Livingston Man Sentenced to 12 Years After Leading False Unemployment Claims Scheme

A Livingston accountant was sentenced to 12 years in state prison after pleading guilty to first-degree money laundering and second-degree theft by deception in November 2013.

Todd P. Halpern, 49, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Timothy P. Lydon in Mercer County. In addition to the 12 year state prison sentence, Halpern’s sentence includes four years of parole ineligibility and he has been ordered to pay more than $500,000 in restitution, according to a news release from the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.

Halpern was indicted with 12 other defendants in June 2013 as a result of a joint investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development called “Operation April Fools,” the news release said.

Halpern pleaded guilty to the charges against him, admitting he orchestrated a scheme in which he and the co-defendants swindled money from the state by filing fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits. As a result of filing 36 fraudulent claims, the defendants bilked $694,606 from the state of New Jersey, according to the release.

Halpern, who was never a licensed accountant in New Jersey, filed the unemployment claims using identities he stole from clients and created fraudulent employment records using names of businesses he served in order to support the unemployment claims.

As a result of this scheme, Halpern lived lavishly off of stolen public funds meant for those down on their luck. Using money obtained through the fraudulent scheme, he purchased season tickets to the New York Giants NFL team, purchases of jewelry, gold and silver, and purchased a number of high-end vehicles, including a Cadillac Escalade, Lexus GX-470 and 1957 Chevy Bel Air, according to the news release.

Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said Halpern orchestrated one of the state’s largest unemployment thefts and his prison sentence reflects such.

Director Elie Honig of the Department of Criminal Justice said that the Department of Labor has implemented cutting-edge technology to catch criminals like Halpern, the news release said. Honig believes the lengthy prison sentence should deter others from attempting similar crimes in the future.

Twelve defendants were indicted along with Halpern. According to the news release from the attorney general’s office, of the 12 defendants indicted, nine have pleaded guilty to theft by deception, including Halpern’s father, George Halpern, 76, of Short Hills, and his father-in-law, Jack Chesner, 82, of Morris Plains. Chesner and George Halpern both received probation.

Additionally, David Altman, 43, of Plainfield, was sentenced to three years in state prison, Augustin Gomez, 31, of Jersey City, received a jail sentence of 364 days and Henry Ford, 55, of Plainfield, was sentenced to six months in jail.