State Charges Lacey Township Man With Sandy Fraud

LACEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - The state Attorney General's Office has charged a Forked River man with theft by deception after he filed phony claims for state and federal assistance after Superstorm Sandy.

Anthony Novello, received a total of $169,334 in FEMA assistance, a low-interest SBA disaster-relief loan, and state grants under the Homeowner Resettlement Program and the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation program, the state says.

Novello falsely claimed in his applications that a home he owns on Riverview Drive in Forked River which was damaged by Superstorm Sandy was his primary residence at the time Sandy struck. His primary residence at the time of the Oct. 29, 2012 storm was in Clark, New Jersey.

Novello now lives in the house in Forked River, but at the time of the storm, it was a seasonal/weekend property. He received $2,820 from FEMA, $13,100 in SBA loan proceeds, a $10,000 RSP grant, and a total of $143,414 in RREM grant funds.

Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000.
So far the state has charged 116 people with filing bogus claims for Sandy assistance.

Photo: Courtesy of New Jersey State Attorney General's Office.