TOMS RIVER, NJ – A new report today in the Asbury Park Press confirms that Toms River township Mayor Mo Hill, the township council and attorney Ken Fitzsimmons intentionally misled the public about the inner workings of Hill’s failed public land sale last week.

https://www.facebook.com/OceanCountyNewsSquad/videos/297637968122450/

An ordinance drafted by Fitzsimmons and the Toms River Division of Law, headed by New Jersey Assemblyman Gregory P. McGuckin stated that only one bid was received on the property.  That bid was for $318,000 according to the ordinance.  At last Tuesday’s meeting Fitzsimmons said there were in fact two bids and a bidding war ensued on the property.  In today’s Asbury Park Press report, Acting Business Administrator Lou Amoruso admitted that there were 50 entities that entered bids on the very attractive commercial property on Hinds Road.

The town instead, focused on Chaim Sabel, a member of the Lakewood Planning Board.  McGuckin’s firm, Dasti, Murphy & McGuckin also serves as the chief legal counsel for Lakewood’s land use board.

The township at last week’s meeting claimed Sabel had buyer’s remorse.  Instead of going back to one of the fifty bidders who had interest in the property, the land deal was arranged for Sabel to purchase the property for just $250,000.   That price was $68,000 lower than his winning bid.

At the meeting, Toms River Councilman Matt Lotano admitted that he had a working business relationship with the auction house.  McGuckin, who runs the township legal department has a business relationship with the Lakewood Land Use Board.  Lotano is also a land developer. He works for Lotano Development Inc., which specializes in commercial and residential property development.

Now, the New Jersey Office of Public Integrity & Accountability is allegedly looking into the matter.   A spokesperson for the state last week, when asked about a possible criminal investigation, responded refused to comment on the matter.

Peter Aseltine, spokesperson for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office responded, “No comment.”

The town had claimed the land sale was intended to raise revenue and to put the land back on the tax register.  If developed, the land would generate annual revenue for the township, but why then would the township go to such great lengths to sell the property to a buyer who backed out of their high bid, then failed to produce the $10,000 deposit required to memorialize the sale?

ISLAND BEACH STATE PARK, NJ – At every public access area along Island Beach, there’s a sign at the entrance that asks guests and visitors to stay on the predesignated trails and to stay off the dunes.  There’s a good reason for it.  The dune system is not only a sensitive environmental habitat but the dunes and dune grass protect both the barrier island and the mainland from coastal flooding during hurricanes and nor’easters.

We’re not sure if there are any such signs at the entrance to the governor’s mansion at the state park or along his private access trails.

According to the State of New Jersey,  Island Beach is one of the few undeveloped Barrier Beach oped barrier beaches on the Atlantic coast. It has one of New Jersey’s largest osprey colonies, in addition to many other species of waterfowl, shorebirds and migratory birds. Today’s maritime vegetation is the same as it was hundreds of years ago. To accommodate recreation and to protect this natural vegetation, the park is divided into three management zones: the Northern Natural Area, the central recreation zone and the Southern Natural Area. The two natural areas contain 1,900 acres of sand dunes with coastal dune communities, tidal marshes, freshwater wetlands, designated trails and more than 200 species of plants. Public access to the Northern Natural Area is limited to the – ocean beach for fishing and walking. Picnicking, sunbath ing and fishing activities are allowed on the ocean beaches of the Southern Natural Area. Nature study is permitted throughout the park. Sand dunes are one of the park’s most precious resources, protecting the park and mainland from storm drive waves and tides. Visitors must stay off the sand storm-driven
dunes and should not disturb the vegetation.”

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ – In an earlier report today we reported that a man was arrested for assaulting a 68-year-old man during a BLM march in Seaside Heights. A new video shared with Shore News Network today shows the man who got hit may have been the one who provoked the assault.

https://www.facebook.com/vivaLeViral/videos/1257277451284591/

At a Black Lives Matter march, which sported an Antifa flag of about two dozen people took place Saturday on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights.  During the protest, the group chanted “Black Lives Matter” through a loudspeaker as they walked up and down the boardwalk.  At one point, according to Seaside Heights police, 28-year-old Jamal Holmes got into a verbal altercation with an unidentified 68-year-old man near Sherman Avenue and the Boardwalk.  Police said Holmes punch the man in the face.  He was arrested and charged with simple assault.

Now the new video released by witnesses this morning showed the man approached Holmes prior to the altercations.

