3 charged with pandemic loan fraud and forging check, Secaucus police say
Updated Feb 02, 2021;
Posted Feb 02, 2021
Adam Rodriguez, left, Madison Sedell, center, and Jadyn Brower have been charged in two incidents, fraudulently getting a CARES Act loan and check forgery. (Secaucus PD photos)EJA
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While small businesses across the state struggled get government loans to remain open during the coronavirus pandemic, a Secaucus teen and a Clifton man were awarded a $10,000 in loans for companies they fabricated, authorities say.
Adam Rodriguez, 22, and Madison Sedell, 19, of Secaucus, applied for three Small Business Administration loans for made-up companies, ranging from agricultural companies to a marketing company, Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller said. And while legitimate business owners were denied, Rodriguez and Sedell were approved.
Hudson County View
Sophia Diakomihalis. Photo courtesy of the Secaucus Police Department.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
On August 28th a representative from Firetronics, located on Wood Avenue in Secaucus, reported that he recently noticed theft from his bank account that stems from May 22nd, 2017 through June 30th, 2020, according to Miller.
The employee stated at the time that there have been large sums of money electronically withdrawn from his account.
Det. Aniello Schaffer and Police Officer Sean Egan of the Secaucus PD’s Detective Division conducted a tedious follow up investigation over a several month span that determined over $1,100,00 was stolen from the company.