State Attorney General Charges More Aid Recipients With Sandy Fraud

by Patricia A. Miller

One couple said they lived year-round at a guest house in Beach Haven when Superstorm Sandy roared onshore on Oct. 29, 2012.

Another couple claimed their primary residence was in Seaside Park. A Barnegat man said he had to leave his Seaside Heights apartment when the devastating storm struck.

All five collected thousands in federal storm aid. None of their stories were true.

Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said on Tuesday he had filed criminal charges against all five for filing fraudulent applications for Sandy federal aid.

“All of these defendants are alleged to have selfishly lied about where they were living at the time of the storm in order to steal Sandy relief funds,” Hoffman said. “We’re sending an unmistakable message that those who fraudulently drain relief funds away from deserving recipients will be exposed and will face criminal charges. Relief administrators regrettably are being forced to police this fraud and recoup misdirected aid, when they should be free to focus entirely on speeding that aid to those who need it most.”

Those charged on Tuesday include:

Mark J. Spulock, 54, and Joanne M. Spulock, 57, of Delran, N.J., and Boca Raton, Fla., They filed fraudulent applications for FEMA assistance, a low-interest SBA disaster relief loan and for grants under the state’s Homeowner Resettlement Program and the Reconstruction Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) program, along with other state Sandy relief funds, Hoffman said.

The couple falsely claimed that that their seasonal business - the Island Guest House in Beach Haven - was a primary residence, when their primary home was in Delran. They wintered in Boca Raton Florida. The Spulocks received a total of $70,866 in various aid programs.

The Spulocks received $38,396 in FEMA funds to be used for home repairs, rental assistance and transitional shelter assistance.They also received a $10,000 Resettlement Program grant and $6,584 under the Sandy Homeowner/Renter Assistance Program (SHRAP), which is a temporary relief program administered by the State Department of Human Services designed to assist people who experienced a housing crisis as a result of Sandy.

Joanne Spulock also received $15,866 in Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) from Oct. 28, 2012 through May 4, 2013, by claiming she was out of work because her employer, The Island Guest House, was forced out of business by the storm. In reality, the bed and breakfast routinely closed from the end of October until May, so her employment was not affected while she was collecting DUA.

Both Spulocks are charged with third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification, Hoffman said.

Peter Larkin III, 59, and Judith Larkin, 57, of Yardville, N.J., filed fraudulent applications for FEMA assistance, a low-interest SBA disaster-relief loan, and state grants under the RSP and RREM programs. The Larkins received a total of $26,552 in relief funds under the other programs.

The couple falsely claimed that a storm-damaged home they own on South Bayview Avenue in Seaside Park, was their primary residence, when they actually lived in Yardville in Mercer County. The Seaside Park was a summer/vacation home.

The Larkins received $6,730 in FEMA rental assistance, which they returned after the state investigation began. They also received a $10,000 RSP grant and $9,822 from the RREM program, which was paid to a home design firm on their behalf. Both Larkins are charged with third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification, Hoffman said.

Judith Larkin was an employee of the State Department of Community Affairs; Peter Larkin was an employee of the State Department of Treasury. Both resigned their positions effective yesterday. There are no allegations that either of the Larkins utilized their state positions to further their applications for disaster grant monies, Hoffman said.

Manny Martinez, 33, of Barnegat, N.J., falsely claimed that he was displaced from an apartment on Blaine Avenue in Seaside Heights as a result of the storm and had to relocate to a residence on Barnegat Boulevard in Barnegat. He received a total of $19,276 in FEMA relief funds, consisting of $16,571 in rental assistance and $2,705 for damaged personal property. Martinez had once lived in Seaside Heights but had moved to Barnegat two years before Sandy, Hoffman said.

Martinez is charged with third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification.

Third-degree charges carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000, while fourth-degree charges carry a sentence of up to 18 months in state prison and a fine of $10,000. The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Since March 2014, the Attorney General’s Office has filed criminal charges against 32 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, including the four individuals charged today.The new cases were investigated by detectives of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice and special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, HUD Office of Inspector General and SBA Office of Inspector General.