Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli announced a series of arrests which are the result of a long term investigation into the illicit activities of an organized identity theft and fraud ring.
On February 10, 2015, Miokar B. WheYe was arrested after an 11 month investigation into allegations of identity theft and fraud reported by various small business owners in Bergen County.
The investigation revealed that Wheye orchestrated an elaborate fraudulent scheme to steal in excess of $100,000.00 from victims’ bank accounts. Among the fraudulent methods allegedly utilized him were changing the victims’ mailing address, opening bank accounts in victims’ names, using counterfeit checks to make illegal withdrawals from victims’ bank accounts and applying for fraudulent business loans in victims’ names.
Information gathered during the initial investigation and as a result of the arrest, investigators were led to a sophisticated ring of co-conspirators who acted in concert to steal individual and corporate identities and then to commit fraud by utilizing the identities to open fraudulent bank accounts, impersonate victims, and produce and negotiate fraudulent and counterfeit checks.
The co-conspirators identified during the course of this investigation were each charged with conspiracy to traffic in the personal identifying information of another.
Two of the individuals arrested, Miokar Wehye and Rachel Horace were charged with theft by receiving a stolen motor vehicle.
At the time of the initial arrest of Wehye, he and Horace were found to be in possession of a 2014 Range Rover which had reportedly been stolen at gunpoint from its owner in Elizabeth on January 17, 2015.
The individuals arrested on November 17, 2015 were:
Miokar Wehye, 42, of Hillside
Rachel Horace, 29, of Hillside
Amy L. Bates, 32, of East Orange
Benjamin Pritchett, 38, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Patrick J. Finnegan, 22, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Bendu Massaquoi, 22, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Thembekile Dube, 29, of Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania
Sylvia Tarawalley, 36, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Saye S. Jeffrey, 42, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
During the course of the investigation, the following individuals were identified as co-conspirators and were charged but are currently at large and wanted as fugitives:
Jenon L. Bostwick, 22, of East Orange
Calvin Holloway, 54, of Trenton
Anthony W. Carpowich, 51, of Trenton
Eslie Wehye, 43, of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania
Jeffrey Adams, 44, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Joseph Simmonds, 32, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Young W. Dixon, 33, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Eku Victor Mante, 41, of Bristol, Pennsylvania
Joslyn Figueroa, 30, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Eronus Blay, 38, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Hector Saye, 35, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The individuals arrested in Pennsylvania were charged as fugitives from justice and were lodged in local jails pending extradition hearings.
Wehye was remanded to the Bergen County Jail Annex in lieu of bail set at $50,000 with no 10 percent cash alternative and Bates was remanded to the Bergen County Jail Annex in lieu of bail set at $25,000 with no 10 percent cash alternative by the Honorable Louis J. Dinice, J.M.C.
Horace was released on a Summons pending her first appearance in Bergen County Central Municipal Court.
The first appearances were scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on November 18, 2015.