“Take the mask off, you scumbag,” the man said to Holmes. It’s hard to tell what happened next, but the man appeared to reach out towards Holmes and the man appears to have been pushed in self-defense.

What led up to the altercation prior to the video is still missing.  Eyewitnesses detail a much different story than the one being told by the Seaside Heights Police Department.

A witness said the man showed up with a bicycle and initially was yelling at Boaz Matlack who was leading the march.  Two witnesses claim the man’s speech was slurred and he appeared intoxicated. After the man approached the group, Boaz said “Have a good day sir”, as part of the group’s  ‘kill them with kindness’ method.

“The [man] had came to our march and began heckling us like many others did but what he did unlike others was get physical,” said Aaliyah Castro. “I’m a young woman and this old man was in my face screaming profanities and had spit on me.”

Castro said she’s upset that Holmes is being portrayed as the aggressor when he was approached unsolicited by the man.

“We had people with opposing opinions yell towards us all day, it was expected and its totally fine,” she said  “After yelling at Boaz and the rest of us were marching past him is when he began yelling towards the small section of the crowd I was in and had the chance to get close enough to my face yelling that I was spit on.”

Castro said it was at that point was where the man decided to move toward the back of the small crowd where Holmes was at and it got physical.

“When he didn’t get a reaction from myself and the few around me is when he moved to Jamal and had swung at Jamal saying, “Get that f*cking mask off you face sc*mbag.”

Then, the man swung at Holmes which knocked his phone down and in the same motion, Jones pushed the man away and did not punch the man.

“The man was drunk, like I said he spit on me and smelled of alcohol, so when he was pushed for hitting someone he fell back and tripped on his bike,” Castro said. “In the video he can briefly be seen laying next to the basket of his bike after his fall.”

TOMS RIVER, NJ – Andy Kim just railed the U.S. Postal Service’s inability to be the backbone of the November general election.  Today, he’s saying the same post office that is supposed to bear the burden of hosting a federal election is also jeoparding senior citizens by its failure to deliver mail on time, including mail that includes life-saving and life-enhancing medication.

Ocean County is home to one of the largest concentration of senior citizens in New Jersey.  Can you imagine during September, October and November, how a postal service so overburdened by millions of extra mail ballots is going to affect senior citizens who already aren’t getting their prescription medicines in the mail on time?

“Over the past few weeks, I’ve heard from so many of our seniors about the importance of protecting the US Postal Service to ensure prescription drugs and benefits get delivered on time. I want to highlight a few of their stories today as we fight to protect our mail,” Kim said.

Here are some constituent comments shared by Kim today:

Joan from Pine Beach said, “I recently had to reschedule a doctor appointment because my medical records hadn’t arrived in time for the appointment. The idea, intent and implementation of actions to thwart the mail is disheartening and scary and down right un-American.”

TOMS RIVER, NJ – The COVID-19 virus is is not killing as many people today as it did just a few months, even a few weeks ago in New Jersey.  According to Governor Phil Murphy, just 40 patients remain on ventilators, many of them long term care patients in intensive care.

That’s in part because patients are being treated better and earlier for the virus and ventilators are no longer the first option for patients who contract the virus with serious respiratory conditions.

According to Brian Gragnolati, CEO of Atlantic Health Systems, patients with chronic symptoms are no longer being put on ventilators.  Now, he said they are being put on CPAP/BI-PAP machines.  They are the same ones used by sleep apnea patients at home.

Gragnolati said the lifesaving drug remdesivir is also given to patients and it has significantly reduced the mortality rate of the virus.

“Initially, we were using it once patients were on ventilators. Now we’re using it a little earlier in the process and that has had some very positive results,” Gragnolati said. “We continue to learn, and we continue to share those ideas and that really has made a big, big difference.”

At the height of the pandemic, nearly 1,600 people in New Jersey were on ventilators in crowded hospitals.

Today, just 91 patients are in intensive care units statewide.  278 patients are in the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms down from almost 10,000 back in April.

TRENTON, NJ – Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order to create a modified vote-by-mail (VBM) election for the November 3rd General Election. The order suspends the sending of sample ballots and requires that each county’s elections officials send VBM ballots with pre-paid postage to all active registered voters for the General Election. Additionally, every voter will have the option to either return their ballot through a secure drop box or turn in their ballot at a polling location on Election Day. The Administration is working with the Department of State to implement a new online voter registration system where New Jersey residents will have the opportunity to register to vote. The online system will launch on September 4, 2020.

“COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives, from our health and safety to how we participate in our democracy,” said Governor Murphy. “This virus continues to threaten public health, and with today’s announcement, we are ensuring that New Jersey voters do not have to make a decision between exercising their right to vote and protecting their well-being.” 

“Every voter deserves to participate in free, fair, and safe elections,” said Secretary of State Tahesha Way.  “By sending every New Jersey voter their ballot in the mail, we are protecting the health of voters, elections workers, and our democracy.”

In order to address the influx of VBM ballots, the executive order will extend the deadline to allow ballots being returned through the United States Postal Service (USPS) with a postmark on or before November 3rd to be counted as a valid ballot by the County Clerk, if received by 8:00 p.m. on November 10th. Ballots without a postmark that are received by the county boards of elections within 48 hours of the closing of polls on November 3rd shall be considered valid.

Today’s executive order will also require a minimum of at least one polling place in each municipality and a minimum of 50 percent of polling places in each county to provide New Jersey voters with access to in-person voting opportunities, including accommodations for voters with disabilities. All public schools will close for in-person instruction on November 3rd to allow counties to use their buildings as polling locations, if necessary. Polling locations will be required to follow public health standards, including ensuring six feet of distance, requiring poll workers to wear face coverings and gloves, frequent sanitization of high-touch areas, and providing sanitization materials to all individuals at a polling place.  

WASHINGTON, DC – The US Postal Service is raising their prices in the middle of a pandemic because people are buying more things online than risking going to stores for in-person shopping.  Below is a press release issued by the post office.

The United States Postal Service filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) today of a temporary price change to take effect Oct. 18, 2020.

The planned temporary price adjustments are in response to increased expenses and heightened demand for online shopping package volume due to the coronavirus pandemic and expected holiday ecommerce. As a result of these changing market conditions, the Postal Service is planning a time-limited price increase on all commercial domestic competitive package volume from Oct. 18 until Dec. 27, 2020. Retail prices and international products will be unaffected.

The planned price increase would go into effect at 12:00AM Central on Oct.18, 2020 and remain in place until 12:00AM Central Dec. 27, 2020.

The planned prices, approved by the Governors of the Postal Service on August 6, would raise prices on its commercial domestic competitive parcels – Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service, Parcel Select, and Parcel Return Service.

This time-limited adjustment will increase prices for our commercial customers in line with competitive practices without impacting customers at the retail level. In doing this, the Postal Service is protecting the retail consumer during a vulnerable economic period while increasing prices on commercial volume during heightened volume levels.

No structural changes are planned as part of this limited time pricing initiative, allowing customers the greatest ease in implementing the new prices with minimal complexity.

The Governors believe these temporary rates will keep the Postal Service competitive while providing the agency with much needed revenue. The forecasted additional revenue from the time-limited increase will depend on the volume of packages shipped between Oct. 18 and Dec. 27 at commercial rates.

If favorably reviewed by the PRC, the planned price changes include:

Some rate cells in Parcel Select Ground will be charged less than $0.40 so as not to exceed USPS Retail Ground retail prices:

• 19 lbs., zones 8/9 – the increase will be zero instead of $0.40
• 20 lbs., zones 8/9 – the increase will be $0.06 instead of $0.40
• Oversized – the increase will be zero instead of $0.40

A full list of commercial pricing can be found on the Postal Service’s Postal Explorer website https://www.usps.com/business/prices.htm.

The Postal Service has some of the lowest mail postage rates in the industrialized world and also continues to offer a great value in shipping.

The PRC will review the prices before they are scheduled to take effect on Oct.18, 2020. The complete Postal Service price filings with prices for all products can be found on the PRC website under the Daily Listings section at prc.gov/dockets/daily. The price change tables are also available on the Postal Service’s Postal Explorer website at pe.usps.com/PriceChange/Index.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

Photo by Alex Perz on Unsplash

TOMS RIVER, NJ – Democrat Congressman Andy Kim today said a long-running problem with the U.S. Postal Service is only getting worse as America heads toward a possible mail-in election for President.  Kim was interviewed on NJTV and said he has concerns about the postal service’s ability to conduct a proper mail-in election.

