NUTLEY —
Hollywood star Pamela Anderson bought a cell phone and a new line of cell service in Nutley on Dec. 13 — and somehow, she was nowhere near the township and had no idea she made the purchases.
And that’s all because an employee of a Franklin Ave. wireless company is alleged to have used her account information — and the accounts of lesser-known people — to open new cell phone lines using 10 iPhones and three Samsung Galaxy Android phones, according to the Nutley Police Department.
Police said Timothy Mangione, 39, of Union, an employee at the wireless store, bilked the store of $8,516 in total, a combination of the value of the phones and the phone lines he opened fraudulently, including one in the Anderson’s name.
Nutley Detective Tom Perrota charged Mangione with three counts of theft by deception for adding new cell lines and three counts of forgery.
Police said it was Anderson who brought the fraud to the attention of the wireless store’s owner.
Police continue to investigate, they said.
Mangione, meanwhile, was released on $10,000 bail with a 10% option, pending court.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.