From NorthJersey.com:
Historic New Jersey mansion seized from fraudster is now listed for $33M
New Jersey’s historic Crocker Mansion in Mahwah was officially put back on the market this month after it was seized from a billionaire fraudster in 2023.
The 120-year-old estate at 675 Ramapo Valley Road is a 58-room, four-story brick palace that boasts nearly 50,000 square feet of living space on 12.5 acres along the Ramapo Mountains. It is privately listed for $33 million by Compass New Jersey agents Diane Cookson and Carl Gambino and the Fox & Stokes team.
Built between 1901 and 1907 by railway heir George Crocker, the property features 21 bedrooms, 29 bathrooms, a massive great hall and dining room, a library with gold leaf décor, marble staircases, an indoor spa and sauna, a tearoom, a billiards hall and a movie theater.
…
This listing comes after the lavish property was seized in April 2023 from its previous owner, Ho Wan Kwok — better known as Miles Guo — who was charged with masterminding an elaborate scheme in which he allegedly cheated thousands of online followers out of more than $1 billion. A 12-count indictment that was unsealed in federal court charged Guo and his financier, Kin Ming Je, or William Je, with bank fraud, money laundering, securities fraud and wire fraud.
Guo initially purchased the Crocker Mansion for $26 million in late December 2021, making it the priciest home to sell in all of New Jersey that year. The estate was just one of many pieces of property — including a 98-inch TV, a Bösendorfer grand piano and multiple high-end sports cars — as well as hundreds of millions of dollars that were seized by the federal government.
In July, a jury found him guilty on nine criminal fraud and conspiracy counts but acquitted him on three counts, according to Courthouse News Service.
Ho Ho Ho!!! I am first ya know!
“ It was not yet clear how Speaker Mike Johnson planned to proceed as the package, which was stuffed full of unrelated policy measures as well as tens of billions of dollars in disaster and agricultural aid, appeared to be hemorrhaging support. Some Republicans suggested he was mulling stripping the bill of everything but the spending extension and putting it to a vote, but the fate of such a measure was also very much in doubt.
The blowback from Republicans to the agreement underscored the complications top G.O.P. leaders will have to manage next year when they control all of Congress and face a president with a penchant for blowing up political compromises. It also showed the power of a circle of influential outside players in Mr. Trump’s orbit who appeared willing to punish Republicans if they failed to accede to his wishes.”
“Agriculture aid”
GOP loves socialism
re: “political compromise”
Nope more like accountability….
First few pages of the continuing resolution were to keep the government running for only a few more months where they will have to do it all over again.
The rest of the 1500 pages were garbage. Raises for Congress, A stadium for Washington DC, money for farmers, money for disaster aid, money for Ukraine. Break up these large Omnibus bills and vote on each one individually, after it comes out of committee. This is how the Congress was intended to operate. If they don’t like it vote them out.
It’s hard to get a view of that place from Ramapo Valley Road. The popular trail is across the road a bit. Man, that place gets packed on the weekends. Anyway, Mahwah has a plethora of high end houses up in that area.
The easiest way I have found to afford New Jersey is to move out of NJ. Of course I no longer have bragging rights that I pay very high propety taxes, nor can I talk about the numerous regulations and laws that strangle home owners.
Oklahoma, Mississippi, South Dakota are very affordable maga territories.
But NJ rightwingers love living in a blue state.
Chad Powers says:
December 19, 2024 at 7:25 am
The easiest way I have found to afford New Jersey is to move out of NJ. Of course I no longer have bragging rights that I pay very high propety taxes, nor can I talk about the numerous regulations and laws that strangle home owners.
Too bad Miles had to give up his Mar a Lago membership
Trump already saved Miles from extradition to china years ago. Apparently Steve Wynn hand delivered a note to Trump in 2017 that the Chinese wanted him.
$10 billion handout-Farmers voted maga so that Republicans stop giving them handouts?
Well they succeeded because Musk stopped the $10 billion Republicans added to the budget
Get it right at least? $10 billion on time payment to crop producers. These are the mostly giant corporation farm businesses who farm soy and corn.
The USDA will have 90 days after the bill becomes law to make one-time payments to a producer of an eligible commodity crop. The money would go to crop producers where the expected gross return per acre is less than the expected cost of production, the wholesale prices in markets were lower probably because of market speculation.
I have a feeling that within two years Trump and Musk will be feuding and namecalling.
USA needs to stop subsidizing these industrial crops. They’ve poisoned the entire food supply with them.
