4 Charged With Stealing Checks In Multiple NJ Counties

NEWARK, NJ - Four Passaic County men face charges after authorities say they stole $450,000 in checks from dozens of mailboxes across northern New Jersey.

Aneuris Henriquez-Lopez, 24, Eleazer Peralta, 19, Fernando Santiago, 26, and Rikinson Rodriguez-Sanchez, 25, allegedly stole checks from collection boxes in Passaic, Bergen, Morris, Essex and Middlesex counties and deposited the money via ATMs into various bank accounts – often within a day of being stolen, according to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito.

The men, all of whom are from Paterson, operated from Feb. to June 2018, authorities said.

In some of the incidents, the mailboxes were broken into with pry bars and late at night, authorities said. Among the locations the crew hit: Hackensack, East Rutherford, Oakland, and Livingston, according to a court complaint.

An investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Newark Division, with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Marshals Service.

All four men are charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Henriquez-Lopez, Peralta and Santiago are scheduled to make their initial appearances Wednesday afternoon in Newark federal court, while Rodriguez-Sanchez remains at large, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.