For years, former Lyndhurst resident Frederick Parisi has been raising money for the "9/11 Rescue Workers Foundation" and claims to be a rescue worker. His web of lies caught up to him at a fundraiser at the Waterfront Café in Carlstadt on March 29 when police arrested him on outstanding warrants.
"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, authorities said. 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 defrauding a former business partner in Jefferson, where he currently resides. A police investigation dating back to at least September revealed possible fraud relating to his charity.
O’Connor, who knew Parisi from his residency in Lyndhurst and his past employment with the Rutherford Police Department, entered the Waterfront Café on Saturday night to identify Parisi. "We had some contacts with him," said O’Connor.
Parisi was driving a vehicle that could easily be mistaken for an undercover police vehicle and carried a bogus New York City Police Department shield and ID card. New York police were notified and could bring him up on charges of impersonating a police officer and possessing fraudulent documents. "If he impersonated a police officer in New Jersey, we’ll be dealing with it here as well," said O’Connor.
Lyndhurst police have fielded phone calls relating to Parisi’s potentially fake charity. "We’re getting a lot of information about how Mr. Parisi operated," added O’Connor.
Parisi allegedly worked for eight different police departments in New Jersey and his claimed military and law enforcement employment records are being called into question. "He’s very savvy and he does his homework and he’s got the lingo down and he makes himself very believable," said O’Connor.
According to reports, Parisi continues to claim he was involved in 9/11 rescue efforts from jail.
Joni Forte, who organized the charity event at the Waterfront Café, looked into the 9/11 Rescue Workers Fund to make sure it was legitimate and found the organization was a legitimate 501c3 charity sanctioned by the Internal Revenue Service. "There was no reason to believe he wasn’t legitimate," said Forte.
Forte met Parisi several weeks ago, after she responded to an ad for an event organizer to assist with a motorcycle run from Hackensack to ground zero on May 10. The run is scheduled to move forward as planned with proceeds being directed to the Fealgood Foundation, a bona fide organization that benefits 9/11 rescue workers, instead of Parisi’s charity. "We weren’t going to let our efforts go to pot because we really wanted to help the rescue workers," said Forte.
In anticipation of the motorcycle run, Forte organized two separate music events. The first, which was stopped short at the Waterfront Café following Parisi’s arrest, featured entertainment and a mobile stage. The bands agreed to play for free.
Waterfront Café owner Jimmy Winand never met Parisi before the March 29 event and was not surprised to see police officers at his bar. "When the cops came in Saturday night, we thought they were coming to see the show. It’s a cop/fireman bar," said Winand.
Winand said Parisi collected $12 at the door and the Waterfront Café received no money from the event. "When we found this out, it shocked us all," he said. "The guy should be stoned. It’s horrible."
Parisi came with letters of recommendation and a sincere story, Winand added. "Everything was done professionally," he said.
Forte said she flyered every police and fire department in the Meadowlands area from Kearny to Carlstadt, noting that she was not the only person to be duped. "He went as far as to dupe the New York City cops," said Forte, noting that he trained to be a New York City Police Officer after leaving the Passaic police on bad terms.
She visited Parisi’s office to find the walls adorned with photographs of him with former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and actors from "The Sopranos." Fealgood Foundation founder Don Feal met Parisi in Washington, D.C. and found his story sincere, according to Forte. There, Feal watched Parisi speak in front of politicians, including Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich. "There was a new lie for each new person he met," she said.
Parisi is being held on $107,500 bail for two counts of theft and threatening a Jefferson Police Officer. While being arrested at the Waterfront Café, Parisi allegedly told a Jefferson detective he was going to kill him, according to O’Connor.
