Seven Charged in Separate New Jersey Indictments with Fraudulently Collecting More Than $82,000 in Unemployment Benefits

July 6, 2007 -- TRENTON – New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced today that seven people have been charged in separate indictments with stealing $82,143 from New Jersey’s unemployment insurance fund.

The indictments resulted from cooperative investigations by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Division of Criminal Justice - Major Crimes Bureau.

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“These indictments charge the defendants with illegally collecting thousands of dollars in benefits to which they were not entitled,” Attorney General Milgram said. “Our goal is to identify those who cheat the system, prosecute them and recover the money taken from the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund.”

“The Department of Labor and Workforce Development uses a variety of methods to track those who would abuse the system and fraudulently obtain benefits,” said Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development David J. Socolow. “These 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 seven indictments were returned by a state grand jury on June 28 and were handed up yesterday in Superior Court in Mercer County. The following defendants were charged:

Trini B. Shakir, 35, of East Orange, was charged with two counts of third-degree theft by deception and one count of fourth-degree unsworn falsification. Shakir filed for UI benefits in August 2001 and again in April 2003. The indictment alleges that while she was collecting on those claims, Shakir earned wages from Nextel of N.Y. and Quest Diagnostics in Teterboro. It is charged that by not reporting these wages to the labor department, Shakir fraudulently received $14,924 in UI benefits.

Carnell Chase, 49, of East Orange, was charged with two counts of third-degree theft by deception and one count of fourth-degree unsworn falsification. According to the indictment, after Chase filed for UI benefits in March 2002 and January 2004, he failed to notify the labor department that he was employed by G. Pacillo Mechanical LLC in Hillside. It is alleged that Chase consequently stole $13,970 in UI benefits.

Leonard G. Leon, 33, of North Bergen, was charged with two counts of third-degree theft by deception and one count of fourth-degree unsworn falsification. Leon filed for UI benefits in January 2002 and again in January 2003. The indictment alleges that while collecting on the 2002 claim, Leon was employed by five different construction companies, but did not report his employment to the labor department. It is further charged that while collecting on the 2003 claim, Leon was employed by John O’Hara Company Inc. and also was self-employed. Leon allegedly failed to report these wages to the labor department. As a result, Leon allegedly received $13,955 in UI benefits to which he was not entitled.

Headley G. Allen, 34, of Duluth, Georgia, was charged with third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification for allegedly stealing $13,888 from the state’s unemployment fund. The indictment alleges that while collecting on a UI benefits claim filed in December 2001, Allen failed to notify the labor department that he was working for and earning wages from T&R Electric Systems Inc. in Clifton.

Willie B. Harden, 43, of Irvington, was charged with two counts of third-degree theft by deception. The indictment alleges that Harden failed to notify the labor department that he was earning wages while collecting on UI benefits claims filed in July 2001 and July 2002. The indictment alleges that Harden worked for S.O.S. Gases Inc. in Kearny while collecting on the 2001 claim, and for New England Motor Freight Inc. based in Paramus while collecting on the 2002 claim. It is charged that Harden consequently stole $12,788 from the state unemployment fund.

Theresa R. Dicks, 41, of Newark, was charged with two counts of third-degree theft by deception and one count of fourth-degree unsworn falsification. The indictment alleges that subsequent to filing claims for UI benefits in December 2002 and January 2004, Dicks was employed by and earned wages from Alijion Professional Staffing in Melville, N.Y. By not reporting the earnings to the labor department, Dicks allegedly stole $12,618 from the state unemployment fund.

Andrew L. Smith, 36, of Trenton, was charged with third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification. The indictment alleges that Smith stole $9,051 by not reporting to the labor department that he was earning wages while collecting on an April 2002 UI benefits claim. It is charged that during the time he was collecting UI benefits, Smith was employed by Ebbets Partners LTD in Burlington Township.

Third-degree theft by deception crimes carry a sentence of up to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000. Unsworn falsification to authorities is a fourth-degree crime which carries a sentence of up to 18 months in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

The indictments are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

State Investigators Gary O’Brien and Lynn Fitzgerald coordinated the investigations. Deputy Attorney General Christine Hoffman presented the Leon case to the state grand jury while Deputy Attorney General Valerie Noto presented the other six cases to the state grand jury.

Source: New Jersey Attorney General