TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a man who worked at a state-operated housing recovery center in Newark after Superstorm Sandy has been indicted on charges that he demanded thousands of dollars in bribes and fictitious fees from storm victims, fraudulently representing to the victims that he could expedite and/or increase the federal relief funds they received. The Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico– Miguel G. Ortiz-Vélez, a.k.a. “Papín”, mayor of the municipality of Sabana Grande has been indicted and arrested for his participation in a conspiracy to steal federal funds involving fraudulently obtained contracts from the PR Department of Education (PR DOE), announced U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez of the District of Puerto Rico. In a separate unrelated indictment, Victor Cruz-Quintero, former Director of...

TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal today announced that the Attorney General’s Office and its state and federal partners have charged four new defendants with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy, bringing the total number of defendants charged by the office in these cases to 116 since March 2014. “Any fraud against public assistance programs is deplorable, but these thefts were especially...

TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal today announced that the Attorney General’s Office and its state and federal partners have charged five new defendants with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy, bringing the total number of defendants charged by the office in these cases to 109 since March 2014. “Any fraud against public assistance programs is deplorable, but these thefts were especially...

(Source: whyy.org) New Jersey authorities charged criminally this week four more people with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy, state law enforcement officials announced. State authorities have charged 104 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud since March 2014. “It’s despicable that over 100 people saw fit to resort to fraud in the face of a historic disaster, allegedly stealing...

(Source: southoldlocal.com) The owners of a waterfront home in New Suffolk have been arrested by federal authorities on charges of making false and fraudulent statements in applications for federal assistance following Hurricane Sandy. William Grella and Gary Osborne, owners of the home at 1200 First Street in New Suffolk, falsely stated on applications for federal disaster relief assistance that the New Suffolk home was their primary residence...

Testimony Before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Nagwa Elsilimy and Ahmed Arafa with fraud by making false statements to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in connection with their obtaining more than $750,000 in disaster relief from New York City’s Build It Back program (BIB) and FEMA in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  The...

TRENTON –Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced that five additional individuals were charged criminally today with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy. Since March 2014, the Attorney General’s Office has filed criminal charges against 91 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the five individuals charged today. The Attorney General’s Office is continuing its...

(Source: patch.com) ELIZABETH, NJ — A Union County man is among five more people to be charged criminally Thursday with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced. James Fomuke, 58, of Elizabeth was among those arrested. He allegedly filed fraudulent applications following Superstorm Sandy for FEMA assistance and a state grant under the Homeowner...

TRENTON –Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced that five additional individuals have been charged criminally with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy. Since March 2014, the Attorney General’s Office has filed criminal charges against 81 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the five individuals charged today. The Attorney General’s Office is continuing its...

After superstorm Sandy ripped through New Jersey and destroyed tens of thousands of homes, the federal goverment sent $4.2 billion here for housing programs. The state hired a Louisiana company to help set up and run three key housing programs, but it was fired after less than nine months on the job. A federal government watchdog is now saying New Jersey should either prove the company it hired spent federal money appropriately or...

(OAJ, NJ) TRENTON –Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced that nine additional individuals have been charged criminally with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy.  Since March 2014, the Attorney General’s Office has filed criminal charges against 71 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the nine individuals charged today. The Attorney General’s Office is...

(OAG, NJ) TRENTON – Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy announced that five additional individuals were charged criminally today with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy. Since March 2014, the Attorney General’s Office has filed criminal charges against 62 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the five individuals charged today. The Attorney General’s Office is...

(Source: OAG, NJ) TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that five additional individuals were charged criminally today with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy. Since March 2014, the Attorney General’s Office has filed criminal charges against 50 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the five individuals charged today. The Attorney General’s Office is...

(Source: nj.gov) TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that eight additional individuals were charged criminally today with filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy. Since March 2014, the Attorney General’s Office has filed criminal charges against 45 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the eight individuals charged today. The Attorney General’s Office...

(Source: nj.com) TRENTON — A Toms River man who received more than $218,000 in Hurricane Sandy relief aid has admitted to filing fraudulent applications for funding from government-run storm recovery programs, authorities said. Gregory Wagner, 63, pleaded guilty in state Superior Court on Monday to third-degree theft by deception, according to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office. Wagner claimed a storm-damaged rental property he owned in...

TRENTON — Four more New Jersey residents were accused today of lying on applications for federal relief funds in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy to obtain more than $161,000, state authorities said, bringing the total number of those charged since March to a dozen. Mary Conlin, 51, of West Chester, Pa., allegedly claimed her home in Manahawkin was her primary residence, when in fact it was a vacation home. She was approved for a $145,900 small...

A New Orleans-based contractor who admitted to over-billing a Road Home subsidiary $236,000 was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to two-and-a-half years in prison. Praveen Kailas, a prominent and politically connected contractor, admitted to overbilling the state's Small Rental Property Program, a subset of Road Home designed to aid property owners in rebuilding their units after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Kailas said he approved and...

Chuck Appleby wanted answers back in March as he grappled with how to get his family back into their Seaside Park home that was damaged by Superstorm Sandy. He and many other Sandy victims with questions attended a town hall meeting in Manasquan on March 21 to hear what Gov. Chris Christie had to say. Appleby, a Seaside Park Planning Board member, was satisfied with one answer he heard: If you build now, you will be reimbursed, Christie said....