Union County Man Sentenced For Ida, COVID Fraud

UNION, NJ — A Union County man was sentenced to 42 months in prison for disaster benefits fraud, business impersonation fraud, COVID-19 loan fraud, and Treasury check fraud, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Roy John Depack Jr., 49, of Union, previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of disaster fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of forging or fraudulently endorsing Treasury checks.

In addition to the prison term, Depack was sentenced on Thursday to three years of supervised release and must pay $123,489 in restitution.

In September and October 2021, Depack filed two applications with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) fraudulently seeking disaster relief provided in the wake of Tropical Storm Ida, according to documents filed in this case and statements made in court.

Depack had falsely claimed to be another person and the owner of a property in Newark, and in another application, Depack falsely stated that he was the owner of a property in Union that he actually rented, according to court documents.

FEMA then granted one of Depack’s applications and awarded Depack $24,069 in disaster assistance.

From 2020 through 2022, Depack also defrauded companies by pretending to be representatives of various other companies and ordering merchandise that Depack then intercepted, according to authorities.

He fraudulently obtained tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise from two different companies as a result.

In January 2021, Depack also submitted a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) application to the U.S. Small Business Administration and falsely claimed to be another person and to own a cleaning company based in Union, according to authorities.

In September 2021, Depack deposited at least two checks issued by the U.S. Treasury and made out in the names of two other people, whose value totaled more than $1,000.

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