White Collar Crime News

Four charged with unemployment fraud July 22, 2009

Four people have been charged with stealing from unemployment in separate and unrelated cases.  This is fairly common and you see these indictments every few months.  Basically, someone goes on unemployment but then they go back to work without telling anyone.  Thus, they get paid from their job and unemployment.  Once that figure hits around$10,000 or so, the State moves to indict to make examples out of the big hitters.

Problem is, the plea offers are usually the same and trying to get the State to bend is difficult.  If word gets out that you got a better deal, everyone else will want one.  Thus, an attorney needs to quickly identify the best possible deal and decide if the client should press his or her luck rather early in the case.  Of course, this assumes you can get all of the records.

If you are charged or suspected of unemployment fraud, call me today.

Press release is below:

TRENTON – Attorney General Anne Milgram announced today that four people have been charged with cheating the State of New Jersey’s unemployment fund out of a total of $79,888.

Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni noted that the charges resulted from cooperative investigations by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes Bureau.

The Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes Bureau obtained the following state grand jury indictments last week:

State v. Jose A. Vasquez. Vasquez, 44, of Camden, was charged in a July 17 state grand jury indictment with third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification. Vasquez filed UI benefits claims every year from 2000 to 2005. At various times throughout those years, Vasquez earned wages working as a construction worker for Jasticon, Inc. in Medford. By failing to notify the Department of Labor and Workforce Development of the employment, Vasquez allegedly received $31,451 in UI benefits to which he was not entitled.

State v. Harvey E. Grimes. Grimes, 41, of Ewing, was charged in a July 17 state grand jury indictment with third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification. The indictment alleges that, while collecting on three separate UI benefits claims, in 2002, 2003 and 2004, Grimes allegedly earned wages from Jersey Temporaries, Inc., a temporary employee service. It is alleged that, by failing to report the earnings to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Grimes allegedly stole $22,055 in UI benefits.

State v. Sharnell Ramseur. Ramseur, 36, of East Orange, was charged in a July 16 state grand jury indictment with third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification for allegedly collecting $15,952 in UI benefits to which he was not entitled. The indictment alleges that, after filing for UI benefits in January 2003 and April 2004, Ramseur earned wages from Ford Motor Corp. It is further charged that Ramseur failed to report his earnings to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

State v. Karen L. Jones. Jones, 48, of Newark, was charged in a July 16 state grand jury indictment with third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification. Jones filed for UI benefits in July 2002, July 2003 and July 2004. The indictment alleges that, while collecting on these benefits, Jones earned wages from Newark Pre-School Council, Inc., where she worked as a teacher’s assistant. Jones allegedly failed to report the earnings to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and consequently stole $10,430 in UI benefits.

The Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner David J. Socolow said that the cases were first identified by Labor Department investigators by cross-matching employer-submitted wage information against UI benefit payments; pursuing leads from employer protests of UI benefit charges; surveying employer payroll records; and responding to alerts from concerned citizens.