State Attorney General's Office Charges Five More With Sandy Fraud

The state Attorney General's Office has charged five more people with pocketing Superstorm Sandy relief funds after they filed fraudulent applications.

“We charge that these defendants stole from disaster relief programs and by extension from the victims who were hardest hit by the storm,” said Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino. “We’ll continue to charge every cheat we identify who diverted funds from these recovery programs and from victims in need.”

The five charged recently brings the number of people charged with Superstorm Sandy fraud to 76, he said.

The individuals who have been charged are alleged, in most cases, to have filed fraudulent applications for relief funds offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In many cases, they also applied for funds from a Sandy relief program funded by HUD, low-interest disaster loans from the SBA, or funds provided by HHS. The HUD funds are administered in New Jersey by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and the HHS funds are administered by the New Jersey Department of Human Services, Porrino said.

“The Department of Community Affairs remains committed to helping thwart fraudulent activity as our state continues to recover and rebuild from Superstorm Sandy,” said DCA Commissioner Charles A. Richman. “People who attempt to scam disaster recovery funds do so at the expense of Sandy survivors who legitimately qualify for help, which is why my Department does not hesitate to report suspicious applications to our law enforcement partners.”

The following defendants were charged on Nov. 9.

Stephen Hewitt, 64, and his wife, Sharon Hewitt, 60, of Westville, N.J., received $52,146 in various relief funds after they filed fraudulent applications for FEMA assistance, RREM, the Homeowner's Resettlement Program and the Sandy Homeowner and Renter Assistance Program, Porrino said.

The Hewitts claimed in their applications that a home they own on Mohawk Drive in Little Egg Harbor, N.J., was their primary residence when the storm struck, when they actually lived in Westville. The Little Egg Harbor home was a summer/vacation home, Porrino said.

The Hewitts received $28,216 from FEMA, a $10,000 RSP grant, and SHRAP funds totaling approximately $13,930. Their RREM application was denied. The couple is charged with third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification.

Mary Eileen Adams, 63, of Glenmoore, Pa., received $31,949 from FEMA funds, the state's Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM), and the state's Homeowner's Resettlement Program. She falsely claimed her home on Atlantic Avenue in Beach Haven on Long Long Beach Island was her primary home. Her primary residence was in Pennsylvania. The Beach Haven property was a rental/vacation property.

Adams was initially awarded just under $75,000 in RREM grant funds, but additional funds were denied after a check for $16,859 was issued to her because it subsequently was deter. Adams is charged with second-degree attempted theft by deception, third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification.

Janie Spataro, 52, of Beachwood, N.J., received $21,711 in relief funds from the state's Homeowners Resettlement Program and FEMA assistance for damages she claimed on a house she owns on East Long Branch Avenue she owns in Ocean Gate. Spataro fraudulently said the home was her primary residence, when it reality it was a vacation/rental property, Porrino said.

Spataro's application for a RREM grant was denied. Spataro is charged with third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification.

Lisa Drew, 45, of Camden received $9,479 in FEMA rental assistance by filing false applications following Superstorm Sandy. Drew claimed that she was forced to evacuate an apartment in Camden due to storm damage, and subsequently entered into a month-to-month agreement to rent a room from her daughter at an apartment complex in Blackwood, N.J.

Drew submitted a lease for the Camden apartment and rental receipts for the room in Blackwood. Those documents allegedly were fraudulent. Drew did not live in either the apartment in Camden or the apartment complex in Blackwood, as claimed. She received four payments from FEMA for rental assistance totaling $9,479. She is charged with third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification, Porrino said.

The Attorney General’s Office is continuing its aggressive efforts to investigate fraud in Sandy relief programs, working jointly with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), and the Offices of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Also assisting the taskforce is the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller, and the non-profit National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).