“It’s been almost a month since I took my first action to press the Postmaster General on reports of delayed service. Since then, we’ve only seen things get worse. We can’t wait any longer; the Postmaster General needs to be removed immediately,” Kim said.

It’s not just mail-in ballots that the post office has screwed up during the global COVID-19 pandemic.  Veterans and seniors are not getting their benefits.  Unemployment checks are late and in July, many mail-in ballots in the primary election never showed up to be counted.

“We have veterans not getting prescription medications that they need, seniors not getting their medications, people not getting their unemployment checks on time,” Kim said in the interview. “There’s certainly a concern as well about what will happen when it comes to mail-in ballots for Election Day.”

The article cites Hunterdon County Clerk Mary Melfi who said her office is still receiving ballots for the July election in August, one month later.

“I mean, today, even today, I’m still getting ballots back from the primary. I mean a couple of weeks ago, I got a ballot back from the 2018 election,” she said in the PBS interview.

Kim shared a story by NJTV today that detailed why the U.S. Postal Service cannot handle the November election unless things change.

TOMS RIVER, NJ – As a series of political scandals and wrongdoings emerge in Toms River, the New Jersey task force assigned to fighting political corruption has been working over time taking down dirty politicians in the state.   The Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is currently looking into allegations of possible fraud and bid-rigging in Toms River, but is also progressing in another political corruption case.

New Jersey is known as a haven of political corruption and Attorney General Gurbir Grewal is taking these crooked elected officials down.

Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal today announced charges against five new defendants in the investigation of an alleged straw donor scheme that previously resulted in charges against an attorney, Elizabeth Valandingham.The charges stem from a corruption investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) that led in December 2019 to five former public officials and political candidates being charged with taking bribes.

Valandingham, 47, of Morristown, N.J., was charged on June 17, 2020 with false representation for government contracts and misconduct by a corporate official, both second-degree offenses.The charges relate to alleged conduct between 2012 and 2017 at the law firm where she worked.

It is alleged that Valandingham and an unnamed co-conspirator recruited straw donors in a scheme to make illicit campaign contributions on behalf of the law firm, often in excess of the contribution limits, and to avoid disclosure of those contributions.Straw donors are individuals who contribute to a candidate but are unlawfully reimbursed by another person or entity, in this case the law firm.  Under New Jersey Election Law, it is illegal for a person to reimburse another person for a political contribution or to give or lend another person money to make a contribution to a specific candidate.

The straw donors recruited in the scheme involving Valandingham – including the five individuals charged yesterday – allegedly would routinely write checks on their personal checking accounts and in their own names to various candidates and political committees, while being contemporaneously reimbursed with cash deposits directly into their checking and/or savings accounts.During the course of the scheme, the straw donors collectively contributed and were reimbursed in cash for approximately $239,000 worth of donations.

“New Jersey’s campaign finance and pay-to-play laws are designed to ensure that law firms and other contractors cannot purchase an unfair advantage in the competition for public contracts by making undisclosed or overly large campaign contributions,” said Attorney General Grewal.“We are determined to hold individuals accountable if they seek to distort the political process and public contracting by making illegal contributions through the type of straw donor scheme alleged here.”

Each of the following straw donors allegedly made tens of thousands of dollars in contributions to various candidates and party committees only to be reimbursed by the law firm with cash deposits into one or more of his or her bank or financial accounts.Each was charged yesterday by complaint-summons with fourth-degree concealment or misrepresentation of contributions.

1. Vanessa Brown, 40, of West Caldwell, N.J.
2. Christopher Brown, 37, of West Caldwell, N.J.
3. Ricardo Balanzateguimaldo, 40, of Bogota, N.J.
4. Erin O’Reilly, aka Erin DeMauro, 41, of Lincoln Park, N.J.
5. Suzanne P. Gayet, 63, of Boonton, N.J.

Valandingham was previously charged in connection with her role in preparing and submitting annual proposals to municipalities for the law firm to be awarded public contracts for legal services.In submitting proposals through which the firm successfully secured such contracts, she allegedly deliberately failed to disclose local political contributions the firm made during the prior year.The municipalities required that such contributions be disclosed as part of the public contracting process, but Valandingham allegedly failed to disclose the contributions made by the straw donors and instead indicated the firm made no reportable political contributions.Valandingham was charged specifically in connection with proposals for contracts in Bloomfield and Mount Arlington.

