Toms River man admits Sandy aid fraud, faces February sentencing

A Toms River man who admitted filing false information to collect $218,209 in federal and state Superstorm aid faces a year minus a day in the Ocean County Jail.

Gregory Wagner, 63, can expect probation afterward, and will be expected to pay the full amount in restitution, according to terms of his plea bargain issued by the office of acting New Jersey Attorney General John J. Hoffman.

He has a February 26 sentencing date.

Within his plea, Wagner admitted collecting in connection with a secondary house on Avalon Avenue in Bayville, which he used for rental purposes, while maintaining his primary residence in Toms River.

"Wagner lied repeatedly on applications for Sandy relief," Hoffman said in prepared comments. "He knew this critical aid was not meant for owners of income properties, yet he selfishly stole over $200,000 that should have gone to people left homeless by this catastrophic storm."

Investigators said that Wagner collected $31,900 in rental aid and property-loss compensation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); $159,822 in Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) grant funds and a $10,000 Homeowner Resettlement Program grant issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA); and $16,487 from two rent-subisdy programs financed through the New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS).

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) rejected Wagner's application for a low-interest disaster relief loan, investigators said.