7-Year Sentence For Chester Twp. Woman's Role In $1.178M Fraud Scheme

CHESTER TWP., N.J. – Former Chester Township resident Janet Fooshee will spend the next seven years of her life in prison after defrauding clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars over a decade’s time.

Fooshee was sentenced in Somerset County Court this week after pleading guilty to defrauding more than two-dozen retirees and other investors during a 10-year period that began in 2003.

Fooshee inflated 14 investor’s accounts by some $818,000, stole $151,000 from four clients, received more than $191,539 in unlawful investment advisor fees, and defrauded another client out of more than $81,000, the Office of the Attorney General said.

“Janet Fooshee duped trusting investors into believing she had their best interests in mind when all she really cared about was stealing their money to enrich her own financial well-being,” said Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy. “Aggressive prosecutions and appropriate prison terms, such as those pursued in this case, serve as deterrent to anyone contemplating the type of crimes Janet Fooshee perpetrated.”

Fooshee, 64, now lives in Lambertville. Her husband, Robert Fooshee, was admitted into Pre-Trial Intervention for pleading guilty to second-degree charges of conspiracy, money laundering, and acting as an unlicensed investment advisor.

Fooshee admitted to stealing money from clients to cover for losses she incurred while managing various other client accounts, the Lougy said. In doing so, she stole the identities of 14 companies by sending false account statements to her clients.

In total, Fooshee pleaded guilty to 31 of 37 charges against her. She’ll also pay back $415,000 in restitution.