| Trenton
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that a former Rahway man, now in state prison,
has been indicted for allegedly stealing
more than $35,000 by defrauding investors
over the Internet and implementing a check
kiting scheme.
According
to Director Paw, John G. Messina, 41, who
was sentenced to prison in March 2006 for
an unrelated fraud conviction, was indicted
today by a state grand jury on charges of
third-degree theft by deception and two
counts of third-degree theft by unlawful
taking.
Messina
allegedly advertised online at www.vfinance.com,
a site where entrepreneurs can link up with
potential sources of investment capital,
that he could obtain investors and investment
capital for businesses. It is charged that
between October and November 2004, Messina
received $9,000 from one victim after Messina
gave the false impression that he could
secure more than $2 million from investors
for the victim’s online real estate
business. It is further alleged that Messina
fraudulently represented to the victim that
he would get him a $65,000 loan.
A
separate count of the indictment charges
that between November and December 2004,
Messina fraudulently accepted $5,900 from
another victim. Messina allegedly told the
victim that he had raised $350,000 that
was in an account ready to be disbursed.
Messina also allegedly provided the victim
with a fraudulent “letter of intent”
regarding the purported funds to use as
collateral with a bank. It is alleged that
Messina never obtained investors or raised
money for the victim, who was seeking financing
for an online business to sell software
to veterinarians, fish farmers, public aquariums
and universities.
Finally,
it is charged that between March and May
2005, Messina deposited more than $20,600
in worthless checks from Ameritrade into
his mother’s Bank of America bank
account. Messina allegedly withdrew the
amounts of the worthless checks before they
had time to bounce.
Deputy
Attorney General Kenneth Sharpe of the Division’s
Computer Analysis and Technology Unit coordinated
the investigation and presented the case
to the grand jury. The indictment is merely
an accusation and the defendant is presumed
innocent until proven guilty. Third-degree
crimes carry a maximum punishment of five
years in state prison and a criminal fine
of $15,000.
>> Messina
Indictment (119k pdf)
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