Former Bergen Resident From CT Admits Embezzling $540,000 From Security Firm
A former Bergen County resident now living in Connecticut admitted Wednesday that she embezzled $540,000 from a local company.
Melissa Corso, 50, and her husband lived in Closter when she worked for a Delaware-based security systems supplier with an office in Ridgefield Park, federal authorities said.
Corso, currently of Groton, CT, and co-worker Joseph Spaccavento steered customer payments owed to their former employer to a PayPal account registered to him and linked to her work email, according to an FBI complaint.
The customers, in turn, sent more than $3.1 million through 1,150 transa…
Ramsey Man Admits Embezzling $516,000 From Ridgefield Park Security Firm
A Ramsey man who worked at a Ridgefield Park security systems firm told a federal judge that he and an accomplice diverted $516,000 of the company’s money to spend on themselves.
Joseph Spaccavento, 41, was an accounts payable manager and assistant controller at the firm, which developed hardware and software for video surveillance, federal authorities said.
His accomplice, Melissa Corso, coordinated the collection of customer payments and applied them to invoices, they said.
For more than 5 ½ years, the two diverted customer payments to themselves, Spaccavento admitted during a videoconfe…
Scammers May Victimize Peer-To-Peer App Users, CT Attorney General Warns
Federal and state officials are warning consumers to be vigilant when using “peer to peer” apps like CashApp, Venmo, PayPal, and Zelle to avoid losing money, giving out valuable personal information, or being victimized by scammers.
Like any product, consumers must make informed decisions with regard to the use of financial technology products including the “peer to peer” applications for smartphones, otherwise known as “prepaid accounts” or “P2P account.”
P2P Apps have become increasingly popular through companies like Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, and PayPal. While these apps can be used …
Feds: NJ Man Who Sent Links To Investigator For $20 Had 22,000 Child Sex Abuse Images
For just $20, a South Jersey man sent an undercover investigator links to websites that contained images of child sexual abuse, but that was nothing compared to what later turned up, federal authorities said.
Homeland Security agents who raided the Willingboro home of Al-Fahim Medina, 22, found more than 22,000 illegal images, including those of “prepubescent children being sexually abused,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
It all began last January, Honig said, when the undercover agent found coded online language offering the sale of child pornography on Twitter.
The Twitter…
Scammers Posing As PayPal, Amazon Employees, Dutchess County Sheriff Says
Scammers have been impersonating PayPal and Amazon employees and calling area victims, asking them to transfer money, purchase merchandise, or to provide banking information, passwords and personal information, according to the Dutchess County Sheriff's Department.
They offered the following suggestions to avoid falling prey to scam artists:
If you are contacted by anyone that you don't know asking you for money, it is probably a scam.
Exercise caution and restraint when asked by callers to purchase items, transfer money, relay banking information or enter any kind of code—it i…
Feds: Chinese Citizen Who Financed $2.25M Exotic Turtle-Smuggling Operation Extradited To NJ
A Chinese citizen who bankrolled the smuggling of $2.25 million worth of rare, protected turtles out of the United States was extradited from Malaysia to face federal charges in New Jersey, authorities said.
Kang Juntao, 24, of Hangzhou City, China, financed a nationwide ring of criminals who smuggled at least 1,500 protected turtles out of the U.S., many of whom were bound with duct tape and stuffed into socks, Justice Department officials said Thursday.
“Wildlife trafficking is a serious crime that impacts imperiled species at home and abroad,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Aure…