I’ve noticed all the moisturizer/shampoos are starting to swap in Sunflower/Canola oil into their products. It’s really pathetic. It reduced the cost by about a dime.
BRT
That reminds me. I ordered a 4 pound bag of black lentils and another of red lentils off amazon last night. Going to take college kid to an Indian supermarket and get a few other kinds of split peas and lentils and spices to make Ethiopian and Indian dishes. Trying to get the family to eat even less processed food.
It’s amazing how often when I’m buying green leaf vegetables at a grocery store the cashier doesn’t recognize spinach or collard greens, yet at Asian grocery stores with several times the variety of green veggies the cashiers can identify every one.
HMB, BRT
American cashiers generally have never cooked fresh vegetables in their lives.
Asian cashiers have.
A gift. From the State PoPo.
https://tinyurl.com/fa58347u
Ten 456
TRENTON—An investigation finds that New Jersey State Police troopers routinely gave preferential treatment to certain motorists who presented a courtesy card or asserted a personal connection to law enforcement—even when motorists were suspected of dangerous offenses, like drunk driving, according to a new report by the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller.
OSC’s Police Accountability Project reviewed body worn camera footage of 501 no-enforcement stops by New Jersey State Police–meaning stops where New Jersey State troopers did not issue tickets or make arrests. In 139 or 27 percent of these no-enforcement stops, motorists presented a courtesy card, claimed to have a friend or relative in law enforcement, or flashed a law enforcement badge and then were let go, OSC’s report said. In some cases, the trooper released the motorist immediately, offering some version of “you’re good.” The report found that courtesy cards are in wide usage and function as “accepted currency” by state troopers. (In all but one case, the troopers gave the courtesy card back to the motorist, enabling the card to be used again.)
Reviewing more than 50 hours of body worn camera footage of the stops, which took place over ten days in December 2022, OSC found that troopers regularly decided not to enforce motor vehicle laws after receiving a courtesy card or being told the driver has ties to law enforcement. For instance, one motorist, who was stopped for driving over 90 miles per hour, admitted to drinking alcohol but was let go without a sobriety test after he presented two cards. Another motorist was stopped for driving over 103 miles per hour and was released after she volunteered that her father was a lieutenant in a local police department. The most significant consequence the troopers imposed in these stops was advising the motorists that they had left a voicemail message for the law enforcement officer named on the courtesy card or invoked as a friend or relative. OSC has released video excerpts of the footage.
“Our investigation shows that some people are being given a free pass to violate serious traffic safety laws,” said Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh. “Law enforcement decisions should never depend on who you know, your family connections, or donations to police unions. Nepotism and favoritism undermine our laws and make our roads more dangerous.”
Overall, close to half of the 501 non-enforcement stops reviewed by OSC involved speeding, many for more than 20 miles per hour over the speed limit. In three stops, drivers stopped for reckless driving, careless driving, and/or speeding, also admitted to drinking alcohol, yet were released without being asked to step out of the car for a field sobriety test. Both drunk driving and speeding are major causes of traffic fatalities. According to data compiled by the New Jersey State Police Fatal Accident Investigation Unit, in 2022, New Jersey recorded 646 fatal collisions that resulted in 689 deaths or 1.89 fatalities per day. This was among the highest number of traffic-related deaths in New Jersey in the past 15 years.
OSC initiated this investigation in response to reports that law enforcement officers’ decisions not to enforce motor vehicle violations were influenced by improper factors, including courtesy cards. Courtesy cards, often referred to as PBA cards, FOP cards, or gold cards, are given out by police labor associations to law enforcement officers. They also can be purchased through “associate memberships” with police associations and are sold by private companies.
OSC’s investigation found that courtesy cards are widely used. In 87, or 17 percent, of the no-enforcement stops OSC reviewed, motorists presented courtesy cards that came from municipal police departments, county and state agencies, as well as inter-state and out-of-state law enforcement agencies. They all appeared to be equally effective at getting motorists released without enforcement.
Asserting a relationship with law enforcement appeared to carry equal weight, OSC found. In 52 or 10 percent of the no-enforcement stops reviewed, the driver or passengers did not present a courtesy card but claimed a connection to law enforcement, and the trooper decided to let them go. In 29 of those stops, the motorist or passenger identified themselves as current, retired, or in-training law enforcement officers. Other stops resulted in no enforcement when the drivers or passengers claimed a relative, friend, or neighbor worked in a law enforcement agency.
