The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Paterson NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today announced a state grand jury has voted to indict a Paterson housing and zoning inspector as well as an accomplice, charging them for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to accept money in exchange for illegitimate building permits bearing forged signatures, purported to be issued by the City of Paterson.
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Ridgewood NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Consumer Affairs (“Division”) announced today that Texas-based internet dating service provider Bumble, Inc. will pay $315,000 and change its business practices to settle allegations it violated New Jersey’s consumer protection and internet dating safety laws by misrepresenting or failing to disclose its criminal background screening policies and practices to its New Jersey users.
Continue reading Dating App Bumble Fined Over Misrepresenting Its Criminal Background Screening
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Trenton NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) today announced that John Dunlea, the former Chief Financial Officer of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP (the “McElroy Law Firm”), a national law firm based in New Jersey, has been charged with embezzling more than $1.5 million from the firm and evading payment of income tax owed to the State of New Jersey.
Continue reading Former Law Firm CFO Charged with Defrauding Firm of More Than $1.5M and Tax Evasion
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Ridgewood NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin warned New Jerseyans to beware of internet scams using the promise of love and romance to financially victimize individuals from young teens to senior citizens.
Continue reading NJ AG Urges New Jerseyans to Beware of Online Scams Using the Promise of Love
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Fort lee NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), and the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) today announced an investigation into two individuals who, based on the investigation to date, eluded police while driving a vehicle that rammed multiple police and commuter vehicles at the entrance to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The two individuals in the vehicle were taken into custody.
Continue reading Two Juveniles Arrested After Ramming Police Vehicles at George Washington Bridge
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Trenton NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) today announced that Holtec International, a Camden-based energy technology company involved in the decommissioning of nuclear power sites, agreed to pay $5 million in penalties and retain an independent reviewer approved by the State to monitor future applications for State benefits, and in exchange the State agrees to defer criminal prosecution following a lengthy criminal investigation into applications by Holtec and a related company, Singh Real Estate Enterprises (SRE), to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) for $1 million worth of tax credits from the Angel Investor Tax Credit Program.
Continue reading Holtec International Agrees to Pay $5 Million Penalty
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Trenton NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, along with the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety (HTS), today announced a substantial reduction in traffic-related fatalities in 2023. According to preliminary data as of January 8, 2024, fatal crashes in the state decreased by 9.4%, dropping from 646 in 2022 to 585 in 2023. This positive trend has resulted in an overall 10.4% reduction in fatalities from 2023 to 2022, declining from 689 in 2022 to 617 in 2023, and a 11.5% decrease from the 2021 traffic fatality total of 697.
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Secaucus NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced today that the New Jersey Bureau of Securities (“Bureau”) within the Division of Consumer Affairs (“Division”) has filed a civil enforcement action against the former vice-president of a New Jersey-based real estate investment firm that defrauded investors nationwide who had invested $630 million in that firm.
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Paterson NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division on Civil Rights (DCR) announced today that DCR has issued a Notice of Violation against an individual advertising his services on the gig economy website TaskRabbit, as well as on other platforms. Melquisedec Francis, the advertiser, stated that he would not provide services to Jewish patrons in at least three online communications in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
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Paramus NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Consumer Affairs (“the Division”) announced today that a now-defunct New Jersey cosmetology school and its related entities have agreed to pay nearly $640,000 – a majority of which will be used for consumer restitution – to resolve the State’s lawsuit alleging they defrauded students and engaged in substandard business practices that financially harmed students. In a separate settlement with the State Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling (“the Board”), the school also agreed to surrender its licenses to operate in New Jersey.
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Park Ridge NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced today that a state grand jury indicted a father and son from Bergen County for allegedly defrauding investors and mortgage lenders of more than $2.5 million through an investment scam involving Jersey Shore real estate.
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Paterson NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today announced the filing of criminal charges against a Paterson voter based on her alleged falsification of a vote-by-mail ballot, the defendant’s subsequent attempts to mislead investigators about that crime, and the defendant’s attempts to mislead investigators about how certain mail-in ballots were cast in the May 2020 Paterson municipal election.
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Paterson NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced today that the Paterson City Council President, Alex Mendez, has been brought up on new charges in connection with an election-fraud case, after investigators determined the defendant personally collected ballots and oversaw the fraudulent mailing of ballots, while members of his campaign stole ballots from residential mailboxes and discarded several that did not cast a vote for their candidate. It is also alleged that defendants tampered with witnesses to avoid prosecution.
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Paterson NJ, in the city’s sixth homicide in October, a man was fatally shot at about 3 a.m. Sunday morning near the parking lot of the Food Fair supermarket on Market Street, near East 36th Street, authorities said. The outbreak of October killings all in separate shooting incidents, represents Paterson’s worst month for homicides in more than three years.
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Verona NJ, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Interim Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Al Garcia announced today that an Essex County man has been indicted on charges related to the financial exploitation of a 90-year-old woman, after the suspect allegedly abused his authority over her finances to steal tens of thousands of dollars from the victim.
