"Fred Parisi is just mired in questions and controversy," said Lyndhurst Police Chief James O’Connor, who helped lead the cavalry of police officers from Carlstadt, Lyndhurst, Jefferson Township and the Port Authority to Parisi.

Parisi, a former police officer in Rutherford, New York City and a half dozen other New Jersey towns, was never at ground zero on Sept. 11, but was training for the New York Police Department at Floyd Bennett Field. He claimed to suffer from a rare lung disease contracted from rescue work at ground zero and used the story to garner donations, according to news reports.

The event at the Waterfront Café on Paterson Plank Road was a charitable event to benefit the fund, which is currently under investigation for possible fraud. Parisi was arrested for his shady business dealings in Jefferson, where he currently resides. A police investigation dating back to at least November revealed possible fraud relating to his charity.

He is being held on $107,500 bail for two counts of theft and threatening a Jefferson Police Officer. Lyndhurst released a flyer requesting anyone with information on Parisi or the location of 9/11 Rescue Workers Foundation Donation boxes to call Detective Thomas McHale of the Port Authority Police at 973-792-7413 or Lyndhurst Sergeant Patrick Devlin at 201-939-2900, extension 273.