For further details on the charges against Valandingham, please see the prior news release:
www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases20/pr20200619b.html

The defendants initially charged in the OPIA investigation – former Jersey City School Board President Sudhan Thomas, former State Assemblyman and Bayonne mayoral candidate Jason O’Donnell, former Morris County Freeholder John Cesaro, former Mount Arlington Councilman John Windish, and former Morris County freeholder candidate Mary Dougherty – face charges of second-degree bribery in official and political matters for allegedly taking thousands of dollars in bribes from a cooperating witness in the form of campaign contributions.In return, they allegedly promised the cooperating witness – a tax attorney – that they would vote or use their official authority or influence to hire or continue to hire his law firm for lucrative government legal work.

For further details on the bribery charges, please see the prior news release:
www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases19/pr20191219a.html

Valandingham and the defendants charged as straw donors are charged in connection with conduct that is not directly related to the bribery allegations against those other five defendants.

The investigation is being conducted by the OPIA Corruption Bureau, under the leadership of OPIA Director Thomas Eicher.Deputy Attorneys General John A. Nicodemo and Anthony Robinson are prosecuting the cases, under the supervision of Corruption Bureau Chief Peter Lee and Counsel to the Director Anthony Picione. Deputy Attorney General Pearl Minato, Acting OPIA Chief of Staff, previously served as lead attorney on the investigation.

Fourth-degree charges carry a sentence of up to 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Attorney General Grewal created the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability in September 2018 to combat corruption and strengthen public confidence in government institutions.In December 2019, the Attorney General issued a directive codifying OPIA and making it a permanent part of the Attorney General’s Office.That directive established the OPIA Corruption Bureau as the lead office within the Department of Law & Public Safety for the investigation and prosecution of state criminal violations involving corruption and abuse of public trust.

EWARK, N.J. – The former secretary treasurer of a Jersey City Medical Center union and her daughter made their initial appearances today on charges they embezzled $40,455 from the union’s checking and savings accounts, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Linda Rogers, 71, and her daughter, Jennifer Rogers, 38, both of Jersey City, were indicted by a federal grand jury with one count each of conspiracy to embezzle and embezzlement. They allegedly embezzled $40,500 from Local 2254 of the American Federal State County and Municipal Amalgamated Transit Workers Union (AFSCME). The defendants made their initial appearances today by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson and were released on bond. They will be arraigned Aug. 19, 2020, by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler.

According to the indictment :

Linda Rogers was formerly employed at the Jersey City Medical Center as a medical clerk; she also held a part-time position at Local 2254 as its secretary treasurer. She had sole control over the union’s checkbook and savings account. From July 2016 through August 2017, she and her daughter, also a former employee at the hospital, deposited 112 unauthorized checks from the Local 2254’s checkbook to their joint checking and savings accounts, totaling $35,267.  From October 2016 through December 2016, Linda Rogers made six telephonic wire transfers from the Local 2254’s savings account, totaling $5,188, into her personal credit card account. None of the expenditures were authorized or for legitimate union purposes. The total loss to AFSCME Local 2254 was $40,455.

The counts of conspiracy to embezzle and embezzlement each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited the investigators of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards, under the direction of Adriana Vamvakas, Regional Director; and special agents of the Department of Labor (OIG), New York Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Mikulka, with the investigation leading to the charges.

The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel V. Grady O’Malley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime/Gangs Unit.

LAKEWOOD TOWNSHIP, NJ – Two Ocean County, New Jersey, import companies have agreed to resolve violations of the Defense Production Act (DPA) of 1950 for price-gouging customers of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic by agreeing to sell at cost approximately 11 million items of PPE seized from three warehouses by law enforcement in April 2020, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today.

The two companies – CSG Imports LLC and KG Imports LLC, both of Lakewood, New Jersey – have also agreed to disgorge $400,000 in profits relating to transactions with two customers who purchased PPE from CSG Imports at excessive prices and to compensate those customers for their losses.

“The defendants in this case sought to profit illegally from a pandemic just as it was starting to sweep across the country,” U.S. Attorney Carpenito said. “Today’s agreements will ensure that needed personal protective equipment gets into the hands of the people who need it, and at a fair price. We will continue to investigate these price-gouging cases with our law enforcement partners and make sure that vendors stop trying to make excess profits during this national emergency.”

