TRENTON – Attorney General Zulima
V. Farber and Division of Criminal Justice
Director Gregory A. Paw announced that a
Middlesex County Hotel Worker and two others
have been indicted on charges of defrauding
the Unemployment Insurance Benefits (UI)
fund and Division of Workers’ Compensation
out of a total of more than $55,500. The
indictments resulted from a cooperative
investigation by the Department of Labor
and Workforce Development and the Division
of Criminal Justice - Major Financial Crimes
Bureau.
“These
indictments charge the defendants with illegally
collecting thousands of dollars in benefits
to which they were not entitled,”
Attorney General Farber said. “Our
goal is to identify those who cheat the
system, prosecute them and recover the money
taken from the UI benefits trust fund.”
“The
Department of Labor and Workforce Development
uses a variety of methods to track those
who would abuse the system and fraudulently
obtain benefits,” said Commissioner
of Labor and Workforce Development David
J. Socolow. “These cases were first
identified by labor department investigators
by cross-matching employer-submitted wage
information against UI benefit payments;
pursuing leads from employer protests of
UI benefit charges; surveying employer payroll
records; and responding to alerts from the
staff of our local claims offices.”
According
to Director Paw, a state grand jury indictment
charged Arnaldo Medrano, 44, whose last
know address was in Somerset, with two counts
of theft by deception and one count of unsworn
falsification to authorities for fraudulently
obtaining more than $24,850 from the state’s
UI benefits fund. Medrano filed for UI benefits
in November of 2000 and again in November
2001. An investigation by the Division of
Criminal Justice determined that during
both claims, Medrano worked as a banquet
server at the Hilton Hotels in East Brunswick,
but under-reported his wages to the labor
department, thus fraudulently enabling himself
to continue receiving UI benefits.
A second indictment charged James D. Bonyoczeczky,
36, of Hamilton, Mercer County, with two
counts of theft by deception and one count
of unsworn falsification to authorities.
Bonyoczeczky filed two claims for UI benefits,
in January 2001 and January 2002. According
to the indictment, while collecting on the
claims, Bonyoczeczky worked as a mason for
nearly a dozen construction companies throughout
New Jersey and Philadelphia, but did not
report the wages to the labor department.
As a result, Bonyoczeczky received more
than $19,140 in UI benefits to which he
was not entitled.
A third indictment charged Vincent Ferretti,
45, of Glassboro, with theft by deception
and unsworn falsification to authorities.
The indictment alleges that Ferretti filed
for UI benefits in January 2001 and subsequently
began working as a roofer for A.F. Callan
& Company, Inc., located in Cherry Hill.
By not reporting his earnings to the labor
department, Ferretti stole more than $11,590
in UI benefits.
All three indictments were handed up to
Superior Court Judge Linda R. Feinberg in
Mercer County on July 28. Theft by deception
is a third-degree crime, which carries a
maximum penalty of up to five years in state
prison and a fine of up to $15,000. Unsworn
falsification to authorities is a fourth-degree
crime which calls for up to 18 months in
state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The indictments are merely accusations and
the defendants are presumed innocent until
proven guilty.
Deputy Attorney General Candy Cure presented
all three cases to the state grand jury.
State Investigators Gary O’Brien and
Lynn Patrick Fitzgerald coordinated the
investigations. The indictments are available
on the Division of Criminal Justice Web
Page at www.njdcj.org.
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