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For Immediate Release:
For Further Information:
November 16, 2011

Office of The Attorney General
- Paula T. Dow, Attorney General 
Division of Criminal Justice
- Stephen J. Taylor, Director
Media Inquiries-
Peter Aseltine
609-292-4791

Citizen Inquiries-

609-292-4925
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Attorney General’s Office Indicts 14 Grocery Store Owners and Employees in Alleged Conspiracy to Steal Over $1 Million from Federal Child Nutrition Program Through Fraudulent Vouchers
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  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:

  1. Martin Martinez, 51, of Newark, former owner of Duran Stop 1 on Bergen Street in Newark;
  2. John Cepeda, 35, of Elizabeth, employee/manager of Los Tiburones on Bergen Street in Newark;
  3. Francisco Torres, 46, of Jersey City, former owner of Sobrino’s Supermarket on North Munn Street in East Orange;
  4. Hector Lozada, 51, owner of La Bella Campesina on West 6th Street in Newark;
  5. Denis Jaquez, 32, of Camden, former manager of B&B Grocery on North 7th Street in Camden;
  6. Ignacio Perez, 41, of Camden, owner of Perez Grocery on North 4th Street in Camden;
  7. Rafael Lopez, 42, of Newark, owner of New Queens Supermarket on Bergen Street in Newark;
  8. Julio Rozon, 43, owner of J-Roz Mini Mart on Orange Street in Newark;
  9. Victor Estevez, owner of Estevez Stop 1 on South Orange Avenue in Newark;
  10. Andres Rodrigues, 61, of Wesley Chapel, Fla., owner of Union Associated Supermarket on River Road in Camden;
  11. Jesus M. Martinez, 51, of Pennsauken, owner of Fernandito’s Supermarket on Yorkship Square in Camden;
  12. Ramon G. Checo of Bloomfield, owner of Dawe Supermarket on Springfield Avenue in Irvington;
  13. Ashvin C. Patel of Edison, owner of OM Groceries on Broadway in Newark; and
  14. 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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