Wife Of Reputed Organized Crime Figure Nicodemo S. Scarfo Admits Conspiring With Him And Others To Defraud A Mortgage Lender To Buy Their House

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information on September 17th:

CAMDEN, N.J. – The wife of a reputed mob figure today admitted she conspired to defraud a mortgage lender in order to buy a $715,000 house in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman and Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced.

Lisa Marie Scarfo, 34, of Elmer, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler in Camden federal court to a superseding information charging her with conspiracy to make false statements for the purpose of influencing the actions of the bank on her mortgage loan application.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In November 2011, Lisa Marie Scarfo and 12 others – including her husband, Nicodemo S. Scarfo, an alleged member of the Lucchese La Cosa Nostra (LCN) crime family, and Salvatore Pelullo, an alleged associate of the Lucchese and Philadelphia LCN families – were variously charged in a 25-count indictment with a racketeering conspiracy including acts of securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, extortion, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice. The indictment charged that FirstPlus Financial Group Inc. (FPFG), a Texas-based financial services company, was targeted for extortionate takeover and looting by a group of the conspirators.  A substantial part of the enterprise’s activities occurred in New Jersey, including communications and the transfer of money into and out of the state.

Lisa Marie Scarfo admitted that she joined the mortgage fraud conspiracy in January 2008 when she worked with her then-fiancé, Nicodemo S. Scarfo, and others to secure a $500,000 mortgage from St. Edmond’s Federal Savings Bank to purchase the Egg Harbor Township house.  Drossner previously pleaded guilty and admitted that at the direction of Pelullo, he created false tax returns to help Lisa Marie Scarfo qualify for a mortgage for the house. The indictment alleges that Nicodemo S. Scarfo used money looted from FPFG for the $215,000 down payment on the house.  The false tax returns, which exaggerated Lisa Marie Scarfo’s income so that she could qualify for the mortgage without naming her then-fiancé Scarfo, were used to secure the mortgage.

After the FPFG scheme was shut down by federal law enforcement in May 2008, the Scarfos were unable to pay the mortgage and the house ultimately went into foreclosure.  It was sold by the bank in 2010.

Nicodemo S. Scarfo, Pelullo, and eight other defendants charged in November 2011 – including attorneys William Maxwell, Cory Leshner, David Adler, Gary McCarthy, and Donald Manno – are scheduled for trial beginning Oct. 28, 2013. Todd Stark, also charged in the indictment, previously pleaded guilty to providing ammunition to Scarfo and Pelullo, convicted felons.

The conspiracy count to which Lisa Marie Scarfo pleaded guilty is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.  Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 10, 2014.

U.S. Attorney Fishman praised special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark; the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Garcia, New York Region; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Thomas J. Cannon in Newark.  He also thanked the FBI under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Hanko in Philadelphia for its vital assistance and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its role.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven D’Aguanno and Howard Wiener, of the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office Organized Crime/Gangs Unit and Criminal Division in Camden, and Trial Attorney Adam Small of the Organized Crime and Gang Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

With respect to the defendants awaiting trial, the charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Atlantic City Man Admits Conspiring With Alleged Members Of Organized Crime Family And Others in Fraud Scheme

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information yesterday:

CAMDEN, N.J. – An Atlantic City, N.J., man admitted he conspired to defraud FirstPlus Financial Group Inc. (FPFG), a Texas-based financial services company allegedly targeted for extortionate takeover and looting by a group led by alleged Lucchese organized crime family member Nicodemo S. Scarfo, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

John Parisi, 52, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler in Camden federal court to a superseding information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Parisi and 12 others – including his cousin, Nicodemo S. Scarfo, an alleged member of the Lucchese La Cosa Nostra (LCN) crime family, and Salvatore Pelullo, an alleged associate of the Lucchese and Philadelphia LCN families – were variously charged in a November 2011 indictment with a racketeering conspiracy, including acts of securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, extortion, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice. The indictment charged that FPFG was targeted for extortionate takeover and looting by a group of the conspirators. A substantial part of the enterprise’s activities occurred in New Jersey, including communications and the transfer of money into and out of the state. John Parisi admitted that he joined the conspiracy in April 2007.

Parisi managed a family trust and a limited liability company on behalf of Scarfo as part of the scheme to defraud FPFG.  Parisi said Scarfo, his cousin, directed Parisi in the use of various bank accounts through which Scarfo received hundreds of thousands of dollars between July 2007 and April 2008 as part of the scheme. As alleged in the indictment, the money involved proceeds of the fraud that Scarfo allegedly received as part of a fraudulent “consulting” agreement between his shell company, Learned Associates, and one controlled by Pelullo. The money also involved proceeds received from the fraudulent sale of Scarfo and Pelullo’s worthless companies to FPFG in 2007. The receipt of the fraudulent proceeds often occurred in the form of wire transfers from accounts in Pennsylvania to accounts in New Jersey.

Parisi also said that beginning in February 2008 he assisted Scarfo and his then-fiancée, Lisa Marie Scarfo, obtain a mortgage for a $715,000 house in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., that the Scarfos intended to purchase. Lisa Marie Scarfo pleaded guilty on Sept. 17, 2013, to a conspiracy to make a false mortgage loan application in connection with the purchase of the Egg Harbor Township house. 

Scarfo, Pelullo, and six other defendants charged in November 2011 – including attorneys William Maxwell, Cory Leshner, David Adler, Gary McCarthy, and Donald Manno, as well as John Maxwell – are scheduled for trial beginning Oct. 28, 2013. Todd Stark, also charged in the indictment, previously pleaded guilty to providing ammunition to Scarfo and Pelullo, convicted felons.

