Employee of a Federal Official Charged with Conspiracy to Falsely Report Violent Attack and Giving False Statements to Law Enforcement

CAMDEN, N.J. – A New Jersey woman was charged with conspiring and falsely reporting to law enforcement that she had been violently assaulted with a firearm due to her employment with a federal official, Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney Alina Habba announced.

Natalie Greene, 26, of Ocean City was charged with one count of conspiracy to convey false statements and hoaxes and one count of making false statements to federal law enforcement.  On November 19, 2025, Greene made her initial appearance in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal.  Greene was released on a $200,000 unsecured bond and additional conditions, as set by the Court.

According to statements made in court and documents filed in the case:

Late at night on July 23, 2025, Greene’s co-conspirator called 911 and reported that she and Greene had been attacked by three men when they were out walking on a trail at a nature preserve in Egg Harbor Township.  According to the co-conspirator, during the attack, the men had called Greene by name and had specifically referenced her employment with Federal Official 1, an official whose identity is known to the Government.   

When law enforcement officers located Greene, she was lying in a wooded area just off the trail, with her hands and feet bound together with black zip ties.  Greene’s shirt was pulled over her head and was also tied with a black zip tie. Greene had numerous lacerations on her face, neck, upper chest, and shoulder.  The words “TRUMP WHORE” were written on her stomach and the words “[Federal Official 1] IS RACIST” were written on her back.  Greene was crying and yelling that one of her alleged attackers had a gun.

Greene told police officers that one or more of the men who allegedly attacked her said he had a gun and threatened to shoot her.  Greene also said that one or more of the attackers had held her down and restrained her movement, cutting her and writing on her body. A couple days later, after receiving medical treatment for her lacerations, Greene again described her alleged attack to law enforcement officers, including an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The investigation revealed that Greene had not, in fact, been attacked by three men at gunpoint on July 23.  Instead, Greene had paid a body modification/scarification artist to deliberately cut the lacerations on her face, neck, upper chest, and shoulder, based on a pattern that she had provided beforehand.   Law enforcement officers recovered black zip ties in Greene’s car on the night of the alleged attack, similar to the zip ties that had been used to bind Greene’s arms and feet.  Also, the investigation revealed that, two days prior to the alleged attack, the cellphone of Greene’s co-conspirator had been used to search “zip ties near me.”

The count of conspiracy has a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and a term of 3 years of supervised release.  The count of false statements also has a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and a term of 3 years of supervised release. 

Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney Habba credited the following law enforcement agencies with the investigation:  special agents and Joint Terrorism Task Force Officers with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy; detectives with the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor William Reynolds; officers and detectives with the Egg Harbor Township Police Department, under the direction of Chief Marcella Aylwin; officers with the New Jersey State Police; and special agents with the Capitol Police.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick C. Askin and Sara A. Aliabadi in the Criminal Division in Camden, and James Donnelly of the Department of Justice National Security Division.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.                    

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Defense counsel: Louis M. Barbone, Jacobs & Barbone, P.A.