Egg Harbor Township Man Who Allegedly Faked His Own Death Indicted in Alleged $75,000 Boat Sales Conspiracy

An Egg Harbor Township man who allegedly staged a boating accident to avoid prosecution was indicted last week on charges of conspiracy and theft by deception of over $75,000 in cash and property, Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain announced on Monday.

Andrew Biddle, 45, was reported missing after a boating accident near Longport on July 20 of last year. His boat struck a buoy and his friend reported him missing. The Coast Guard searched for 18 hours without finding him, but police said he was wanted for faking the accident a few weeks later.

The offshore powerboat racer surrendered nearly seven months later.

On Thursday, he and Tracy Blumenstein, 49, of Northfield, were indicted for the following alleged crimes involving eight separate victims between 2012 and 2014:

• Second degree theft by deception, for allegedly unlawfully and purposely obtaining by deception the properties, worth $75,000, of multiple victims in order to deprive the owners of their property;

• Second degree Conspiracy, for allegedly conspiring with each other to commit theft by deception, in excess of $75,000, from multiple victims;

• Two counts of passing bad checks—third degree crimes—for allegedly passing checks, knowing that the drawee would not honor them, one in the amount of $17,000, the other in the amount of $33,811.09;

• Six counts of theft by deception—third degree crimes—by allegedly purposely obtaining money or property from the victims by creating or reinforcing the impression that they would sell victims’ boats, or sell boats to victims. They allegedly said they would do this through their business, Professional Boat Sales LLC. However, they then allegedly failed to either turn over the proceeds of the sale or provide the purchased item;

• Five counts of theft by illegal retention—third degree crimes—by allegedly obtaining victims’ properties by agreeing to make specified payment or other disposition. They then allegedly dealt with the property as their own, failing to make the required payment,
• Third degree theft by unlawful taking, by allegedly taking the property of a victim in order to deprive that owner of the property; and
• Fourth degree deceptive business practices, by allegedly creating or reinforcing the false impression that Professional Boat Sales LLC was licensed to sell boats for the purpose of obtaining property or credit.

Both men were previously charged and indicted on several of the individual cases reported to police. This comprehensive set of indictments supersedes the earlier Grand Jury actions.

Both men are released on bail pending trial.