Hudson County Parks Worker Had No-Show Job, Then Got Unemployment For It, Feds Say

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — Not only did a Bergen County man have a "no show" job in Hudson County's parks department for four years, federal officials say— he applied for unemployment based on the role.

Alfonso A. Zamarra, 58, of Rutherford, was charged Tuesday with 28 counts of wire fraud, said the office of U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer.

Subscribe

The charges were for "obtaining payments from Hudson County, New Jersey for work that he did not perform and then applying for unemployment benefits in connection with that purported work," Frazer's office said.

Zamarra made an appearance on Wednesday before federal Judge José R. Almonte and was released on a $100,000 bond.

Prosecutors said that during three separate six-month periods from 2019 through July 2023, Zamarra held a "no-show" job as a seasonal worker with the Hudson County Parks Department.

Zamarra submitted timesheets for the work he didn't do, prosecutors say.

Then, because seasonal employees weren't allowed to work for more than six months during a 12-month time period, Zamarra submitted claims for unemployment benefits to the New Jersey Department of Labor in the off-season.

Zamarra received tens of thousands of dollars, both in wages and unemployment benefits, prosecutors said.

More Money During Covid

The complaint noted that Zamarra was entitled to increased unemployment in 2020 due to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

In 2020, he received $16,399 in unemployment benefits, the complaint says, part of a total of $57,021 he received over the four years.

Flew To Naples

In the complaint, investigators published a chart of where Zamarra's phone pinged while he was supposed to be working in Hudson County:

"Rutherford is in Bergen County," the complaint notes.

The complaint says that during some of the time Zamarra signed in to work in June and July 2023, he was on a nine-day trip to Naples, Italy. Investigators reviewed the flight records from United Airlines.

The complaint points out that parks jobs are not remote.

The complaint also says the handwriting for Zamarra's signature appears to vary.

"Based on my training and experience and a review of these attendance sheets, there is probable cause to believe that individuals other than Zamarra were, at times, signing Zamarra's attendance sheets on his behalf," an investigator writes.

Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of $250,000, officials said.

The complaint is here: Zamarra.Complaint.pdf

Former Parks Director Investigated

Back in July, Frazer's office announced that the former director of the Hudson County Parks Department, Russell Fallacara, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud in relation to a different case.

That conspiracy involved $1.5 million in kickbacks and bribes received from a contractor between 2019 and 2024, officials said. Read more about that here.