Newark fire department employee charged with theft, tampering with public records and forgery April 11, 2009
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews in News.Tags: Crime, forgery, Fraud, Law, New Jersey, News, official misconduct
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The definition of insanity: average person steals $70,000. If convicted, will most likely get probation. Newark fire department clerk allegedly embezzles $1,000 and will face 5 to 10 years in prison, with 3 years being the most likely outcome though a plea bargain. The difference between the two? Unlike the average person, Eric Smith, the clerk in this example, is charge with official misconduct due to his public employment.
Smith worked at the fire department since 1996. As a clerk, he sold permits to the public for using flammable materials. He allegedly told customers to leave money orders blank as they submitted permit applications. He then allegedly added his own name to the money orders and used them at a Rent-A-Center store on Lyons Avenue in Newark.
The forgery charge is from a fake permit that he allegedly issued. This official misconduct charge is crazy. Our law makers really need to do something to fix this mess. Let’s assume he is guilty. Does he really deserve to go to prison for $1000?
Story is here.
Belleville, NJ man charged with theft by deception and unauthorized practice of law April 11, 2009
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews in News.Tags: Crime, Fraud, Law, New Jersey, News, theft by deception
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Max Antoine, a Belleville, New Jersey man is accused of pretending to be an immigration attorney even though he is just a private detective. He has allegedly been “practicing” out of a Bloomfield office since 2003. The case was investigated by the Bloomfield Police Department, with help from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office economic crimes unit.
How many people he allegedly defrauded and whether or not these people can be located is not yet clear. While the news story indicates that he is facing up to 15 years, I think he is looking at 3 to 5, with 3 being most likely. As a result, he’ll actually do 9 months. Of course, with a good attorney, he may be able to work out a deal to stay out of prison all together.
However, the real problem for Antoine may be the theft charge. It is one thing to pretend to be a lawyer to make money; it is another to pretend to steal money. I am sure there are many people that either pretend to be lawyers or pretend to be immigration experts that prey on illegal or uneducated immigrants. Of course, they are in a rather closed society so the rest of us rarely find out any of this. On the other hand, there are some that really try to help them but they really have no formal training themselves so they probably give bad or incomplete advice.
Thus, the theft charge makes it seem like Antoine is preying on uneducated immigrants which may make it more difficult to work out a good deal. If I’m his attorney, the theft charge is my primary focus, at least to start with.
Story is here.
Chinese man charged with fraud, conspiracy and theft of trade secrets in New Jersey April 11, 2009
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews in News.Tags: Crime, Fraud, Law, New Jersey, News, theft
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Yan Zhu, a Chinese national living in Lodi, New Jersey is accused of stealing a software program from his former U.S. employer and selling a modified version to the Chinese government. Weysan Dun, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Newark field office, said that there have been an increasing number of federal investigations into Chinese economic espionage over the past years.
Zhu is in the U.S. on a work visa and was a senior environmental engineer for the unnamed company from April 2006 to July 2008. He played a key role in its efforts to sell the program, which allows users to manage air emissions and water quality, in China. He sold the software for only 10% of it $1.5 million dollar price.
This will probably not be an easy case for the government to prosecute as they will have to likely deal with witnesses from China who may not be able to testify here in the U.S. At the same time, Zhu faces a lot of time in prison so a trial would be a huge gamble. Zhu also has to be careful as to what he says as he’ll have to face the music when he gets home to China.
Store is here.
Owner of tank removal company accused of scamming hundreds April 8, 2009
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews in News.Tags: Crime, Fraud, Law, New Jersey, theft by deception
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Albert Taylor, the owner of Tank Automation, Tank Tek, IDC Tank, All Tank Services, Tank Environmental Service and Computek Services LLC, was indicted by the New Jersey’s Attorney General’s office this week on two counts of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering, and two counts of theft by deception.
The State alleges that he defrauded clients by falsifying test results to generate business. His customers in Bergen, Passaic and Morris counties as well as Central Jersey, New York State and Maryland were worried about the potential liability posed by a leaking underground tank. In some cases, he would allegedly add oil to soil samples to make it look like tanks were leaking.
Taylor told customers he would conduct two high-tech tests on the oil tanks, but his employees did not even use the equipment needed to conduct one of the tests and used broken equipment or recorded insufficient data for the other, the indictment alleges. Almost every client was told the test results indicated their tanks were leaking.