In one stop, a trooper said he stopped a motorist for driving 97 miles per hour. After an extended conversation about the “friends” they had in common, the trooper told the driver to “stay safe” and let him go. In another stop, a trooper performed a computerized look-up of the driver’s credentials and discovered the driver had an active warrant for his arrest. But when the driver’s friend introduced himself, letting the trooper know that he was also an off-duty trooper, the stopping trooper walked back to the motorist, apologized for stopping him, and let him go without even mentioning the warrant. OSC was unable to determine from the footage what the warrant was for.
Other findings include:
Providing preferential treatment to motorists who present courtesy cards or assert close personal relationships with law enforcement appears to have a discriminatory impact. Of the 87 courtesy cards observed in the sample, for instance, 69 were presented by White drivers.
Even when courtesy cards were not present, racial disparities were observed in the sample. New Jersey State Police policy requires troopers to request all three driving credentials (license, registration, proof of insurance) when making motor vehicle stops, but OSC found overall, White and Asian drivers were less likely to have all three of their credentials requested and verified when compared to Black and Hispanic/LatinX drivers. Additionally, troopers conducted computerized lookups of Hispanic/LatinX drivers 65 percent of the time, while looking up White drivers only 34 percent of the time.
In many stops, OSC was unable to ascertain why the troopers made the decision not to enforce motor vehicle violations because of the quality of the video footage or other factors. Still, OSC observed several of those stops involved dangerous offenses, underscoring the importance of reviewing no-enforcement motor vehicle stops, which are not routinely reviewed.
OSC made 11 recommendations, including that New Jersey State Police regularly review no-enforcement stops to better understand racial/ethnic trends in motor vehicle data and determine if additional training is needed. OSC also recommended that the Attorney General consider issuing a directive that would explicitly prohibit law enforcement officers from giving preferential treatment to motorists because of their ties to law enforcement or possession of courtesy cards.
My cousin was pulled over doing 85 in a 25 on Washington Ave in Bergenfield, DWI. Uncle’s on the force there. They still let him drive home. I have a bunch of cards, one gold, but I never have to actually use them because I don’t drive like a moron.
Just a good ol’ boy, never meaning no harm……
PATERSON, NJ — A Passaic County grand jury indicted three Paterson police officers on charges that they failed to properly investigate a New York City police captain after finding a bleeding, bruised woman in his car.
Juan Cruz-Fernandez, Giuseppe Ciarla, and Jason Schmid all face charges of official misconduct, conspiracy to commit official misconduct, and hindering apprehension.
The officers were charged with failing to properly investigate Hariton Marachilian, an NYPD captain, upon finding the woman with “visible injuries to her face” during a domestic assault call.
Officials said Marachilian seriously injured the woman after he kidnapped and assaulted her in December of 2022; he was charged a year after the incident. The three officers are accused of letting him drive away without getting any medical help for the woman, according to northjersey.com.
All three officers were suspended without pay in the spring. Paterson’s PBA is planning to fight the indictments, president Angel Jimenez told northjersey
btw, it’s hilarious they needed an “investigation” to report this
BRT
It’s not just traffic stops. It’s domestics, and everything else.
Biden releasing his son, and those creepy judges from Kids for Cash.
America is rotten to the core. Everyone who carries those cards are expecting a favor when they pull them out. It’s not just the PoPo, it’s also those that expect the favor.
Again, I mentioned these get out of jail free cards ages ago here. I give to the damn FOP and I never got one. Though, I too have had no tickets in the state of NJ in nearly 30 years.
One would think that the use of those PBA cards would be not only illegal but the height of being unethical especially since the police are (supposed to be, on paper!) part of the justice and legal system.
New Jersey is the most corrupt state in the nation. How do you think we got so expensive?
to be fair, those cards only work in NY/NJ. If you try pulling that crap out elsewhere, the cops will ticket another cop. Professional courtesy outside NY/NJ is viewed as, you show me professional courtesy by not speeding on my road.
They work in PA too. Both brother in laws are / were troopers. Got me out of a ticket n PA but not OH.
BREAKING NEWS!
Amid the uproar over the spending bill, some are suggesting it’s time for a new House speaker.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, suggested on X that Republicans should replace Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., with Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, who will head President-Elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency.
Elon just became the most powerful person in Washington, D.C., today,” social media influencer Wall Street Mav told The Daily Signal. “He proved he can flip enough votes in Congress to halt a spending bill.”
Elect a clown, expect a circus.