Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a Morris County couple pleaded guilty today to stealing $152,820 by filing fraudulent applications for federal relief funds related to Superstorm Sandy.
According to authorities, Carmine Fusco, 50, and Lauri Fusco, 50, of East Hanover, N.J., each pleaded guilty to third-degree theft by deception before Superior Court Judge Linda G. Baxter in Ocean County. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Carmine Fusco be sentenced to 180 days in the county jail and a term of probation, and that Lauri Fusco be sentenced to a term of probation. The couple must pay full restitution. Judge Baxter scheduled sentencing for both defendants for April 17.
In pleading guilty, the Fuscos admitted that they filed fraudulent applications following Superstorm Sandy for FEMA assistance and a state grant under the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) Program. As a result, the couple received a total of $152,820 in relief funds to which they were not entitled.
The couple falsely claimed in their applications that a home they own on West End Drive in Point Pleasant, N.J., which was damaged by Superstorm Sandy, was their primary residence at the time Sandy struck. It is alleged that, in fact, their primary residence at the time of the storm was in East Hanover, and the house in Point Pleasant was a vacation/weekend home.
As a result of the alleged fraudulent applications, the Fuscos received $2,280 from FEMA and $150,000 in RREM grant funds.