WCNYH

Warehouse Application Denied for Fraud, Deceit or Misrepresentation

October 23, 2018

The Waterfront Commission denied the application of James Guarino, 65, of Springfield, New Jersey, for a registration as a warehouseman following a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Guarino was sponsored for employment to perform warehouse labor by FAPS, Inc., a company that prepares foreign vehicles for delivery to dealerships.

The Commission alleged that Guarino committed fraud, deceit or misrepresentation by falsely denying on his Waterfront application that he knows anyone that he believes or knows is a member or associate of an organized crime group. The ALJ found that the Commission proved that Guarino knew or believed at the time he submitted his application that Vito Alberti and Ronald Reino, relations of Guarino’s wife, were members or associates of the mafia.

The ALJ also found that the Commission established that Guarino had committed fraud, deceit or misrepresentation in an interview under oath with the Commission in which Guarino: denied knowing anything about criminal allegations concerning Vito Alberti; denied knowing Ronald Reino; and, falsely claimed not to recognize the names and photographs of relations of his wife. In a subsequent interview with the Commission, Guarino admitted to knowing his wife’s relations and to having seen them at recent family gatherings. Based on the fraud, deceit or misrepresentations, the Commission also charged, and the ALJ held, that Guarino’s presence at the pier or other waterfront terminals in the Port of New York district would constitute a danger to the public peace or safety.

In determining the Commission had proven that Guarino had committed fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, the ALJ found that Guarino was aware that Vito Alberti had been charged with being a member of the mafia, despite Guarino’s denial in his Waterfront Commission application that he knew anyone who was reputed to be a member or associate of an organized crime group. Guarino’s knowledge of Vito Alberti’s reputed association with the mafia was based on his testimony that his wife had showed him a Facebook post from another family member which contained a chart showing photographs of a number of individuals, including Vito Alberti, who had been arrested in 2016 as part of “Operation Fistful,” in which the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office in cooperation with the Waterfront Commission, brought a Racketeering indictment against eleven alleged members and associates of the Genovese Crime Family who were reaping millions of dollars from loansharking, illegal check cashing, gambling and money laundering.

Based on the ALJ’s findings, the Commission followed the ALJ’s recommendation and denied Guarino’s application.