Middletown Man Stole $300K From Retirement Account, Prosecutor Says

HACKENSACK, NJ — A Middletown man has been accused by the Bergen County Prosecutor of running an identity theft scheme, where law enforcement says he opened up a credit card account and used money pilfered from a victim's retirement account to pay for it.

The man is Joseph Bilotta, 65, who lives on Marvin Road in Middletown, according to Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella.

Bilotta was arrested last Wednesday, Feb. 22 in Hackensack; he was charged with one count of second-degree theft.

Prosecutors say he used a victim’s retirement account to make payments to a credit card he had opened, draining in total more than $300,000 from the retirement account.

Prosecutors did not say how he gained access to the victim's retirement account, or his relation to the victim. But Prosecutor Musella did say Bilotta was operating this "account takeover scheme" targeting victims in New Jersey and Maryland.

Detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Financial Crimes Unit have been investigating Bilotta since Sept. of 2021, when they received a tip from the Lodi Police Department. The Bergen County Sheriff’s Office also helped with the investigation.

The last known whereabouts of Bilotta are the Bergen County Jail pending his first court hearing.

Here is the press release from the Bergen County Prosecutor announcing his arrest: https://www.bcpo.net/middletow...