An Edison resident and former Metuchen councilman was sentenced to more than two years in prison for conspiring with a mortgage broker to scam money from victims by telling them that they were being investigated by the IRS, according to authorities.
Thomas G. Frey, 55, of Edison, an attorney and certified public accountant, pleaded guilty in June 2013 to two counts of conspiracy to commit extortion under fear of economic harm and wire fraud.
The 27-month sentence was imposed April 25 by U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton federal court.
Frey — who served one term on the Metuchen council in the 1990s and ran for mayor in the borough in 2003 — conspired along with Millstone mortgage broker Robert G. Cusic, Jr. and an unnamed cohort to defraud four victims, including two police officers, according to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
Authorities said the trio lied to victims, convincing them that they were the subjects of criminal investigations, mostly by the IRS, in connection with investment properties that some of them owned. Further, Frey and Cusic falsely said that while Cusic was at a property formerly owned by one of the victims, he encountered two IRS special agents who purportedly questioned him extensively about some of the victims, according to authorities.
Frey fabricated a story to victims, claiming that he had ongoing communications and a relationship with one of the special agents, authorities said. He told the victims that if they paid up to $20,000 each, he would call the agent and have the so-called criminal tax investigation downgraded to an IRS “desk audit,” which is a civil matter, according to Fishman.
In addition, Frey and the unnamed conspirator told victims that if they did not retain Frey’s services and pay up, the investigations would likely result in arrest for some of the victims, authorities said.
Along with his prison term, Frey must undergo three years of supervised release and 300 hours of community service. He must also pay a $25,000 fine, as well as repaying the Criminal Justice Act funds expended on his behalf.
Cusic pleaded guilty Nov. 28, 2011, to conspiring with Frey to extort the victims. He is awaiting sentencing.