A man was sentenced to state prison on Tuesday for his involvement in a conspiracy to steal credit cards and pandemic relief debit cards from the mail, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
At least eight victims in West Caldwell, Fairfield, Roselle Park, Boonton and North Caldwell suffered $70,000 in losses from fraudulent purchases made using their stolen credit cards. Justin Brooks also schemed to fraudulently use more than $13,000 of funds pre-loaded onto Economic Impact Payment cards issued by the U.S Treasury Department, authorities said.
In late May and early June 2020, Justin Brooks was seen on surveillance cameras withdrawing more than $9,100 from ATMs in Maplewood and Irvington using stolen pandemic relief cards, court documents said.