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Was a family services worker for Essex Division of Welfare
An employee of the Essex County Division of Welfare pleaded guilty Friday to falsifying employment records in order to qualify for a $357,050 loan to buy a home in Newark.
Ijeoma Okoh, 32, of Newark, pleaded guilty to a charge of issuing a false financial statement, a third-degree crime, before state Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin in Newark. The case was investigated by the Essex County Inspector General's Office and the state Division of Criminal Justice. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 18.
The state will recommend that Okoh be sentenced as a third-degree offender within the judge's discretion. She must forfeit her job and will be permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey. She also must forfeit all interest in the house she purchased, which will revert to the mortgage lender.
In pleading guilty, Okoh admitted that she submitted fraudulent documentation regarding her employment and salary in order to deceive Bank of America (BOA) into providing her with a $357,050 mortgage loan, which she used to purchase a property on Sixth Avenue in Newark.
The investigation revealed that on May 13, 2009, Okoh filed a verification of employment form with BOA that correctly indicated that she earned $47,562 as a family services worker for the Division of Welfare. However, the following day, Okoh filed a fraudulent verification of employment form with BOA, purportedly signed by an actual deputy director in the Division of Welfare, indicating that Okoh's salary was $63,375 and that she was a family service supervisor.
Okoh also submitted a fraudulent letter on county letterhead purportedly signed by the deputy director stating that the first form was incorrect because Okoh had recently been promoted and the county "systems" were not updated. The deputy director's signature was forged on the documents.
Okoh also filed a fraudulent direct deposit slip reflecting the higher salary. She listed her own work number as the number for the deputy director on the forms, and when a detective called saying he was from BOA, she impersonated the deputy director and verified the false information.
— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
