Englewood-Englewood Cliffs Patch – by Natalie Mieles
A Bergen County man pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy and theft charges for leading a criminal scheme in which he and three other men stole over $180,000 from the State of New Jersey by filing false claims for unemployment benefits, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said.
Stephen Pirrone, 54, of Paramus, pleaded guilty to second-degree charges of conspiracy and theft by deception after three co-defendants previously pleaded guilty in December. The charges stem from an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Pirrone, along with Wilfredo Sanchez, 38 of Newark, Jose Flores, 39, of Newark, and Andre Brown, 37, of Woodland Park, were charged in a June 26, 2014 indictment after an investigation revealed that from November 2006 through March 2013, Pirrone originated the scheme and had the defendants collect $183,433 in unemployment benefits on seven fraudulent unemployment insurance claims, including two filed by Sanchez and Flores using false identities.
According to Hoffman, all of the false claims were based on fraudulent employer quarterly wage statements submitted to the state in the names of two businesses that were defunct: a trucking company formerly operated by Pirrone called Culver Transportation, Inc., and a bankrupt trucking company from which Pirrone formerly rented office and terminal space.
Sanchez and Flores attempted to file additional claims using eight other false identities, but those claims were determined to be invalid by the Department of Labor and no benefits were distributed, Hoffman said.
“Unemployment insurance fraud hurts honest New Jersey workers who strive to earn a living and count on these benefits to keep them afloat financially if they lose their jobs,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “By sending these men to prison, we are putting offenders on notice that we will aggressively prosecute this type of fraud.”
Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Pirrone be sentenced to seven years in state prison and pay restitution of $54,623 to the Department of Labor. The state will recommend that Sanchez, who pleaded guilty in December, be sentenced to five years in prison and pay $43,908 in restitution, Hoffman said.
Flores and Brown each pleaded guilty in December to third-degree theft by deception. The state will recommend that Flores be sentenced to three years in state prison and pay $25,502 in restitution, and that Brown be sentenced to 364 days in the county jail as a condition of a term of probation and pay $59,400 in restitution.