TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced today that 14 grocery store owners
and employees have been indicted for conspiring
to steal more than $1 million from the federally
funded Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition
program by means of fraudulent vouchers. The
stores are located in Newark, Camden, East
Orange and Irvington. According
to Taylor, the Division of Criminal Justice
obtained a seven-count state grand jury
indictment on Thursday, Nov. 10, charging
all 14 defendants, including 12 grocery
store owners and two employees, with conspiracy
(1st degree), two counts of financial facilitation
of criminal activity (money laundering)
(1st degree), official misconduct (2nd degree),
pattern of official misconduct (2nd degree),
theft by deception (2nd degree), and receiving
stolen property (2nd degree). The indictment
was not made public until today so that
arrests could be completed.
An
investigation by the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Bureau revealed that
between July 2004 and April 2007, three
former clerks employed by the Newark WIC
Program conspired to issue more than $1
million in fake vouchers. The clerks –
a man and two women – have pleaded
guilty in the state’s investigation
and face prison sentences. A supermarket
owner pleaded guilty to purchasing the fraudulent
vouchers from the clerks and reselling them
by the stack to other grocery store owners.
Ultimately, the fraudulent vouchers were
deposited into the bank accounts of more
than 20 WIC-authorized vendors throughout
New Jersey. The defendants indicted today
allegedly stole from the WIC program by
obtaining funds using false vouchers without
actually providing any food products to
WIC participants.
“The
WIC clerks who pled guilty in this case
generated fraudulent vouchers like they
were printing counterfeit currency, but
we allege that they could not have cashed
in on their scheme without the complicity
of store owners like these defendants,”
said Attorney General Dow. “The stolen
funds, which totaled well over $1 million,
should have supplied vital nutrition for
disadvantaged children. Instead, the defendants
fed their greed.”
“We
will continue to work closely with other
public agencies to prevent theft and abuse
involving government assistance programs,”
said Director Taylor. “This indictment
and the prison sentences we have already
secured should send a powerful deterrent
message to those who think these programs
are an easy mark. They had better think
again.”
The
investigation began when the New Jersey
Department of Health and Senior Services
and the Newark Department of Health and
Human Services alerted the Division of Criminal
Justice to suspected thefts of vouchers
from the Newark WIC Program.
Deputy
Attorney General Michael A. Monahan, Deputy
Chief of the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau, presented the indictment
to the state grand jury. He has prosecuted
the defendants with Deputy Attorney General
Jeffrey Manis. The investigation has been
conducted by Detective Michael Behar, Sgt.
David Salzmann, Deputy Attorney General
Monahan, Deputy Attorney General Manis,
Administrative Analyst Kathleen Ratliff,
Sgt. Harry Maronpot, Detective Scott Donlan,
Sgt. James Scott and Detective Tim Herron.
The
following defendants were charged in the
indictment:
- Martin
Martinez, 51, of Newark, former
owner of Duran Stop 1 on Bergen Street
in Newark;
- John
Cepeda, 35, of Elizabeth, employee/manager
of Los Tiburones on Bergen Street in Newark;
- Francisco
Torres, 46, of Jersey City, former
owner of Sobrino’s Supermarket on
North Munn Street in East Orange;
- Hector
Lozada, 51, owner of La Bella
Campesina on West 6th Street in Newark;
-
Denis Jaquez, 32, of Camden, former manager
of B&B Grocery on North 7th Street
in Camden;
-
Ignacio Perez,
41, of Camden, owner of Perez Grocery
on North 4th Street in Camden;
-
Rafael Lopez,
42, of Newark, owner of New Queens Supermarket
on Bergen Street in Newark;
- Julio
Rozon, 43, owner of J-Roz Mini
Mart on Orange Street in Newark;
-
Victor Estevez,
owner of Estevez Stop 1 on South Orange
Avenue in Newark;
-
Andres Rodrigues,
61, of Wesley Chapel, Fla., owner of Union
Associated Supermarket on River Road in
Camden;
-
Jesus M. Martinez,
51, of Pennsauken, owner of Fernandito’s
Supermarket on Yorkship Square in Camden;
-
Ramon G. Checo
of Bloomfield, owner of Dawe Supermarket
on Springfield Avenue in Irvington;
- Ashvin
C. Patel of Edison, owner of
OM Groceries on Broadway in Newark; and
- Angel
Fernandez, 40, of Newark, former
owner of Eddy’s Supermarket on Clinton
Avenue in Newark.
