Passaic County Man Admits Embezzling More Than $3 Million

NEWARK, N.J. – A Passaic County, New Jersey man admitted his role in embezzling approximately $3.2 million from a New Jersey couple, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.

Charles Gallo, 34, of Hawthorne, New Jersey pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Julien X. Neals in Newark federal court to an Information charging him with wire fraud.

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

In 2018, Gallo began working as the part-time personal assistant for the victims.  Gallo’s duties included managing the victims’ monthly bills and assisting them with banking, email, and other computer/technology-related issues.  From March 2022 through March 2023, Gallo, abused this position of trust by engaging in a fraudulent scheme to misappropriate approximately $3,200,000 from the victims’ accounts.  Gallo accomplished this fraud by routinely using the victims’ ATM card to withdraw large amounts of money, opening a line of credit, and cashing checks made payable to himself drawn on the victims’ bank accounts.  He also used the victims’ credit cards to purchase for his personal use computer equipment, gaming systems, collectible items from online retailers, and other unauthorized transactions.

The wire fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for September 10, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Habba credited postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark, under the direction of Christopher A. Nielsen, Philadelphia Division, and special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas Mahoney, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.  She also thanked the Ridgewood Police Department, under the direction of Chief Forest R. Lyons, and the Hawthorne Police Department under the direction of Chief James Knepper, for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shontae D. Gray of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.

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Defense counsel: Dennis S. Clearly, Esq., West Orange, New Jersey.