Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato today announced the arrest of Robert William Brower, Jr., 45, of Seaside Heights, NJ, after an eighteen month joint investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Economic Crimes Unit, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development and the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General Division of Criminal Justice Financial and Computer Crimes Bureau.  As a result of this collaborative effort,…

Earlier today, Nagwa Elsilimy pleaded guilty at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn to disaster relief fraud in connection with obtaining more than $750,000 in disaster relief from New York City’s Build It Back program and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  Today’s proceeding took place before United States District Judge Raymond J. Dearie. Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the…

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…

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Timothy J. Oravec, age 59, of Poughkeepsie, New York, was arrested today on charges that he defrauded the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and some of its employees by falsely claiming to have cancer, and obtaining and using leave time donated to him by his colleagues. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Christina Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge for HUD’s…

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…

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

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 pay…

(Source: federalsoup.com) The Department of Housing and Urban Development needs to improve oversight of its travel and purchase card programs, according to a report from the HUD inspector general. While HUD has put controls in place to identify cardholder travel card program violations, the report from HUD's Office of Inspector General said the agency did not successfully identify patterns of abuse. The OIG found 3,671 instances of cardholders…

(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…

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies