Category: Security

Source: US FBI

NEWARK, N.J. – The ex-husband of a former star of the Bravo reality television show “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” was sentenced today to 84 months in prison for hiring, then assisting, a soldier in the Lucchese Crime Family to assault his ex-wife’s current husband, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Thomas Manzo, 59, of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, was convicted on June 4, 2024, after a two-and-a-half week trial before Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court. The jury convicted Manzo of one count of committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering, one count of conspiracy to commit a violent crime in aid of racketeering, and one count of falsifying and concealing documents related to a federal investigation.

 “Whether you’re actually in the Mafia or not, hiring the mob to assault someone because of your marital problems is abhorrent. Covering up the role you played only makes it worse. The jury’s verdict, and today’s sentence, make clear that this office will spare no resources to hold accountable anyone who commits such crimes.”

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger

According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial:

In the spring of 2015, Manzo, a co-owner of The Brownstone, a Paterson, New Jersey, catering hall, hired Lucchese Crime Family soldier John Perna to assault his ex-wife’s then-boyfriend, paying for the assault with a free wedding reception. Perna, a “made man” with his own crew, worked with them to carry out the assault on July 18, 2015. The Perna wedding, held in August 2015 at the Brownstone, was attended by approximately 330 people, many of whom also were members of the Lucchese Crime Family. Four years later, Manzo concealed and falsified documents related to the Perna wedding in response to a grand jury subpoena.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Wigenton sentenced Manzo to three years of supervised release and ordered him immediately remanded.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado in Newark, with the investigation leading to the conviction. U.S. Attorney Sellinger also thanked special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General, Officers with the Lyndhurst Police Department, Officers with the Totowa Police Department, Investigators with the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office, Investigators of the New Jersey State Police, and the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office for their substantial assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kendall R. Randolph of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Unit, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas S. Kearney of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Special Prosecutions Division and Bruce P. Keller, Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney. 

Source: US FBI

TRENTON, N.J. – An Indiana man admitted defrauding dozens of victims by fraudulently negotiating the sales of valuable and rare items that he did not own or possess, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Brian Combs, 49, Fishers, Indiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner in Trenton federal court on Oct. 15, 2024, to an information charging him with three counts of wire fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From April 2018 through December 2023, Combs fraudulently obtained $581,605 from dozens of victims by fraudulently negotiating sales of valuable and rare items – which he did not own or possess – with unsuspecting victims, who believed Combs would deliver these items once they paid Combs. The items included rare bottles of whiskey, precious metals, silver coins, and a rare, collectable Mickey Mantle baseball trading card. Combs frequently requested that the victims wire payment for these valuable and rare goods to him directly, rather than through the e‑commerce website where he advertised the sale of these goods, to make it more difficult for the victims to recover payment for the items Combs fraudulently failed to deliver to them.

The wire fraud charges each carry a maximum of 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 20, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI Newark Division, Trenton Resident Agency, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Super Pitts of the Criminal Division in Trenton.

Source: US FBI

Video Statement:

https://youtu.be/eBEn8v-pD10

NEWARK, N.J. – A Somerset County, New Jersey, man admitted committing a federal hate crime for breaking into the Center for Islamic Life (CILRU) at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and destroying property, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and New Jersey State Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced today.

Jacob Beacher, 24, of North Plainfield, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch in Trenton federal court on Oct. 9, 2024, to an information charging him with damage to religious property.

“The free exercise of religion is a fundamental right of all Americans. Jacob Beacher admitted he intentionally broke into the Center for Islamic Life during the holy Eid-al-Fitr holiday and damaged and destroyed religious artifacts because of the Islamic faith of those associated with the facility. This office will not tolerate the use of force or threats to intimidate people and put them in fear of worshipping as they see fit.”

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger

“This defendant is being held accountable for Islamophobic-fueled acts of hate, interfering with the religious freedom of university students and staff during a sacred holiday for those of the Islamic faith,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department stands ready, along with our state and local partners, to hold accountable people who use force, or threats of violence, in order to intimidate people from exercising their religious beliefs. Islamophobic hate crimes have no place in our society today. We will continue to enforce the laws that make it safe for people of all faiths to engage in religious observance, including at educational institutions.”

“When we learned of this vandalism back in April, we immediately engaged with our law enforcement partners and Rutgers University,” FBI Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado said. “Within days, we tracked down and arrested Beacher. We want our actions and the speed with which we responded to illustrate our commitment and resolve to protect houses of worship in New Jersey. We all have the right to practice whatever religion we choose, without fear of hate marring the physical and spiritual place where we do it.”

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

On April 10, 2024, during the Eid-al-Fitr holiday, Beacher broke into the CILRU around 2:41 a.m., where he damaged the CILRU’s property, including several religious artifacts, such as Turbah prayer stones, which are clay stones on which Muslims prostrate during prayer, and numerous other items that contained holy language from the Qur’an, Islam’s sacred scripture. Beacher also stole a Palestinian flag and a charity box belonging to the CILRU. He caused damage and destruction of property in excess of $5,000.

