Hilltown Township Police have charged a 37-year-old Bedminster Township man with stealing more than $33,000 in child support payments intended for his ex-wife’s juvenile sibling over a period of eight years.
Ryan Grossman, 37, of the 1000 block of Landis Rush Drive, was charged on May 27 with three felony counts of forgery, felony theft, felony dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, felony receiving stolen property, and tampering with records, according to a criminal affidavit, in connection with a multi-year investigation by the Hilltown Township Police Department.
According to the criminal complaint, Grossman’s ex-wife called police on Dec. 11, 2016 to report alleged fraud committed by Grossman. The woman told police that her mother died in August 2011, and she became executrix of her Ocean County, New Jersey estate. Following her mother’s death, the ex-wife became guardian to her then 13-year-old half-sister, according to the criminal complaint.
During that time, Grossman and his ex-wife were married and living together, police said, but later separated in July 2014. The ex-wife and her half-sister then moved to the 1100 block of Guava Court in Hilltown Township, Bucks County, police said.
In December 2016, the ex-wife discovered Grossman had allegedly been stealing child support payments that were intended for her half-sister, police said. The payments had been deposited into the checking accounts of the deceased mother between August 2011 and November 2016, and the ex-wife was unaware of the payments made for her half-sister, according to the report.
Grossman, police allege, accessed the mother’s estate account without permission or authorization. Police said Grossman was not assigned or appointed to the estate in the last will and testament or notarized letter of trusteeship.
Police said Grossman allegedly withdrew or transferred $24,000 in eight years, and neither his ex-wife nor her half-sister received the money. Additionally, police said Grossman accomplished the theft by forging Wells Fargo Bank forms and adding himself to the estate account as an executrix, as well as altering a copy of an Ocean County, NJ letter of trusteeship and short certificate.
Police obtained a copy of the check allegedly forged by Grossman for a certificate reissue, dated Dec. 18, 2013, which showed the ex-wife’s signature, police said. The signature the ex-wife gave police did not match the one on the documents, according to the complaint.
Police said Grossman’s name was not on the actual certificates or trusteeship filed with the county surrogate’s court. The bank forms that Grossman allegedly forged showed his name added below his ex-wife’s name as executrixes of the estate, police said.
In total, Grossman deposited $33,400 in child support payments into the bank account in the name of the deceased mother, the report states.
When questioned by police about the forged certificate in January 2017, Grossman reportedly replied “Do you want me to answer that,” the report states. He then told police he could not answer and did not remember, police said. Grossman then asked for his attorney, police said. After the attorney arrived, Grossman spoke in circles, police said, when asked about the withdrawals, allegedly stating that he and his ex-wife were making repairs to his mother-in-law’s house and there were various other expenses.
Police later discovered $42,565 in Social Security Administration payments — also intended for the woman’s half-sister — transferred from the Wells Fargo accounts to Capital One Bank accounts in the name of Grossman, between February 2012 and October 2016, police said. The ex-wife told police she was neither aware of nor received any Social Security benefits that had been paid to, or on behalf of, the half-sister, police said.
The investigation also uncovered that in September 2014, Grossman allegedly made a $25,000 payment in the form of a cashier’s check to Porsche Plano, and a $20,806 payment to Pentagon Federal Credit Union for a loan for a Porsche, according to the complaint.
To this date, police said, Grossman has not returned any of the child support funds that were intended for his ex-wife and her sibling, police said.
Following the conclusion of the investigation, charges were filed against Grossman. He was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Regina Armitage on May 27, who set bail at $500,000 unsecured. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on June 29 in front of Judge Armitage.
Prior to the recent charges being filed against Grossman, federal charges were filed against him in connection with the theft of the Social Security funds. Grossman pleaded guilty to theft of government funds in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in November 2018, police said.
His sentencing information for those charges is unavailable.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
See also:
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