Hackensack, NJ
Police & Fire
Justice Department Sues Contractor For Fraud In $39M NJ Road Project Justice Department Sues Contractor For Fraud In $39M NJ Road Project
Justice Department Sues Contractor For Fraud In $39M NJ Road Project A construction company lied to the federal government to get a $39 million subcontract on a New Jersey road project, authorities said Friday. C. Abbonizio Contractors Inc., based in Sewell, “defrauded the government by claiming to use disadvantaged entities” when, in fact, it didn’t, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Companies must use disadvantaged business entities (DBE) for a specified percentage of the work in order to secure federal contracts for New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) projects, Carpenito said. Abbonizio Contractors obtained a $39 million subcontract from PK…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
Former Gottheimer Aide Admits Forging Congressional Letters Former Gottheimer Aide Admits Forging Congressional Letters
Former Gottheimer Aide Admits Forging Congressional Letters A now-former aide to New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer admitted using the U.S. House of Representatives seal to falsify letters written on the federal lawmaker’s letterhead. Patrick Sheehan, 29, of West Milford, was working as director of community outreach in Gottheimer’s Sussex County office in Newton when he “falsified and mailed” a series of letters that purported to be from another staffer containing false information about the congressman and that employee, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said following Friday's guilty plea. Sheehan then “falsified multiple copies of a letter on [G…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lakewood, NJ
Police & Fire
US Government Sues Jersey Shore Town For Discriminating Against Orthodox Schools US Government Sues Jersey Shore Town For Discriminating Against Orthodox Schools
US Government Sues Jersey Shore Town For Discriminating Against Orthodox Schools Jackson Township is discriminating against Orthodox Jews through zoning ordinances that “intentionally restrict the operation of religious schools and housing associated with such schools,” including yeshivas, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday. The ordinances were enacted and used “against a backdrop of extreme [animosity] by Jackson residents and township decision makers toward the Orthodox Jewish community and a movement by residents to keep Orthodox Jewish community members from settling in Jackson,” the government contends in a lawsuit. Jackson’s planning board applied a pair o…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
Feds: Paterson Man Got Girl, 11, To Share Nude Photos, Posted Child Sex-Assault Video Feds: Paterson Man Got Girl, 11, To Share Nude Photos, Posted Child Sex-Assault Video
Feds: Paterson Man Got Girl, 11, To Share Nude Photos, Posted Child Sex-Assault Video A Paterson man who posted a graphic video of a child being sexually assaulted convinced an 11-year-old girl to send him naked photos, said federal Homeland Security agents who arrested him. Jose Minaya, 24, was scheduled for a first federal court appearance via teleconference Thursday afternoon on charges of producing and distributing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Minaya “used a web-based application to engage an 11-year-old child in a sexually explicit conversation online [and] ultimately instructed the child to take sexually explicit photographs and send them to h…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Marlton-Evesham, NJ
Police & Fire
South Jersey Grocery Store Owner Admits $260,000 Food Stamp Scam South Jersey Grocery Store Owner Admits $260,000 Food Stamp Scam
South Jersey Grocery Store Owner Admits $260,000 Food Stamp Scam A Camden grocery store owner admitted trading drugs and cash for government-issued debit cards that he and several accomplices used to steal $260,000 in benefits intended for families in need. Luciano Estevez, 50, pleaded guilty on Wednesday via teleconference after federal agents caught him and three of the others in a sting, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, allows users to buy necessary groceries. Although exchanging SNAP cards for cash is illegal, Estevez and his acco…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
$900,000 Tax Scam Gets NJ Tax Preparer Four Years In Fed Pen $900,000 Tax Scam Gets NJ Tax Preparer Four Years In Fed Pen
$900,000 Tax Scam Gets NJ Tax Preparer Four Years In Fed Pen A federal judge sentenced a former tax preparer who worked in Essex and Union counties to a plea-bargained four years in prison for his role in a $900,000 income tax scam, authorities said. Because there’s no parole in the federal prison system, Tony V. Russell, 49, of Stone Mountain, GA must serve out the entire term for his guilty plea to conspiring to defraud the IRS. Russell was the first of five men sentenced for preparing bogus tax returns at Tax Pro’s and Tax Solutions & Associates, federal prosecutors said. A federal judge in Trenton last September convicted one of two co-owner…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Mahwah-Ramsey, NJ
News
COVID-19 SCAM ALERT: Here’s How Stimulus Scammers Try To Steal Your Money COVID-19 SCAM ALERT: Here’s How Stimulus Scammers Try To Steal Your Money
