Sea Bright Man Arrested for Defrauding FEMA Housing Program

Efforts to crack down on Superstorm-related crimes leads to the arrest of a Sea Bright man. 51 year old William Nagle was charged today with defrauding FEMA out of more than $12-thousand dollars in Transitional Shelter Assistance grant money.

The Monmouth County Prosecutors office says the program paid for Nagle to stay at various hotels for 68 days from January 14th to March 23rd of 2013 despite having a certificate of occupancy to return to his personal residence on Dec 29th of 2012.

Nagle faces a third-degree theft by deception charge. He is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution on $5,000 bail with no 10 percent option as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Patricia Del Bueno Cleary.

Nagle's arrest is part of the ongoing operations of the Monmouth County Superstorm Sandy Fraud Task Force. Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni says "being a victim does not open the door to defraud the government in times of need. We can all pull together in times of crisis to help one another, but that combined effort to aid and assist comes with the understanding that no one will take advantage of the situation."

Nagle's apartment building at 4 Center St. in Sea Bright was damaged by flooding caused by Superstorm Sandy. The first floor of the apartment was flooded, the electrical service to the building was interrupted and the heat and hot water units for the building were damaged and needed to be replaced rendering his third floor apartment temporarily uninhabitable.

Nagle was provided in short-term lodging, due to the disaster-related damage, paid for with funds from FEMA's Transitional Shelter Assistance (TSA) program.

Since its launch in February, the Superstorm Sandy Fraud Task Force has opened approximately 112 investigations into complaints of unregistered contractors, reconstruction and home repair fraud, and other consumer-related problems. Of those 112 cases opened by the Task Force, about 20 have involved criminal or potentially criminal matters with the remaining cases mostly being handled by investigators from the State and County Consumer Affairs offices.

Monmouth County Superstorm Sandy Fraud Task Force was launched to address complaints arising from fraudulent reconstruction and home repair, charitable contribution or cyber-scams and other consumer-related issues.

Homeowners or citizens can report complaints to the Task Force webpage www.SandyFraud.com or call the hotline at (855) SANDY 39.

You can also visit the Task Force Command Center, located in the Bayshore Activity Center at Bayshore Waterfront Park, 719 Port Monmouth Road, in the Port Monmouth, New Jersey. Command Center hours are Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.