TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
today that five people have been charged with
cheating the State of New Jersey’s unemployment
fund out of a total of $113,612.
Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni noted
that the charges resulted from cooperative
investigations by the Department of Labor
and Workforce Development and the Division
of Criminal Justice Major Crimes Bureau.
State
v. Carlos G. Ortiz. Ortiz, 41,
of Neptune, was charged in a Sept. 1 state
grand jury indictment with third-degree
theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn
falsification. Ortiz filed for unemployment
insurance benefits each December between
2001 and 2004. According to the indictment,
while he was collecting on each of these
claims, Ortiz was also allegedly earning
wages. By not reporting the earnings to
the Department of Labor and Workforce Development,
Ortiz allegedly collected $29,877 in unemployment
insurance benefits to which he was not entitled.
The
Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes
Bureau obtained the following state grand
jury indictments during the month of August:
State
v. Sauerio Bilotta. Bilotta, 43,
of Bayonne, was charged in an Aug. 25 state
grand jury indictment with third-degree
theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn
falsification. The indictment alleges that,
while collecting on unemployment insurance
benefits claims that he filed in 2001, 2002,
2003 and 2004, Bilotta was earning wages.
According to the indictment, Bilotta did
not report his earnings to the Department
of Labor and Workforce Development and consequently
stole $20,634 in unemployment insurance
benefits.
State
v. Mirjana Ivkov. Ivkov, 36, of
Wayne, was charged in a separate Aug. 25
state grand jury indictment with third-degree
theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn
falsification. Ivkov filed claims for unemployment
insurance benefits in November 2002, December
2004 and February 2005. According to the
indictment, Ivkov was allegedly earning
wages while she was collecting on these
claims. By not reporting the wages to the
Department of Labor and Workforce Development,
Ivkov allegedly collected $15,885 in unemployment
insurance benefits to which she was not
entitled.
State
v. John K. Calhoun. Calhoun, 45,
of Linden, was charged in an Aug. 5 state
grand jury indictment with third-degree
theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn
falsification. The indictment alleges that
Calhoun was earning wages while collecting
on unemployment insurance benefits claims
that he filed for in February 2003 and February
2004. The indictment charges that, as a
result of failing to notify the Department
of Labor and Workforce Development of his
earnings, Calhoun allegedly stole $18,942
in unemployment insurance benefits.
The
Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes
Bureau obtained the following guilty plea
via a criminal accusation during the month
of August:
State
v. Eunice Rivers. Rivers, aka Eunice
Lloyd, aka Eunice Lloyd-Rivers, 42, of Jersey
City, pleaded guilty on Aug. 4 to third-degree
theft by deception. Rivers admitted that
while collecting on unemployment insurance
benefits claims, she was earning wages.
Rivers further admitted that, by failing
to notify the Department of Labor and Workforce
Development of the wages, she collected
$28,274 in unemployment insurance benefits
to which she was not entitled.
Detectives
Gary O’Brien and Lynn Fitzgerald of
the Division of Criminal Justice coordinated
the investigations. The cases were presented
to the state grand jury by Deputy Attorneys
General Jacqueline Cistaro (Ortiz), Betty
Rodriguez (Bilotta and Ivkov) and Lee Schaer
(Calhoun). Schaer represented the Division
of Criminal Justice at Rivers’ guilty
plea hearing. Attorney General Milgram thanked
the Bureau of Benefit Payment Control from
the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce
Development for its assistance in the investigations.
The
Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Commissioner David J. Socolow said that the
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 concerned
citizens.
The
indictments are merely accusations and the
defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty. Third-degree crimes carry a sentence
of up to five years in state prison and a
fine of up to $15,000, while fourth-degree
crimes carry a sentence of up to 18 months
in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
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