Covid-19 Scam ALERT: Here’s How Stimulus Scammers Try To Steal Your Money Fear and uncertainty created by the coronavirus have made victims of people who’ve ended up giving what amounts to blank checks to scammers who claim to be contacting them about stimulus payments. Stimulus payments are automatic for seniors and taxpayers who filed tax returns in 2018 or 2019, state New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Friday. There are no phone calls, no need to do anything but count the amount when it comes in the mail or is directly deposited sometime this month. If you do get a call, text or email from someone asking for your Social Security, checking accou…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Edison, NJ
Police & Fire
Contractor Charged With Stealing 1,600 Masks Intended For NJ Hospitals Contractor Charged With Stealing 1,600 Masks Intended For NJ Hospitals
Contractor Charged With Stealing 1,600 Masks Intended For NJ Hospitals An electrical contractor stole 1,600 respirator masks intended for a local hospital from a Prudential Financial building in Middlesex County, state authorities said Thursday. Kevin R. Brady, 49, of Point Pleasant Beach had access to storage areas in the Iselin building, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Brady swiped seven to eight cases of N95 coronavirus respirator masks, each case containing 200 masks, between March 27 and April 1, Grewal said. He was tripped up, however, during an ongoing investigation by the New Jersey State Police, Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, Woo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
North Hunterdon, NJ
Police & Fire
Feds: Staff At NJ Women's Prison Sexually Abused Inmates Feds: Staff At NJ Women's Prison Sexually Abused Inmates
Feds: Staff At NJ Women's Prison Sexually Abused Inmates Staff members at a New Jersey prison for women sexually abused inmates, federal prosecutors said Monday. Evidence shows that the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton "fails to protect prisoners from sexual abuse by the facility’s staff," U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said Monday. This violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Carpenito said. The U.S. Justice Department served notice on the Hunterdon County facility "for these alleged conditions and the minimum remedial measures necessary to address them," he said. In turn, Carpenito said, state official…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Feds: Undercover Buys, Wire Snare Members Of Crew That Slung Smack, Crack In Newark Projects Feds: Undercover Buys, Wire Snare Members Of Crew That Slung Smack, Crack In Newark Projects
Feds: Undercover Buys, Wire Snare Members Of Crew That Slung Smack, Crack In Newark Projects Federal agents arrested three accused members of a crew that the government said has controlled the heroin and crack market in a labyrinthine complex of affordable housing and senior apartments in Newark. ATF agents working with U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito’s office and other local, state and federal law enforcers zeroed in on the privately-owned Pilgrim Baptist Village housing complex. Commonly known as “Pilgrim Village,” the project consists of 46 buildings, each with four units, with interior stairwells leading from each apartment to a common hallway that connects multiple buildings, …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lakewood, NJ
Police & Fire
FBI: Tattoos ID Jersey Shore Man Who Recorded Himself Sexually Assaulting Child FBI: Tattoos ID Jersey Shore Man Who Recorded Himself Sexually Assaulting Child
FBI: Tattoos ID Jersey Shore Man Who Recorded Himself Sexually Assaulting Child It wasn't difficult for FBI agents to identify a Monmouth County man who recorded himself sexually assaulting a child, authorities said. Agents arrested Christian Importuna, 24, Thursday morning at his Englishtown home after he tried to trade the videos with an online undercover agent, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said. Importuna “produced at least two videos that showed him sexually assaulting a child,” then tried to trade them with the agent on Tuesday, Carpenito said. One of the videos shows a girl who appears less than 8 years old giving him oral sex, a complaint on fil…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Feds: Longtime Fugitive From Brazil Surrenders In Major NJ Mortgage Fraud Feds: Longtime Fugitive From Brazil Surrenders In Major NJ Mortgage Fraud
Feds: Longtime Fugitive From Brazil Surrenders In Major NJ Mortgage Fraud A long-time Brazilian fugitive flew returned to New Jersey on Tuesday to face federal charges in a long-running mortgage fraud, authorities said. Isaac DePaula, 40, of Brazil, had been on the run since federal authorities first charged him in a 2012 complaint and then a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Newark indicted him four years later. He flew in to Newark Airport on Tuesday to face the indictment, which charges him with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and three counts of bank fraud, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. A federal judge ordered DePaula’s release pending further court…

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by Jerry DeMarco