TRENTON – Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy announced that a Georgia man pleaded guilty today to stealing $100,000 from an investor in Burlington County, N.J., by promising him a million-dollar return on a fictitious investment in a gold importing business.
Maurice “JR” Johnson, 62, whose last known address is Lithonia, Georgia, pleaded guilty today to a charge of second-degree theft by deception before Superior Court Judge Terrence R. Cook in Burlington County. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Johnson be sentenced to three years in state prison. He will be required to pay full restitution to the victim, who is a resident of Edgewater Park, N.J. Johnson remains lodged in the Burlington County Jail pending sentencing. Judge Cook scheduled Johnson for sentencing on July 22.
Deputy Attorney General William N. Conlow took the guilty plea for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau.
“Johnson is a con artist who repaid this investor’s trust by stealing $100,000 from him,” said Acting Attorney General Lougy. “This defendant was all glitter and no gold.”
“We work diligently to uncover fraudulent investment schemes and protect New Jersey residents when they invest their hard-earned money,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “We want to ensure that white collar crime does not pay.”
The investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice revealed that Johnson promised the victim a huge profit through a short-term investment with Johnson’s purported gold importing business, Landview Gold, LLC. Johnson represented that he was importing gold from the West African nation of Ghana. The victim was instructed that if he made an initial investment of $100,000, he would receive a return of $1 million in just 15 days. Johnson showed the victim several documents that purported to be from customs officials in Ghana. Johnson also presented a false invoice that appeared to document a sale of gold by Landview Gold to a legitimate company that trades in gold. Investigators contacted the legitimate company, which confirmed that the invoice was a forgery.
The victim wired $100,000 to Johnson on Aug. 8, 2013. Johnson never paid any return to the victim on his investment, and within a few months, the victim realized he had been defrauded. When the victim called Johnson repeatedly to complain, Johnson made excuses, claiming that there were delays related to Ghana customs authorities, travel, and arranging the “closing.” In pleading guilty, Johnson admitted that he never invested the victim’s money and instead used it for personal expenses.
Deputy Attorney General Conlow, Detective Richard Loufik, and Analyst Alison Callery investigated the case for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau. Special Agent Nicholas Tranchitella of ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Cherry Hill assisted in the investigation.
Johnson was arrested by Georgia authorities in April 2015 for stealing $20,000 from a resident of that state through the fraudulent gold importing scheme involving Landview Gold. He pleaded guilty to a theft charge there and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 10 years of probation.
Acting Attorney General Lougy and Director Honig noted that the Division of Criminal Justice has established a toll-free tip line 1-866-TIPS-4CJ for the public to confidentially report fraud, corruption and other illegal activities. The public also can log on to the Division’s webpage at www.njdcj.org to report suspected wrongdoing confidentially.
