Ocean County Couple Arrested For Stealing More Than $1 Million From Sandy Victims: AG's Office

TRENTON, NJ – A Little Egg Harbor Township couple are accused of taking more than $1 million in Superstorm Sandy relief money from more than 20 victims, state Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino said.

Jeffrey Colmyer, 41, and Tiffany Cimino, 43, were each arrested on Tuesday at their home by detectives from the state Division of Criminal Justice. The couple face a number of charges, including theft, money laundering misconduct by a corporate official, and failure to pay taxes and tax fraud, Porrino said.

Both are lodged in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River. Bail for each of them was set at $300,000, he said.

The victims paid the couple and their firms more than $1 million, mostly in Sandy relief funds, according to officials.

“The Division of Criminal Justice, working with our state and federal law enforcement partners, has charged over 70 defendants with various types of fraud related to Superstorm Sandy,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “This case is the most egregious to date in terms of the dollars involved and harm inflicted on innocent victims.”

The couple used the funds to pay personal expenses, including payments for new cars, jewelry purchases by Cimino, including a $17,000 diamond ring, and hundreds of thousands of dollars that Colmyer gambled at seven casinos in Atlantic City, Porrino said.

"Meanwhile, they abandoned jobs, or in many cases failed to even start jobs, leaving many victims with uninhabitable homes," he said. "Most of the funds that allegedly were stolen came from the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) Program, a Sandy relief program administered by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)."

Charges also were filed against the couple’s home improvement contracting companies, Rayne Construction Management Services LLC and Colmyer & Sons Construction LLC.

The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs previously investigated this matter and filed a civil action in August against the defendants, alleging numerous violations of the Consumer Fraud Act and seeking consumer restitution and civil penalties.

The criminal charges stem from a joint investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General and the New Jersey Division of Taxation Office of Criminal Investigation, with the assistance of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

“Homeowners desperate to rebuild their homes and get on with their lives in the wake of this monstrous storm put their money and their trust in these defendants, only to watch these alleged swindlers walk away with the cash, leaving them with little or nothing to show for it,” said Steve Lee, director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “The defendants callously dealt another staggering blow to Sandy victims who had already suffered tremendous losses.”

So far, the Division of Criminal Justice has charged more than 70 defendants with Superstorm Sandy fraud, Honig said.

Porrino thanked the Department of Community Affairs and the Division of Taxation Office of Criminal Investigation, HUD-OIG, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and the Little Egg Harbor TownshipPolice Department for their valuable assistance in the investigation. Special Agent Kyle Mullane investigated for the Division of Taxation.

Porrino also commended the Division of Consumer Affairs for their investigation, lawsuit and cooperation. Investigators Joseph Iasso and Brittany Kieran investigated for the Division of Consumer Affairs Office of Consumer Protection. The lawsuit is being handled by Deputy Attorney General Cathleen O’Donnell of the Consumer Fraud Prosecution Section in the Division of Law.The following criminal charges were filed against Colmyer and Cimino by complaint-warrant:

1. Theft by Failure to Make Required Disposition of Property (2nd degree),
2. Financial Facilitation of Criminal Activity (Money Laundering) (2nd degree),
3. Misconduct by a Corporate Official (2nd degree),
4. Financial Facilitation of Criminal Activity (Structuring) (3rd degree),
5. Tampering with Public Records (3rd degree),
6. Filing a Fraudulent Tax Return (3rd degree) (Tax years 2013 and 2014),
7. Failure to File a Tax Return (3rd degree) (Tax year 2015), and
8. Failure to Pay Tax (3rd degree) (Tax years 2013 through 2015).

RCMS and Colmyer & Sons also are charged with theft, money laundering, structuring and tampering with public records. The tampering charge relates to the fact that the defendants allegedly lied about Colmyer’s ownership interest in RCMS in applying for and obtaining a Home Elevation Contractor Registration through the Division of Consumer Affairs.

The defendants claimed that Colmyer had less than a 10 percent interest in RCMS, because the application requires that anyone with an interest of 10 percent or more disclose whether he or she has been convicted of certain crimes, such as theft.

Colmyer has two prior convictions for theft by failure to make required disposition of property.

Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000, while third-degree charges carry a sentence of three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000. The money laundering and structuring charges carry sentences consecutive to the sentence for the theft charge, and carry potential additional penalties of $250,000 and $75,000.

Images: New Jersey State Attorney General's Office