East Hanover Couple Charged With Superstorm Sandy Fraud

EAST HANOVER, NJ — An East Hanover couple are accused of filing false applications for funds to repair their vacation home after Superstorm Sandy, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal.

Carmine Fusco, 50, and Lauri Fusco, 50, of East Hanover, are both charged with theft by deception in relation to the false filings, Grewal said. The pair allegedly said their Point Pleasant home was their primary residence, despite actually living in East Hanover and using the beach house as a vacation home. They were given $2,280 from FEMA and $150,000 in RREM grant funds, Grewal said.

“Through this historic anti-fraud program, we have held over 100 defendants accountable for allegedly lying about vacation homes and other secondary properties in order to steal relief funds intended for victims whose primary homes were damaged,” said Director Veronica Allende of the Division of Criminal Justice. “We also have charged a number of renters who falsely claimed they were displaced by the storm or lost personal property. This collaborative state and federal initiative will undoubtedly serve as a model for other jurisdictions that face these issues in future disaster relief efforts.”

So far, 125 people have been charged with filing fraudulent applications since March 2014.

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