First-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 20 years
in state prison and a criminal fine of up
to $200,000, while second-degree crimes
carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in
state prison and a criminal fine of $150,000.
The money laundering counts carry an enhanced
fine of up to $500,000, plus an additional
anti-money laundering profiteering penalty
of $500,000.
The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty. The indictment was handed up to
Superior Court Judge Linda R. Feinberg in
Mercer County, who assigned the case to
Essex County, where the defendants will
be ordered to appear in court to be arraigned
on the charges. The indictment is posted
with this release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
Two
other defendants pleaded guilty on Wednesday,
Nov. 9, before Superior Court Judge Michael
A. Petrolle in Essex County. Elki Martinez,
27, of Newark, pleaded guilty to third-degree
money laundering for acting as a middleman
who obtained fraudulent vouchers from one
of the WIC clerks and sold them to store
owners. Jose Rivas, 34, of Newark, owner
of Borinquen Plaza Supermarket on Summer
Avenue in Newark and Maple Supermarket on
Maple Avenue in Newark, also pleaded guilty
to third-degree money laundering. The state
will recommend that each man be sentenced
to 364 days in jail and a period of probation.
Both must pay restitution in amounts to
be determined.
On
Oct. 4, Audrey Walker Bey, 38, of Newark,
a former clerk for the Newark WIC Program,
pleaded guilty to first-degree money laundering
before Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Brown
in Mercer County. The state will recommend
that she be sentenced to 10 years in prison,
one-third of which would have to be served
without possibility of parole. She must
pay restitution in an amount to be determined
and will be permanently barred from public
employment in the state.
Bey
was charged on June 9, 2009 in an eight-count
state grand jury indictment, which also
charged Benedicto Bernal, 32, of Newark,
owner of Dreamers Supermarket on 7th Ave.
in Newark, and Elvis Manuel Sanchez-Vasquez,
37, of Elizabeth, a former owner and manager
of Sanchez Supermarket on Springdale Avenue
in East Orange.
On
Dec. 1, 2009, Bernal pleaded guilty to first-degree
money laundering before Superior Court Judge
Edward M. Neafsey in Mercer County. Bernal,
who was not an authorized WIC vendor, admitted
that he purchased fraudulent vouchers from
Charles Brown, a former senior clerk for
the Newark WIC Program, and resold them
by the stack to vendors in Essex, Camden,
Union and Middlesex counties.
On
Sept. 23, 2010, Sanchez-Vazquez pleaded
guilty to first-degree money laundering
before Judge Neafsey. Sanchez-Vazquez, an
authorized WIC vendor, admitted that he
knowingly purchased fraudulent WIC vouchers
from Bernal and deposited them in a bank
account he controlled in order to fraudulently
collect over $500,000 from the WIC program.
He admitted that his transactions were designed
to conceal the source and fraudulent nature
of the vouchers.
The
state will recommend that both Bernal and
Sanchez-Vazquez also be sentenced to 10
years in state prison, one-third of which
would have to be served without possibility
of parole.
Brown,
44, of Newark, pleaded guilty to second-degree
official misconduct for his role in the
scheme and was sentenced on Feb. 23, 2009,
to eight years in state prison by Superior
Court Judge Michael A. Petrolle in Essex
County. On Feb. 20, 2009, another former
senior clerk in the Newark WIC Program,
Wyetta Judson, 41, of Newark, pleaded guilty
to second-degree official misconduct. The
state will also recommend that she be sentenced
to state prison.
WIC
is a federally funded program, administered
by the New Jersey Department of Health and
Senior Services, that provides low-income
women who are pregnant or breast feeding
and guardians of children up to age 5 with
vouchers to purchase nutritional necessities,
including baby formula, milk, orange juice
and cereal. The vouchers can be redeemed
at any store approved as a WIC vendor for
food items specifically listed on the voucher.
Once redeemed, the vendor completes the
voucher by filling in the cost of the product
supplied. The Newark WIC Program is one
of 18 WIC programs in New Jersey.
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