…
Bergen Nurse In Multi-Million-Dollar Health Scheme: I Pushed, Prescribed Meds Without License Bergen Nurse In Multi-Million-Dollar Health Scheme: I Pushed, Prescribed Meds Without License
Bergen Nurse In Multi-Million-Dollar Health Scheme: I Pushed, Prescribed Meds Without License A Bergen County nurse admitted cashing in on a multi-million-dollar health insurance scam by pushing and writing prescriptions for customized drugs that patients didn’t need -- and doing it without a license. The co-owners of a pharmaceutical marketing company paid Jennifer Nash, 51, of River Vale, to pitch and prescribe the particular drugs, known as “compounded medications," Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. “Not only did Nash write these prescriptions regardless of whether a health insurance plan beneficiary needed such a medication,” Honig said.  She also wrote them eve…
Feds: Wayne Entrepreneur Gets 366 Days For Ducking $550G In Payroll Taxes At Fair Lawn Firms Feds: Wayne Entrepreneur Gets 366 Days For Ducking $550G In Payroll Taxes At Fair Lawn Firms
Feds: Wayne Entrepreneur Gets 366 Days For Ducking $550G In Payroll Taxes At Fair Lawn Firms A Wayne entrepreneur who owned and operated several businesses in and around Fair Lawn was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison Wednesday for ducking nearly $550,000 in payroll taxes. Dennis Saccurato, 68, must serve out the entire term because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. U.S. District Court Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Trenton also sentenced him to three years of supervised release. All told, Saccurato failed to pay over approximately $549,715.29 in employment taxes for cleaning product businesses in Fair Lawn – among them, Sparta Chem Inc., Horizon Products L…
Feds: Multi-County Burglary Crew Broke Into 40 North Jersey Pharmacies Seeking Codeine Feds: Multi-County Burglary Crew Broke Into 40 North Jersey Pharmacies Seeking Codeine
Feds: Multi-County Burglary Crew Broke Into 40 North Jersey Pharmacies Seeking Codeine A gang of burglars used bricks and rocks to break into at least 40 pharmacies in Hudson, Bergen and several other counties, targeting specific prescription drugs that they could sell, federal authorities said. Ten men, all from Jersey City, were charged in the three-month spree following an investigation led by Secaucus police, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said Tuesday. Surveillance video captured images of the burglars breaking into some of the victimized pharmacies in North Bergen, Jersey City, Guttenberg, West New York, Secaucus, Lyndhurst, North Arlington, Linden, Iselin, Madis…
COVID-19: Young Philadelphia Entrepreneur Charged In Massive PPE Fraud Scheme COVID-19: Young Philadelphia Entrepreneur Charged In Massive PPE Fraud Scheme
Covid-19: Young Philadelphia Entrepreneur Charged In Massive PPE Fraud Scheme A 26-year-old Philadelphia man scammed two companies out of $700,000 then spent that money on vacations, a luxury car and gambling instead of buying promised PPE amid the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities announced. Gauravjit Singh promoted himself as a purveyor of PPE in May 2020, then claimed he had contacts at a factory in Nanjung, China, that manufactured medical gowns, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Singh convinced his clients, to enter into an agreement with one of his businesses, Mask Medical LLC, pursuant to which Singh would be paid approximately $7.125 million in exchang…
Feds Charge South Jersey Air Force Officer With Trafficking Child Porn Feds Charge South Jersey Air Force Officer With Trafficking Child Porn
Feds Charge South Jersey Air Force Officer With Trafficking Child Porn An Air Force officer from Camden County had child porn videos and images on his cellphone that he shared with others through a cloud, said federal authorities who took him into custody. Federal agents began investigating Ryan Osinski, 31, of Cherry Hill, following a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that “images of child sexual abuse were shared from an IP address assigned to Osinski’s residence,” Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael A. Honig said Friday. They found “numerous images and videos of child sexual abuse” on his phone, as well as links and fol…