TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that a Livingston accountant was sentenced to state prison today for orchestrating a scheme in which he and numerous co-defendants defrauded the state of nearly $700,000 by filing false claims for unemployment benefits.
Todd P. Halpern, 49, of Livingston, was sentenced to 12 years in state prison, including four years of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge Timothy P. Lydon in Mercer County. Halpern pleaded guilty on Nov. 18, 2013 to first-degree money laundering and second-degree theft by deception. Halpern was ordered to pay more than $500,000 in restitution. Deputy Attorney General Anthony P. Torntore prosecuted Halpern and handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau. Halpern was indicted with 12 other defendants on June 11, 2013 as a result of “Operation April Fools,” a joint investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
In pleading guilty, Halpern admitted that, from October 2008 to May 2012, he orchestrated a scheme in which he and his co-defendants stole from the state by filing fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits. They stole a total of $694,606 as a result of 36 false claims. The investigation revealed that Halpern filed unemployment insurance claims using identities stolen from clients, and filed fraudulent employment records in the names of businesses he served in order to support the claims. Halpern, who was never licensed as an accountant in New Jersey, used his fraud schemes to fund lavish expenditures, including season tickets to the New York Giants, purchases of jewelry, gold and silver, and purchases of high-end vehicles, including a Cadillac Escalade, Lexus GX-470 and classic 1957 Chevy Bel Air.
“Halpern was selfishly living a life of luxury by stealing public funds that are intended to be a financial lifeline for workers who are down on their luck,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “He committed one of the biggest thefts ever from the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund, and he rightfully will serve one of the longest sentences for such a theft.”
“The Department of Labor has implemented cutting-edge security measures to catch con artists like Halpern, and we will continue to work closely with labor investigators to prosecute such offenders to the full extent of the law,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “This lengthy prison sentence should deter others from attempting this type of scheme to steal unemployment benefits.”
“We are constantly upgrading our defenses against these fraudsters. Since 2011, our anti-fraud measures have prevented more than $535 million from being improperly drained from the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, allowing this administration to bring the debt-ridden trust fund back into solvency years ahead of schedule. The effort has enabled New Jersey businesses to avoid millions of dollars in tax hikes that would have been triggered by law to replenish the trust fund,” said Harold J. Wirths, Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The Department of Labor has implemented new security measures under Governor Chris Christie and Commissioner Wirths to eliminate weaknesses exploited by the defendants and detect fraud in connection with claims filed for unemployment benefits. Those software and program changes, which enable the department’s information technology systems to identify fraudulent claims, resulted in a lead on April 1, 2012 that prompted the investigation that led to the indictment of Halpern and his co-defendants. Because of the date, the investigation was dubbed “Operation April Fools.”
The indictment was presented to the state grand jury by Deputy Attorney General Torntore and Deputy Attorney General Valerie Noto. The investigation was conducted for the Division of Criminal Justice by Detective Lynn Patrick Fitzgerald, former Deputy Chief of Detectives Alex M. Adkins, and Deputy Attorneys General Torntore and Noto, under the supervision of Deputy Attorney General Jill Mayer, Chief of the Specialized Crimes Bureau. The investigation was conducted for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development by Supervising Investigator Michael Kulyk and Supervisor of Investigations Michael B. Marich of the Bureau of Benefit Payment Control, under the direction of Charles J. Walkowiak, Director of Fraud Prevention and Risk Management. The Passaic County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service provided valuable assistance in the investigation.
Of the 12 defendants indicted with Halpern, nine have pleaded guilty to theft by deception, including his father, George J. Halpern, 76, of Short Hills, who also is an accountant, and his father-in-law, Jack Chesner, 82, of Morris Plains. Those two men received sentences of probation. David Altman, 43, of Plainfield, was sentenced to three years in state prison, and two others, Augustin Gomez, 31, of Jersey City, and Henry Ford, 55, of Plainfield, received jail sentences of 364 days and six months, respectively. #### |