I am almost 100% positive that they got some employees to flip because the State alleges that Taylor charged clients from $350 to $850 to take soil samples around tanks and then had his employees add oil to the samples. Once his employees told clients their oil tanks were leaking, they would recommend Tank Management to remove the tanks without mentioning that he also owned that company.
While I know first hand from my own practice that you never can buy all of these press releases, there are some stores I read where I almost feel sorry for the defense lawyer here. The employees that flipped and the sheer number of victims can make this case very, very difficult to win. The State only needs to prove one out of hundreds of victims were defrauded while the defense needs a total victory.
That is not to say that all hope is lost. If Taylor didn’t actually do anything himself, then it could be a good defense to blame the employees for everything. Trying to find a motive for them to do that will not be so easy. Interesting case that I would be happy to work on as I love a challenge.
Story is here.
NJ man allegedly dupes six people out of $500,000 April 7, 2009
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews in News.Tags: Crime, Fraud, Law, New Jersey, News, theft by deception
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The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office has charged Thomas A. Marchetti of Manahawkin with 2nd degree theft by deception. He is alleged to have convinced six people that he could make purchases at an auction limited to people with military identification. However, no auction is alleged to have actually existed. All told, the six alleged victims are out over $500,000.
I’ve been in these cases and I’ve found that they fit a certain pattern. First, I’m sure there was some contact between authorities and Marchetti before the arrest. Quite often, the suspect actually makes things worse for themselves if they don’t get an attorney. One approach is to ignore it and another is to make up more lies. It is unclear if either scenario occurred here.
Second, drugs is a common motive behind most crimes but when we are talking about large numbers like this, drugs are rarely the issue. A long term scam can be a means to finance a high profile lifestyle but a short term scam, is usually fueled by gambling addiction and/or gambling debt.
Regardless, I would guess the money is long gone. Hardly anyone steals money to invest. Of course, that assumes the allegations are true. The lack of ability to pay back the victims presents a problem because any plea offer will include restitution. Hope this guy saved some money for a good attorney. He’ll need it.
Story is here.
Massachusetts attorney general sues two New Jersey-based companies, NJ AG does nothing April 6, 2009
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews in News.Tags: Crime, Fraud, Law, New Jersey, News
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Even though I’m an attorney, there is a lot I will probably never understand. Attorney General Martha Coakley of Mass. filed a civil complaint today against the National Alliance of Associations, Professional Benefit Consultants, Thomas Sullivan, James Doyle, and Christopher Ashiotes. The basic allegation is they these people and their companies sell association memberships but market the product as health insurance.
The real story here is that not only is this AG late to the game, but that New Jersey’s AG has done nothing for years. Normally I would urge these guys to get an attorney but I’m sure they are use to this by now. You see, this cast of characters has been dealing with legal issues across the country for some time. Florida dealt with them in 2007. Read that article here. Kansas filed a cease and desist order in 2008. You can read that here (PDF).
Other states have had to deal with these guys as well but it seems like New Jersey has really done nothing and I really don’t understand what they are waiting for. Of course, I am not saying that these guys are guilty of anything, but how many states need to file something against these guys until their home state takes a long, hard look at them?
Story is here.
New Jersey Public Insurance Adjuster Arrested for Witness Tampering April 3, 2009
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews in News.Tags: Crime, Fraud, Law, New Jersey, News
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Kenneth Choseed a New Jersey licensed public adjuster, allegedly advised his clients and others not to speak with detectives from the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor in relation to an ongoing insurance fraud investigation that they are conducting. Exactly who or what the State is investigating is not entirely clear, but it seems that it is Choseed’s company, Public Adjusters of New Jersey, Inc.
This is one of the many reasons why I tell people to get an attorney right away; at the first sign of trouble. So many people that I meet ask me if they should tell people not to speak with authorities. Of course, I make sure to tell them they are not to say anything close to that. I further instruct them that if they are asked, they should state that they have the same rights everyone else does: the witness can make their own choice as to whether they want to speak with authorities and what they say.
If you’re not guilty, there is nothing to hide anyway. Instead of telling people not to talk, the real mission here is to interview everyone to find out what they will say. This locks people into a statement and allows the lawyer and client to evaluate a case at a very early stage.
The biggest problem I see is that people charged or suspected of white collar crime are often in denial about their situation. As a result, they think that a few white lie (pun intended) can fix the problem. However, this only makes the situation worse. (remember Marta Stewart?) If they just got an attorney from the start, the situation may have been able to get resolved without any charges. I can’t repeat this enough because so many people don’t get it.
Press release is here.
