TRENTON
– Attorney General Zulima V. Farber
and Division of Criminal Justice Director
Gregory A. Paw announced that an Ocean County
woman was sentenced to state prison today
for conspiring with three members of her
family to steal hundreds of thousands of
dollars through a variety of fraudulent
schemes. The other family members were previously
sentenced to prison.
Superior
Court Judge Michael A. Donio of Atlantic
County sentenced Rita Issa, 36, of Point
Pleasant Beach, to three years in state
prison on a charge of conspiracy to commit
theft by deception. She also was ordered
to pay $71,000 in restitution to AAA Mid-Atlantic
in connection with travelers checks that
she admitted she obtained fraudulently.
She pleaded guilty on Aug. 18, 2005 and
agreed to cooperate in the investigation
of the family’s elaborate criminal
enterprise, which also involved her father-in-law,
Antwan Issa, 64, her husband, Roger Issa,
31, and her brother-in-law, Robert Issa,
42, all of Point Pleasant Beach.
“Through
an effective investigation and prosecution,
we have assured that the family that stole
together is going to prison together,”
said Criminal Justice Director Paw. “These
four family members were linked by their
greed and their complete disregard for the
law. ”
According
to Director Paw, an investigation by the
Dover Township Police Department and New
Jersey State Police, coordinated by the
Division of Criminal Justice, revealed that
the four family members illegally obtained
hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash
and luxury merchandise through various mortgage,
real estate, bank fraud, and identity theft
schemes. The family members used Atlantic
City casinos to launder their illegal proceeds,
making deposits at the casinos, then withdrawing
the balance of the monies in cash after
minimal gaming activities.
The
investigation revealed that, among other
ploys, the family created a phony bank,
complete with telephone numbers answered
by family members, to verify the issuance
of fraudulent checks.
The
other family members also pleaded guilty
and were sentenced by Judge Donio as follows:
-
On
June 2, Antwan Issa was sentenced to
eight and one-half years in state prison
on two counts of theft by deception,
a second-degree crime;
-
On
May 31, Roger Issa was sentenced to
10 years in state prison on a charge
of racketeering conspiracy, a first-degree
crime; and
-
On
May 31, Robert Issa was sentenced to
13 years in state prison on a charge
of racketeering conspiracy, a first-degree
crime.
A
state grand jury indictment returned on
March 15, 2005 alleged, among other things,
that in November 2002, Robert, Roger, and
Rita Issa assumed the identity of a relative,
Dolly Issa, and sold her home in Wayne to
obtain $87,947. In another instance, Robert
Issa posed as a financial expert, befriended
a doctor under the guise of providing assistance
to obtain a loan, then used the doctor’s
financial and personal information to fraudulently
obtain a $450,000 mortgage loan.
In
January 2004, Robert Issa rented a Neptune
City storefront to open a branch office
of Bank United, a nonexistent bank. The
defendants printed Bank United checks, which
they used to purchase valid AAA VISA Travelers
checks. The VISA Travelers checks and fraudulent
Bank United checks were used to purchase,
among other things, more than $50,000 in
expensive watches and jewelry. The indictment
charged that Robert and Rita Issa used phony
Bank United checks to open accounts at Commerce
Bank and steal more than $140,000 in bank
funds.
The
investigation was coordinated by Deputy
Attorneys General Andrew Butchko and Kerry
Menchen assigned to the Division of Criminal
Justice - Casino Prosecutions Bureau. The
investigation was led by Detective Mark
Catalano of the Dover Township Police Department
and State Police Detective Sgt. Paul Spirit
for the Division of Gaming Enforcement.
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