Passaic Banker Admits Lifting $105K From Dead Customer's Account: Feds

PASSAIC, NJ — A former North Jersey bank employee has admitted to taking more than $105,000 from a dead customer's account for his own gain, federal officials said.

Jorge Nova, 35, of Passaic, pleaded guilty last week in federal court to a charge of wire fraud. The U.S. Attorney's Office had accused him of withdrawing Social Security retirement benefits from the account of a former customer, who had died, for several years.

Federal officials said he fraudulently obtained more than $105,000 from the deceased person's account between 2015 and 2018.

According to officials, Nova worked at a commercial bank in Nutley where a customer received Social Security Administration (SSA) retirement benefits via direct deposit. After the customer died, the Social Security Department was not notified of their death and continued depositing retirement benefits for four years.

Officials said Nova got money from the customer’s account by issuing debit cards to himself in the beneficiary’s name, "which he then used to drain the retirement benefits from the beneficiary’s bank account."

He is also accused of registering new accounts with a money service provider in the deceased customer's name, and withdrawing money from a second bank account.

The count of wire fraud is punishable by a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a maximum $1 million fine, prosecutors said.