The charge of damage to religious property carries a maximum potential penalty of three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 11, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, Branchburg Resident Agency, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado in Newark; prosecutors and detectives from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, under the direction of Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin; detectives from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone; the Rutgers University Police Department-New Brunswick Division, under the leadership of Chief of University Police Kenneth Cop; and the New Jersey Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Levin, Chief of the General Crimes Unit, and R. Joseph Gribko, Deputy Chief of the Civil Rights Division, with assistance from the National Security Unit for the District of New Jersey, as well by Trial Attorney Daniel Grunert of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. 

Source: US FBI

LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas man was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro to 30 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for submitting fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Relief Loan (EIDL) loan applications seeking more than $1 million under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

According to court documents, from May 2020 to June 2020, Jeremy Lee Attebery (42) submitted two false PPP loan applications and one false EIDL application. Attebery provided false information on his loan applications, such as number of employees, amount of monthly payroll, and gross revenues. In total, he applied for approximately $1,043,000 in fraudulent loans. Furthermore, he falsely stated on each application that he had not been convicted of a felony within the past five years.

Attebery pleaded guilty in August 2022 to three counts of wire fraud.

United States Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans for the FBI made the announcement.

The FBI investigated the case; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Oliva prosecuted the case.

In May 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

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Source: US FBI

LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas woman pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Cristina D. Silva to filing fraudulent applications seeking thousands of dollars in loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

According to court documents, Mikaela Marie Cuevas (24) — while on probation for assaulting a federal law enforcement officer — submitted at least two fraudulent loan applications and received thousands of dollars of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding she was not eligible to receive. As part of the scheme, Cuevas submitted PPP loan applications in the name of a fake management consulting business, falsely claiming gross annual revenues of $106,000 from the non-existent business. Shortly after receiving the PPP funds, she filed fraudulent loan forgiveness applications, seeking to have her responsibility to re-pay the stolen loans absolved. In total, Cuevas caused a loss of about $47,000.

Cuevas pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. She is scheduled to be sentenced on May 25, 2023, and faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to 20 years in prison. In addition to time in prison, Cuevas faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada; Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans for the FBI; Special Agent in Charge Weston King for the Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General’s (SBA OIG) Western Region Office; Special Agent in Charge Albert Childress for the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI); Acting Special Agent in Charge Cory Nootnagel for the Western Region, Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (FRB-OIG) made the announcement.

The FBI, SBA OIG, IRS CI, FRB-OIG, and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Frayn prosecuted the case.

In May 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

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Source: US FBI

LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas resident was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Kent J. Dawson to 78 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for defrauding hundreds of small business owners – many of them elderly – of about $12 million.

Michael Jones (43) pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud. In addition to the prison term, Jones was ordered to pay restitution in the total amount of $11,509,087.67 to the victims, and a forfeiture money judgment in the total amount of $7,934,095.32.

According to court documents, from October 2009 to February 2014, Jones and his co-defendants convinced more than 2,100 small business owners to pay nearly $12 million for what Jones and his co-defendants described as advance fees to fund expenses to apply for supposed government, private and charitable grants for the victims’ businesses. Following a script, Jones and others would falsely tell the victims that government, private and charitable organizations would provide grants to them regardless of the type of business they operated, but the victim first needed to pay thousands of dollars in fees to access those grants. Jones and his co-defendants induced the small business owners to give them money in exchange for services that were never provided. The scheme functioned solely to enrich Jones and his co-defendants.

United States Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans for the FBI made the announcement.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Cowhig prosecuted the case.

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Source: US FBI

A Florida man pleaded guilty today to orchestrating an investment fraud scheme that defrauded more than 10,000 victims of over $55 million.

According to court documents, Michael Glaspie, 72, of Palm City, marketed an investment opportunity under the name “CoinDeal” or “Coin Deal.” Glaspie claimed that CoinDeal would yield extremely high returns on the premise that one or more technology companies – operated under the banner of “ViRSE” and allegedly owned by Neil Suresh Chandran – was about to be acquired by a consortium of wealthy buyers. To entice investors to put money into CoinDeal, Glaspie falsely promised that in the event the returns from CoinDeal failed to materialize, he would repay investors their money with seven percent annual interest over three years. In fact, Glaspie knew he had no means of making such repayments.

“For his brazen and repeated lies that defrauded more than 10,000 victims out of more than $55 million, the defendant now justifiably faces a lengthy prison term,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  “The Department of Justice is committed to rooting out investment fraud and holding wrongdoers accountable to protect the financial security of all Americans.”

