California Woman Charged With $800,000 Fraud In Hanover Township
Thursday, December 5, 2024, 4:00 P.M. ET. 1 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
HANOVER TOWNSHIP, NJ.- On Wednesday, December 4, 2024, Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll reported that following an investigation, a 63-year-old Visalia, California, woman was taken into custody and charged in connection with a fraud that occurred in Hanover Township, New Jersey.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the warrant complaint alleges on July 27, 2023, Anna Marie Bustamante, 63, of Visalia, California, defrauded the victim out of $806,727.92 through a business email compromise, in which the defendant, via a bank account that was made to resemble the bank account of an authorized vendor.
On August 3, 2023, the victim realized they had been defrauded and quickly reported the incident to the Hanover Township Police Department. A joint investigation by the Hanover Township Police Department and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Financial Crimes Unit, with the assistance of California law enforcement, identified Bustamante as the perpetrator of the alleged fraud.
Accordingly, Bustamante was formally charged with second-degree Theft. She was taken into custody and remains detained in the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office in California, pending extradition to Morris County Correctional Facility, pending future court proceedings in Morris County Superior Court in Morristown, New Jersey.
“The rules of the court require us to include a statement that states: The charges outlined in this publication are merely accusations, and the defendant and or defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”
