The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Fair Lawn NJ, Fair Lawn Police Detective Brian Rypkema investigated a report of a debit card being used by a former home health aide to the victim that had accumulated $8165 in improper charges in 2018. Rosmery Nunezdrodriguez, age 38 of Paterson, responded to police headquarters and was charged with fraudulent use of a credit card.
Fair Lawn Police Chief Glen Cauwels stated all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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Fairview NJ, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrests of MOHAMADOU DIALO (DOB: 08/24/1997; single; unemployed) of 871 Elton Ave., Bronx NY; MAMADOU BARRY (DOB: 02/26/1998; single; unemployed) of 2835 St. Thomas Dr., Atlanta, GA; KABA YASSINE (DOB: 12/01/1998; single; retail associate) of 5897 El Segundo Way, Atlanta, GA; and AMADOU D. BARRY (DOB: 11/20/2000; single; musician) of 383 E. 162nd St., Bronx, NY on weapons and fraud charges. The arrests are the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Jason Love and the Fairview Police Department under the direction of Chief Martin Kahn.
Continue reading Search Warrant leads to Multiple Arrests for Weapons and Fraud Charges in Fairview
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NEWARK NJ, The leader of a multi-million dollar conspiracy that used stolen credit card account information to make fraudulent retail purchases around the country was sentenced today to 110 months in prison, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Continue reading Leader of New Jersey Based Credit Card Fraud Ring Sentenced to 110 Months in Prison
July 25,2018
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NEWARK NJ, Two Essex County men were charged today for their alleged roles in a conspiracy that used stolen personal identifying information to open credit cards and defraud a victim bank out of approximately $600,000, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Akintunde Adeyemi, a/k/a “AK,” 33, of East Orange, New Jersey, and Duluth, Georgia, and Oluwaseun Jato, 29, of Newark, are charged by complaint with one count each of bank fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. Jato was arrested this morning in Atlanta and will appear today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Justin S. Anand in Atlanta federal court. Adeyemi is still at large.
According to the complaint:
Between July 2016 and May 2017, Adeyemi, Jato and others conspired to use stolen personal identifying information to fraudulently apply for credit card accounts with an entity referred to in the complaint as “Victim Bank 1.” As part of the conspiracy, Adeyemi obtained the stolen personal information from other conspirators and used it to create the fraudulent credit card accounts.
After establishing the accounts, the conspirators contacted Victim Bank 1 to change the addresses associated with the accounts so that Victim Bank 1 would send the credit cards to addresses controlled by members of the conspiracy, including locations near Adeyemi and Jato’s residences in New Jersey and Georgia. Jato and other conspirators then used the cards at retail stores in New Jersey and Georgia, among other places, to purchase smartphones, tablets, and other high-value items, which were later sold for profit. Overall, the conspirators defrauded Victim Bank 1 of approximately $600,000.
The bank fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, which must run consecutive to any other term imposed.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Judy Ramos, and special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian Michael in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s charges
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas P. Grippo of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit and David M. Eskew, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Health Care and Government Fraud Unit in Newark.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty
Six from Secaucus among a dozen suspects charged in ID fraud ring that stole $3M
DECEMBER 9, 2015, 5:04 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015, 6:17 PM
BY JOHN SEASLY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
A dozen people face first-degree money-laundering charges after they allegedly stole about $3 million from banks in an elaborate scheme involving fake identities, bad checks and hundreds of credit cards, state acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said Wednesday.
Many of those charged are from Secaucus or Jersey City, and all but one have been arrested, Hoffman said.
The group allegedly created “synthetic” identities by combining real Social Security numbers with fake names and birth dates so they could open numerous checking and credit card accounts online. Authorities allege that through bad checks, the accused deposited money into the accounts, which they then used to pay off credit cards, increasing the cards’ credit limits. They allegedly also withdrew the money from ATMs and via money orders before the bad checks were discovered.
False “merchants” created shell businesses solely to participate in the scheme, Hoffman said. Those businesses swiped the fraudulent credit cards for nonexistent purchases, then received reimbursement from credit card processing companies.
“While the credit card holders, businesses and purchases in this scheme were fictitious, the losses suffered by the banks were very real and totaled an alarming $3 million,” Hoffman said.
The 12 charged allegedly split the proceeds, while the bank accounts of the fake businesses were used to launder the money, with checks written from one company to another as if they were doing business, Hoffman said.
The scam was active from 2012 to 2015 and involved hundreds of credit cards and millions of dollars in fake transactions, said state Division of Criminal Justice Director Elie Honig.
“All of the agencies involved deserve great credit for unraveling this tangled scheme and obtaining the evidence necessary to prosecute these individuals to the full extent of the law,” Honig said.
Ridgewood Police Caution against “Phishing” identity scams
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police continue to caution against identity theft . On Saturday November 7, 2015 a Stevens Avenue resident reported a suspicious incident that occurred via the internet. He/she was notified via email that there was a problem with his/her credit card account leading them to a link requesting his/her account information.
Prior to providing his/her personal information the resident realized that the notification was in fact fraudulent. This is a common scheme for perpetrating identity theft crimes, do not provide your personal account information to anyone before positively verifying the identity of the entity requesting it. Fraudulent sites camouflage themselves in order to trick potential victims into believing that they are legitimate.
This is often called ; Phishing . Phishing is when internet fraudsters impersonate a business to trick you into giving out your personal information, it’s called phishing. Don’t reply to email, text, or pop-up messages that ask for your personal or financial information. Don’t click on links within them either – even if the message seems to be from an organization you trust. It isn’t. Legitimate businesses don’t ask you to send sensitive information through insecure channels.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report that on Monday, October 19, 2015, a Demarest resident reported his/her credit cards taken from his/her wallet while in Ridgewood.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report that on Thursday, October 1, 2015, a Hawthorne resident reported that fraudulent charges were made on his/her credit card account shortly after dining at a Ridgewood restaurant. The victim felt that the server at the restaurant may have skimmed his/her card when it was presented for payment.
