Sandberg Family Tied to Sandy Scam

A Wyckoff-based charity is accused of scamming donors who contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Hurricane Sandy relief organization.

The operators of the Hurricane Sandy Relief Foundation, John Sandberg and Christina Terraccino, collected $631,000 from various sources and only gave a tiny fraction — $1,650 — to those in need, according to a report on northjersey.com.

The pair are accused of spending the donations on heating oil for their Sparta home, Apple products and dinner at a Spanish restaurant in Newark, according to Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa.

Sandberg and Terraccino used the Wyckoff address of Sandberg’s parents to register the charity with New Jersey, but "authorities said there is no reason to believe Sandberg’s parents knew anything about the organization," according to northjersey.com.

The attorney general also accused Sandberg and Terraccino with misleading potential donors into thinking their organization was related to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund and also falsely claimed their organization was a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity.

The suit from the Division of Consumer Affairs requests that the charity be barred from operation and return money to the nearly 2,000 donors.

The suit also asks that civil penalties be assessed, according to the report. 

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