Dead Passengers, Fake Drivers: NJ Woman, Colombian Lover's $13M Scheme Unravels
Some of the passengers were dead. Some of the drivers had never driven a car.
But a New Jersey woman and her Colombian lover apparently had no trouble taking taxpayers for a ride.
For years, prosecutors say, Jael Watts, 45, of Alloway, operated Pearl Transit Corporation, a New Jersey-based company that purported to have drivers scattered across the country giving rides to elderly and disabled people while also conducting outreach for homeless Americans.
Watts and Luis Pino-Copete, 42, of Bogota, Colombia, were convicted following a multi-week federal trial in Utica of orchestrating a spraw…
Possible Murder-Suicide: 3 Found Dead In Skillman Mansion, Prosecutor Says
Three people were found shot dead in a New Jersey home, including one person who was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Friday, Oct. 2, officials said.
At 5:52 p.m., the three bodies were discovered at a home on Wild Azalea Lane, in Skillman, Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said.
Caution tape was seen outside of the mansion 39 Wild Azalea Ln., as published by The Montgomery News.
The investigation began a day earlier, when Montgomery Township police received a request to check on the occupants of the home just before 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, McDonald said.&nb…
$5.8K In Lululemon-Style Gear, Apple Accessories Stolen At Garden State Plaza: Police
Two Queens men were arrested after police say they stole nearly $5,900 in merchandise from two stores at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus.
Fabian Andres Suarez Garcia, 44, of Queens, and Jordan A. Vasquez, 45, of Flushing, Queens, were arrested Wednesday, Sept. 30, following an organized retail theft investigation, Paramus Police Chief Robert Guidetti said.
Detective Sgt. Matt McGuire of the Crime Suppression Unit spotted a white Ford Explorer with North Carolina plates parked at the mall around 6:38 p.m., Guidetti said. The SUV matched the description of a vehicle believed to h…
Yonkers Tax Preparer Admits Nearly $6M Fraud Scheme, Filing False Returns: Feds
A tax preparer from New Jersey has admitted to orchestrating a nearly $6 million fraud scheme through his Westchester County, NY businesses that involved filing thousands of returns containing fabricated deductions and credits, federal prosecutors said.
Bergen County resident Joseph Clay, age 52, of Lodi, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false and fraudulent federal income tax return, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Thursday, Oct. 1.
Federal officials said that from 2019 through 2024, Clay…
