Edison Man Bilked FEMA For $82K For Motel Rooms: Attorney General

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River motel owner has been charged with theft by deception, accused of taking nearly $82,000 from FEMA for sheltering storm victims after Superstorm Sandy for people who never stayed at his motel or only stayed a short time, according to the New Jersey attorney general's office.

Sandipkumar Patel, 43, of Edison, who owns the Americana Motel on Route 166 in Toms River, is accused of fraudulently obtaining more than $81,567 from the FEMA Transitional Shelter Assistance program, Attorney General Christopher Porrino said Monday.

Patel was among nine people charged in the most recent round of investigations into fraud related to Sandy, Porrino's office said.

Under the TSA program, FEMA directly paid participating hotels and motels for rooms temporarily occupied by residents displaced by the storm, and paid the Americana Motel, which Patel owns with his wife, $133.28 per day for each room occupied by storm victims, according to a news release from Porrino's office.

Patel is accused of fraudulently billing in the names of 11 people, eight of whom allegedly never stayed at the motel at all, according to the release. The other three allegedly stayed for shorter periods or, in one case, shared a room that Patel already had billed to FEMA in the name of the other occupant, Porrino's office said. In some cases, Patel allegedly falsely billed for stays of multiple weeks or even months, and allegedly billed FEMA more than $50,000 in the names of several of his personal relatives who live in New Jersey but who were not displaced by the storm, according to the release.

Patel is charged with second-degree theft by deception, the release said.

Also charged by the attorney general's office were the following people:

• Jerry Gustoso II, 44, of Hoboken. He is accused of filing fraudulent aid applications that resulted in him receiving $213,234 in relief funds for a home he owns on Cedar Run Road in Bayville, which was significantly damaged in the storm. Gustoso claimed the Bayville home was his primary residence, but Porrino's office alleges it was his vacation home and that Gustoso's primary residence is in Hoboken. Gustoso allegedly filed fraudulent applications for FEMA assistance, a low-interest SBA disaster-relief loan, and state grants under the Homeowner Resettlement Program (RSP) and the Sandy Homeowner and Renter Assistance Program (SHRAP) funded by the New Jersey Department of Human Services, according to Porrino's office. As a result of the alleged fraudulent applications, Gustoso received $2,270 from FEMA, $186,800 in SBA loan proceeds, a $10,000 RSP grant, and SHRAP funds totaling $14,164. Gustoso is charged with second-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification, the news release said.

• Michael J. Casey, 51, of Point Pleasant, is accused of filing fraudulent applications for FEMA assistance and state grants under the Homeowner Resettlement Program (RSP) and the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) Program. As a result, he received a $10,000 RSP grant, and was awarded $77,000 in RREM monies and a $2,270 FEMA grant. The RREM and FEMA funds were never disbursed, but Casey is charged with attempted theft in connection with those amounts, according to the release. Casey allegedly falsely claimed in his applications that a home he owns on Parkway Avenue in Point Pleasant that was damaged by Sandy was his primary residence when Sandy struck, but investigators say his primary residence at the time was a property he owns on Harvard Avenue in Point Pleasant. The property on Parkway Avenue was dilapidated and deserted prior to the storm, and it did not have any utilities, according to Porrino's office. Casey allegedly also fraudulently submitted a lease and rental receipts indicating that he paid rent to live with his mother in New Brunswick after being displaced by the storm. It is alleged that, in fact, he did not pay rent to his mother, the release said. Casey is charged with second-degree attempted theft by deception, third-degree theft by deception and fourth-degree unsworn falsification, Porrino's office said.

• Judith McMahon, 47, of Manahawkin, is accused of obtaining $18,292 by filing false applications following Superstorm Sandy for FEMA assistance. McMahon allegedly submitted a false lease indicating that she was paying more than $1,500 per month for a property in Neavitt, Maryland, that she purportedly leased after being displaced by the storm, according to the release. Investigators allege she had been renting that property in Maryland since 2010. It is alleged that McMahon falsely identified the landlord in the lease she submitted, and she also submitted fraudulent rental receipts purportedly issued by the person she identified as the landlord, Porrino's office said. She allegedly received four separate payments from FEMA for rental assistance totaling $18,292 as a result of the fraudulent documents she submitted. McMahon is charged with third-degree theft by deception, the release said.

• Debra Reddick, 58, of Newark; her son and daughter, Thomas Jamar Reddick, 34 of Newark, and Lateefah Reddick, 38, of East Orange; Debra Reddick’s niece Neima Jones, 32 of East Orange; and another relative of Debra Reddick, Kevin Osborne, 55, of Newark. All five are each charged with third-degree theft by deception for filing fraudulent applications for assistance, Porrino's office said. In addition, Thomas Jamar Reddick also is charged with fourth-degree unsworn falsification; he is accused of obtaining FEMA assistance of $4,232 and a state grant of $10,000 under the Homeowner Resettlement Program (RSP) by fraudulently claiming that a storm-damaged property he owns on North 4th Street in Newark was his primary residence at the time of the storm, when in fact he was living in Hillside, Porrino's office said. All five are accused of submitting fraudulent applications under the Sandy Homeowner and Renter Assistance Program (SHRAP) funded by the New Jersey Department of Human Services, the news release said. In each case, those defendants allegedly submitted fraudulent lease documents – and, in some cases, fraudulent bills for rent or utilities – in order to receive funds as renters of storm-damaged properties, when it is alleged that either the defendant was not paying rent for the property, the defendant was not renting the property from the landlord listed, the property was not damaged, the defendant did not live at the address given, or a combination of those facts. It is alleged that Debra Reddick fraudulently received $4,330 in SHRAP funds, Lateefah Reddick received $7,629, Jones received $6,556, and Osborne received $6,016.

Since March 2014, the Attorney General’s Office has filed criminal charges against 71 people for allegedly engaging in this type of fraud, Porrino's office said, as it continues "its aggressive efforts to investigate fraud in Sandy relief programs."

“We charge that these defendants stole from disaster relief programs and by extension from the victims who were hardest hit by the storm,” Porrino said. “We’ll continue to charge every cheat we identify who diverted funds from these recovery programs and from victims in need.”

“Stealing any type of public aid is reprehensible, but it’s especially egregious to steal relief funds in the context of a historic disaster, when every dollar is needed for recovery,” said Elie Honig, director of the Division of Criminal Justice.

Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. 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.