Larry’s Lawyer Exposes Ties to Criminals

In a media release by Mayor Sacco and other town officials on July 10th, information was released in the form of court documents connecting Larry Wainstein with two known criminals. What is more interesting is that this issue was brought to light by Wainstein’s own lawyer, Mario Blanch.

Joe Mocco, a former North Bergen Township Clerk, was brought in front of court in 2004 for voter fraud. According to the document from the court, Mocco had been proven to have steamed open and altered mail-in ballots along with others he had gotten a hold of to help.

In fact, the document continues to state, through a participant’s testimony, that this had happened within Mocco’s own home, in his kitchen. Beyond his political crimes as a former Clerk, he had been indicted for an alleged conspiracy to dump solid waste generated in New York in multiple places in New Jersey.

Ryan Young, who was also known as “Richard Cullen”, was brought to court in 2017 for federal charges concerning his mail fraud scheme from around November 2011 to September 2016. Young and a co-conspirator (whose identity was not specified in the documents) worked through foreign and domestic shell companies to cover up their involvement in the fraud. Another unidentified co-conspirator was paid to create solicitations that informed the victims that they had won money or other prizes (including but not limited to luxury vehicles), which these victims usually believed. Young’s “business” mostly targeted the elderly in the US and abroad, stating they needed to pay a small fee (between $20-$30) in order to receive their prizes. This garnered over $50 million dollars alone. None of the victims received prizes or compensation through the campaign, and their money went into money processing companies which distributed the funds as Young pleased. As the documentation states, Young had pled guilty to the federal charges placed on him.

Blanch had motioned to withdraw as counsel on a case involving Wainstein on June 18th, 2019. His motion is in the form of a document recounting the reasoning for his request, which also serves as the greatest proof of Wainstein’s collaboration with Mocco and Young. The sixth point in this document states “On or about June 13, 2019, Plaintiff [Diana Ortiz] came to the office of the undersigned [Mario M. Blanch, Esq.] accompanied by Mr. Joseph Mocco and Mr. Ryan Young to discuss various pending matters.” Diana Ortiz was Wainstein’s running mate in the most recent election; most of the conversations within the document had actually taken place between Wainstein and Blanch, as the former was the “point person” between Blanch and Ortiz. This information acts as proof to Wainstein’s involvement with Mocco and Young.

Later in this document, Blanch states that the attorney/client relationship had broken down between him and Ortiz, and around June 19th this year, both Ortiz and Wainstein demanded their files from the attorney. Blanch states that all of the enclosed information was true, as if it was not, he would have a punishment on his hands.

Mayor Sacco believes that the reason for the conspiration with such people as Mocco and Young was to victimize the whole of North Bergen, had Wainstein won the elections. “Thankfully,” Sacco wrote, “the people of North Bergen saw right through Wainstein’s lies and rejected him overwhelmingly this past May, and that decision has now been proven right once again.”