|
TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that an employee of the Essex
County Division of Welfare pleaded guilty
today to falsifying employment records in
order to qualify for a $357,050 loan to
buy a home in Newark.
According
to Director Taylor, Ijeoma Okoh, 32, of
Newark, pleaded guilty to an accusation
charging her with issuing a false financial
statement, a third-degree crime, before
Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin in
Essex County. The case was investigated
by the Essex County Inspector General’s
Office and the Division of Criminal Justice.
Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 18.
The
state will recommend that Okoh be sentenced
as a third-degree offender within the judge’s
discretion. She must forfeit her job and
will be permanently barred from public employment
in New Jersey. Okoh must forfeit all interest
in the house she purchased, which will revert
to the mortgage lender. In pleading guilty,
Okoh admitted that she submitted fraudulent
documentation regarding her employment and
salary in order to deceive Bank of America
(BOA) into providing her with a $357,050
mortgage loan, which she used to purchase
a property on Sixth Avenue in Newark.
The
investigation revealed that on May 13, 2009,
Okoh filed a verification of employment
form with BOA that correctly indicated that
she earned $47,562 as a family services
worker for the Essex County Division of
Welfare. However, the following day, Okoh
filed a fraudulent verification of employment
form with BOA, purportedly signed by an
actual deputy director in the Division of
Welfare, indicating that Okoh’s salary
was $63,375 and that she was a family service
supervisor. Okoh also submitted a fraudulent
letter on county letterhead purportedly
signed by the deputy director stating that
the first form was incorrect because Okoh
had recently been promoted and the county
“systems” were not updated.
The deputy director’s signature was
forged on the documents. Okoh also filed
a fraudulent direct deposit slip reflecting
the higher salary. Okoh listed her own work
number as the number for the deputy director
on the forms, and when a detective called
saying he was from BOA, she impersonated
the deputy director and verified the false
information.
Attorney
General Dow thanked Essex County Inspector
General Dominick Scaglione and Investigator
Michael McGaughran of his office for their
investigation and referral. They were assisted
by Investigator Edgar Gonzalez of the Essex
County Division of Welfare Office of Fraud
Prevention & Investigations, Assistant
Special Agent in Charge Jeanne Daumen of
the Newark, N.J., Office of Inspector General
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,
the Essex County Division of Welfare Office
of the Director, and the Essex County Department
of Citizen Services Office of the Director.
Deputy Attorney General Mark Ondris and
Lt. Ken White handled the case for the Division
of Criminal Justice.
### |