The conspiracy count to which Parisi pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.  Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 17, 2014.

U.S. Attorney Fishman praised special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark; the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Garcia, New York Region; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Thomas J. Cannon in Newark.  He also thanked the FBI under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Hanko in Philadelphia for its vital assistance and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its role.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven D’Aguanno and Howard Wiener, of the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office Organized Crime/Gangs Unit and Criminal Division in Camden, and Trial Attorney Adam Small of the Organized Crime and Gang Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

With respect to the defendants awaiting trial, the charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Inconvenient Facts Involving The Washington Navy Yard Shooting

Charles C. W. Cooke at the National Review offers a piece that counters the comments from gun control advocates following the Washington Navy Yard shooting.

Now that the terrifying confusion has abated and the wildly varying reports have been collated into some sort of consensus, we are able to review what happened yesterday at Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard with a dispassionate and critical eye.

Doing so reveals that it is once again time for the friends of liberty to be blunt and to be forceful in the face of what will inevitably come. So resolved, let us lay down this marker: Those claiming that yesterday’s abomination demonstrates the need for stricter gun control are lying, or else they are ignorant, and, either way, they should be ashamed of themselves.

 It does no such thing.

We now know that the perpetrator owned only a Remington 870 shotgun, and that he murdered and maimed his way into possession of the two other weapons that he used in his attack.

Those weapons were two standard 9mm handguns — not, as the media tripped over itself prematurely to report, a much-maligned AR-15 “assault rifle.”

On his show last night, unrelenting bore Piers Morgan spent a great deal of time spreading misinformation about the role of the AR-15 in the shooting, a theme that the New York Daily News rather embarrassingly continued on its front page this morning. Although retractions will presumably be forthcoming in the usual tiny print, it is probably too late to remove completely the impression that the headlines will have left in the imaginations of many Americans.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/358714/gun-controls-dead-end-charles-c-w-cooke

Note: The above photo was released by the FBI.

Washington Navy Yard Shooting Prompts Action At Local Military Facilites In Philadelphia

The CBS Local TV News station offers a piece on the increased security at naval bases in Philadelphia following the tragic shooting at the Washington Navy Yard.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The deadly shooting at the Washington Navy Yard has prompted action at local military facilities.

At the Naval Support Activity in Northeast Philadelphia, the security is tight and the atmosphere is solemn.

Employees tell Eyewitness News the mood inside is gloomy after learning about the shooting in Washington. Now security has increased.

It's common to see guards outside of the support center, but today, they are more equipped and more armed.

You can read the rest of the story and watch a video clip via the below link:

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/09/16/washington-navy-yard-shooting-prompts-action-at-local-military-facilities/

Note: I spent the last ten years of my more than 37 years in the Navy and the Defense Department at the Naval Support Activity in Northeast Philadelphia.

I was the administrative officer for a tenant Defense Department command located on the Navy base  and I oversaw security programs for our military and civilians employees. I also served at the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia earlier in my career.

I traveled often to Washington D.C. during my time in the Defense Department and I was a frequent visitor to the Washington Navy Yard. On my last visit there I took my daughter to see the naval museum located on the compound.

My heart goes out to the victims of the shootings and their families.

Wreath Laying Ceremony At U.S. Navy Memorial For Victims Of Washington Navy Yard Victims

The U.S. Defense Department released the above photo and below statement:

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, center, and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, lay a wreath at the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., Sept. 17, 2013.

 

The defense leaders held the small ceremony to remember the 12 victims of the Sept. 16 shooting at the Washington Navy Yard. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, second from right, and Navy Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, right, chief of naval operations, look on.

FBI Seeks Information On Washington Navy Yard Shooting

The FBI released photos of Aaron Alexis and the below statement: 

The FBI is currently seeking information from the public on an individual by the name of Aaron Alexis, now deceased, believed to be responsible for the Washington Navy Yard shootings that occurred this morning at 8:20 in the southeast area of Washington, D.C.

Alexis’ place of birth is Queens, New York, and his last known residence was Ft. Worth, Texas.

If anyone has any information regarding Alexis, please contact your local field office or nearest American Embassy or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

12 Confirmed Dead From Washington Navy Yard Shooting

NBC News offers a piece on the deadly shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, although the number of victims have risen to 12 dead since the below was published.

A man brandishing an assault rifle, shotgun and handgun opened fire Monday inside a building at the Washington Navy Yard — killing at least seven people and wounding at least five more, including two police officers, military officials and other authorities said.

SWAT officers swarmed the building, the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command, and a shooter there was killed, sources told NBC News.

The Washington police chief said there could be as many as two other shooters at large, one white and one black, both in military-style uniforms. But there was no confirmation of more than one person firing shots. Federal officials said the information appeared to be based on eyewitness reports and surveillance footage.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/16/20522196-at-least-7-killed-in-rampage-at-washington-navy-yard?lite

Note: I worked on naval and military bases nearly all of my working life, and I was a frequent visitor to the Washington Navy Yard.

As the administrative officer of a Defense Department command on a naval base in Philadelphia, I oversaw security programs and I put together the command's evacuation plan and the shelter-in-place plan.

I'd advise all workplaces to have a good evacuation plan as well as a shelter-in-place plan, as the unthinkable can happen - as it did at the Washington Navy Yard.