NEWARK, N.J. — A former bank employee in New Jersey is accused of stealing more than $105,000 in Social Security benefits from a dead customer’s account over a four-year period, federal prosecutors said.
According to a news release issued Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, Jorge Nova, 35, of Passaic, was charged with one count of wire fraud.
Nova worked at a bank in the town of Nutley from 2011 until April 2015, according to the indictment, and began withdrawing money from the customer’s account in January 2015, NJ.com reported.
The customer died on Aug. 29, 2014, according to the indictment. The Social Security Administration was not immediately alerted and continued to deposit $2,372 in monthly benefits, according to NJ.com.
According to the indictment, Nova emptied the deceased customer’s account from January 2015 to October 2018, obtaining debit cards in their name and withdrawing the cash.
Prosecutors said that Nova registered new accounts with a money service provider in the name of the dead customer and withdrew money from a second bank account. Prosecutors said that Nova learned about the second account through a credit report, according to NJ.com.
Prosecutors alleged that Nova withdrew an additional $60,546. 48 between Aug. 4, 2016, and on or about Oct. 9, 2018, the indictment alleged.
Nova allegedly withdrew a total of $105,628.43 intended for the deceased beneficiary, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleged that Nova “knowingly and intentionally” devised a scheme intended “to obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.”
If convicted, Nova faces a maximum prison sentence of 30 years and a fine of up to $1 million, the prosecutor’s news release stated.