A Former Lyndhurst resident pleaded guilty to Federal, state and local charges for his role in multiple scams that include him posing as a U.S. Secret Service agent and as a disabled Sept. 11, 2001 rescue worker to donors of a "9/11 Rescue Workers Foundation" he founded. In March, Fredrick Parisi was arrested during a benefit at the Waterfront Café in Carlstadt.
On June 25, Parisi, 40, now a Jefferson resident pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Newark to impersonating a U.S. Secret Service agent and to using counterfeit U.S. Secret Service letterhead paper to deceive employers and others into believing that U.S. Auto Task Force, a vehicle recovery company he owned, was endorsed by the Secret Services.
Parisi faces sentencing on Sept. 30 on the federal charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark.
Parisi also faces charges for stealing $235,000 from his employer, Roy Jensen, of Berkshire Valley Custom Wood Design, where he worked as a salesman and bookkeeper. A Jefferson police report said that bank records for the business showed that Parisi was making cash withdrawals for personal expenditures from the business accounts.
On March 29, 2008 Parisi’s welter of lies and deception caught up with him at the Waterfront Café in Carlstadt when a cordon of police from Jefferson Township, Carlstadt, Lyndhurst, and the Port Authority converged upon him and arrested him on outstanding warrants, a Jefferson Township police report said.
On May 30, 2007, Jefferson police also had arrested Parisi for stealing $81,500 from one of Berkshire Valley Wood Design’s customers by billing for work he never delivered.
Jefferson Police Spokesman Lt. Eric Wilsusen said that the arrest was the result of a 15-month investigation by Jefferson Detective Joseph Kratzel, assisted by Detective Thomas McHale of the Port Authority NJ/NY Police.
New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram has ordered the State Division of Consumer Affairs to revoke the registration of the 9/11 Rescue Workers Foundation, which Parisi founded supposedly to raise money to help rescue workers who suffered health problems after working at Ground Zero.
The foundation must be shut down within 30 days.
A written report from the attorney general’s office said the provisional order of revocation would bar the "9/11 Rescue Workers Foundation, Inc." of Kinnelon from operating as a charity or soliciting donations in New Jersey. The order also would bar Frederick Parisi, the founder, president and trustee of the organization from serving on the board or working in certain positions for any charitable organization operating in New Jersey.
In addition, the State alleges that certain false statements were made on the organization’s initial registration form submitted in Aug. 2007.
The terms of the provisional order give the supposed charity the right to respond within 30 days. If no response is received, the provisional order will be completed and the charitable organization’s registration revoked.
Parisi remains in the Morris County Correctional Facility, a spokeswoman for the jail said. Bail is set at $200,000.
