Jersey City Residents Indicted in $464,000 Fraud of Parsippany Company
September 10, 2008: A Morris County Grand Jury returned a seven count indictment charging Jersey City residents, Nicole Lere, age 27, and Arcadio Santiago, age 25 with:
Two Counts of Second Degree Theft by Deception
Two Counts of Second Degree Issuing a Bad Check
Two Counts of Third Degree Uttering a Forged Instrument
One Count of Second Degree Conspiracy to Commit Theft by Deception
Both defendants were arrested on July 12, 2006. The thefts allegedly occurred during a two week period between March and April of 2005. The approximate value of the fraudulent checks and the thefts is in excess of $464,000.00 which was taken from Automatic Data Processing. The defendants allegedly created a fraudulent construction company to which ADP made payments for payroll and accounts payable.
The arrest was the result of a continuing investigation conducted by the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, United States Secret Service and the Parsippany Troy Hills Police Department.
Prosecutor Bianchi stated "I am proud and impressed with the detective work that unraveled this complex scheme. As the Morris County Prosecutor's Office has previously stated, these crimes levy a tremendous impact upon our citizens with increased costs for goods and services, as well as, the impact upon the businesses that are wrongly affected. We will pursue these white collar cases as any other case so as to send a message that if you engage in this activity and are caught you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
If convicted of the charges, Lere and Santiago face a maximum potential custodial sentence of approximately twenty years imprisonment in New Jersey State Prison.
Despite these pending charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt following a jury trial at which the defendant has all of his rights guaranteed by the U.S. and New Jersey Constitutions and relevant state law.
This case is being handled by Assistant Prosecutor Tony Cannon, Esq.
Media Contact: Agent Robyn D'Onofrio