“Profiteers who choose to shamelessly defraud the America public should know the FBI will utilize every means under the law to bring them to justice,” FBI Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Joe Denahan said.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, CSG Imports had never imported PPE or health-care equipment or products of any kind. KG Imports was formed after the pandemic began specifically to import PPE into the United States.

The resolutions arise out of law enforcement’s April 22, 2020, seizure of over 11 million items of PPE – predominantly N-95 respirator face masks and three-ply disposable face masks – owned by CSG Imports and KG Imports from three warehouses in Lakewood. Law enforcement seized the PPE after learning that the companies were violating the DPA by offering for sale and selling scarce PPE at prices in excess of prevailing market prices for those items.

Both CSG Imports and KG Imports entered into deferred prosecution agreements with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey in connection with criminal complaints filed today charging each company with one count of violating the DPA. CSG Imports has committed to selling the seized PPE at cost and compensating two entities that it sold PPE to in excess of prevailing market prices in the amount of $400,000. The agreement provides that CSG Imports must pay a minimum of $200,000 to these entities directly in amounts proportionate to CSG Imports’ profits on PPE sold to those entities and that CSG Imports may compensate the remaining portion of the $400,000 by transferring PPE to these entities at no cost. Pursuant to a separate deferred prosecution agreement, KG Imports has also agreed to sell the seized PPE at cost.

According to the admissions:

CSG Imports

Beginning in March 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting New Jersey and the rest of the United States and world, CSG Imports began to obtain directly from international manufacturers and import various items of PPE into the United States. When it did not deliver directly to customers, CSG Imports stored the PPE at warehouses in Lakewood and sold the PPE to customers, including hospitals, health care providers, health care suppliers, and end users in New Jersey and elsewhere.

From March 2020 through May 2020, CSG Imports imported into the United States and offered for sale PPE and other health and medical resources that were Designated Scarce Materials in excess of prevailing market prices. For example, CSG Imports imported N-95 masks for a blended per-unit cost of $3.47 and sold them with markups ranging from $0.78 to $2.53. CSG Imports also imported three-ply disposable face masks for a blended per-unit cost of $0.37 and sold them with markups ranging from $0.09 to $0.28.

KG Imports

Beginning in March 2020, KG Imports also began to import various items of PPE that were stored in warehouses in Lakewood and sold to customers in New Jersey and elsewhere. Until that time, KG Imports had not dealt in such products.

From April 2020 through May 2020, KG Imports offered and sold these items at prices that exceeded prevailing market prices. For example, KG Imports imported three-ply disposable face masks for a blended per-unit cost of $0.37 and sold them with markups ranging from $0.11 to $0.43.

As part of the agreements, both CSG Imports and KG Imports agreed to continue to cooperate with the government in any ongoing or future criminal investigations during the term of their respective agreements.

The government reached these resolutions with CSG Imports and KG Imports based on a number of factors, including: both entities’ failure to timely and voluntarily self-disclose the conduct that triggered the investigations; the nature and seriousness of the offenses; and credit for each company’s respective cooperation. Both entities also agreed to sell all PPE seized by the government at prices not to exceed their costs in obtaining the PPE and to provide semi-annual written reports to the government regarding their PPE sales.

Attorney General William P. Barr created the COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force, led by U.S. Attorney Carpenito, who is coordinating efforts with the Antitrust Division and U.S. Attorneys across the country wherever illegal activity involving protective personal equipment occurs. The Secretary of Health and Human Services has issued a Notice designating categories of health and medical supplies that must not be hoarded or sold for exorbitant prices.

Please report COVID-19 fraud, hoarding or price-gouging to the National Center for Disaster Fraud’s National Hotline at (866) 720-5721, or e-mail: [email protected]

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Joe Denahan, with the investigation leading to today’s resolutions. He also thanked the Lakewood Police Department for its assistance.

The government is represented by Senior Trial Counsel Jason S. Gould and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole F. Mastropieri of the Health Care Fraud Unit.

RUMSON, NJ – The Rumson Police Department issued a warning that bull sharks have been spotted in the Navesink River. The sightings come as this week is officially “Shark Week” across America.

“There have been several reports of possible bull shark sightings in the Navesink River in the area of Navesink Avenue in Rumson. NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife has been notified,” the Department Said. “They advised that no sightings have been confirmed as of yet but, as always, there is a possibility that sharks could be in our local waterways.”

Shark Week is a weeklong television programming schedule that runs each August on the Discovery Channel.

Photo by Simona Sergi on Unsplash