To support his false repayment promise, Glaspie deceptively claimed that he had an exclusive and lucrative contract with AT&T to distribute government‑funded phones, and that an app that he developed was being distributed by the Better Business Bureau and would yield over $400 million in revenue, when he had no such contract or distribution agreement. Furthermore, when the promised sale of CoinDeal did not close, Glaspie transmitted investor funds to Chandran after falsely representing to CoinDeal investors that he would not do so. Glaspie also falsely claimed that he never paid himself with CoinDeal investor funds, when in truth, he misappropriated nearly $2.5 million of victim investments for personal purposes, including trading cryptocurrency, paying his employees’ salaries, and buying a life insurance policy for a family member. 

“Michael Glaspie admitted today to his involvement in a widespread scheme to defraud investors for his personal benefit,” said U.S. Attorney Steven A. Russell for the District of Nebraska. “Thanks to the tireless efforts of our law enforcement partners to untangle this fraud, Glaspie will now be held accountable for this serious crime.”

“This case identified a fraudulent online investment scheme that defrauded over 10,000 victims,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The subject promised investors high rates of returns then misused investor funds for personal use. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to work diligently to identify and pursue those who seek to deceive and defraud the American public.”

“This elaborate investment fraud scheme defrauded more than 10,000 victims of over $55 million,” said Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Investment fraud schemes of any type will not be tolerated. The FBI will continue to do what we have done for over 100 years and investigate those who attempt to defraud unsuspecting Americans of their hard-earned money. I would like to thank our partners at FBI offices across the country and the Department of Justice for their work and collaboration to bring justice on behalf of these victims.”

Glaspie pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 16 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Separately, on June 14, 2022, a federal grand jury in the District of Nebraska returned an indictment charging Chandran with three counts of wire fraud and two counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property for his role in the scheme. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the wire fraud counts and up to 10 years in prison for each count of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions.  An indictment is merely an allegation.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The FBI Washington, Omaha, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles Field Offices are investigating the cases.

Assistant Chief William E. Johnston and Trial Attorney Tian Huang of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald J. Kleine for the District of Nebraska are prosecuting the cases.

All potential investor victims of this fraud are encouraged to visit the webpage https://www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/united-states-v-chandran to identify themselves and obtain more information on their rights, including the opportunity to submit a victim impact statement.

Source: US FBI

LAS VEGAS – Two men pleaded guilty yesterday for their involvement in a conspiracy to apply for and use Nevada and California unemployment insurance benefits debit cards that were issued in other peoples’ names.

Luigi J. Montes (42), of Sugar Land, Texas, and Peter Alexander Stincer (34), of Sylmar, California, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. U.S. District Judge Richard F. Boulware scheduled sentencing for June 5, 2023.

According to court documents and admissions made in court, from at least March 2020 to January 2021, Montes, Stincer, and co-defendant Alexander Hoyos Rivera, of Marion, Ohio, conspired to submit fraudulent unemployment insurance claims with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR) and the California Employment Development Department (EDD). As part of the scheme, they used stolen personal identifying information – such as victim names, dates of birth, and social security numbers – to defraud DETR and EDD. Once the claims were approved, unemployment insurance debit cards were sent to mailing addresses to which the defendants had access. After receiving the debit cards, they withdrew the funds at various ATMs located in several states, including Nevada, California, and Texas. In total, DETR, EDD, and other state agencies approved at least $934,129 in benefits for these fraudulent claims. During the conspiracy, the defendants fraudulently obtained at least $698,655 in benefits for their personal use.

At sentencing, Montes and Stincer each face a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a term of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

United States Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans for the FBI made the announcement.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Fang is prosecuting the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

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Source: US FBI

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Steven Mark McAnally, age 65, of Hugo, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to one count of possessing certain material involving the sexual exploitation of a minor.

The Indictment alleged that in July 2023, McAnally knowingly possessed visual depictions from the internet of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, which McAnally accessed with intent to view.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Choctaw Nation Lighthorse Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Honorable Gerald L. Jackson, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.  McAnally was remanded into the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Caila M. Cleary represented the United States.

Source: US FBI

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Bryson Noel Miller, age 19, of Fort Towson, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to one count of Murder in Indian Country.

The Indictment against Miller alleged that on December 23, 2020, Miller killed the victim willfully, deliberately, maliciously, with premeditation and malice aforethought.

According to investigators, on the afternoon of December 22, 2020, Miller, Ashlie Nicole Rose Martin, and Chad Jon’Dale Voyles planned the murders of Martin’s parents, then set their plan into motion.  As part of that plan, Miller participated in bludgeoning Martin’s father to death.  The crimes occurred in Choctaw County, within the boundaries of the Choctaw Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and the Choctaw County Sheriff’s Office.

The Honorable Gerald L. Jackson, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in Muskogee, Oklahoma, accepted Miller’s plea, ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report, and remanded Miller to the custody of the U.S. Marshals pending sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin D. Traster represented the United States.