Monmouth Co. Men Cheated Small Businesses Out Of Millions: Feds

LONG BRANCH, NJ — Eight men, including from Holmdel, Long Branch and Asbury Park, are accused of running a fake business-loan lending company that ripped off small-business owners across the United States, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.

The eight charged are: Joseph Rosenthal, 33, of Holmdel, Nicholas Smith, 31, of Bradley Beach; James Missry, 40, of New York City; Paul Cotogno, 31, of Long Branch; Blaise Cotogno, 32, of Tinton Falls, Adam Akel, 30, of Long Branch, Matthew Robertson, 31, of Miami, Florida and Nicholas Winter, 38, of Asbury Park, who was already in police custody on unrelated state charges.

They are charged with wire fraud conspiracy.

They first opened an office in New York City, and said their company would provide cash capital and loans to small businesses across the U.S., said prosecutors. Later, they opened an office in Hazlet.

Their business went by many different names, including Old Bridge Funding, Advance Source Capital Group/ASF Capital, Clover Advance Group LLC, Pine Equities, Quick Call Capital, Oak Capital Group (using the email oakcapitalgrp.com) and Delta Fund Group.

Federal prosecutors say starting in June 2020, the eight men would email or call small-business owners across the county. They promised that in exchange for money provided upfront, they would extend a loan or line of credit to the victims. In reality, once a victim provided the upfront payment, the defendants did not extend financing. Instead, they kept the victims’ money and broke off communication.

Prosecutors say they defrauded thousands of victims out of millions of dollars. They spent the money on luxury car leases, high-end watches and clothing, as well as to gamble on sporting events.

Here is the criminal complaint against the New Jersey men: https://content.govdelivery.co...

“These defendants perpetrated a years’ long scheme to defraud hard-working business owners in New Jersey and across the United States,” U.S. Attorney Habba said, “stealing millions of dollars from thousands of victims. These charges reflect our Office’s commitment to holding accountable those who prey on small business owners trying to support their communities and earn a decent living.”