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Bergen prosecutor: Fort Lee man embezzled $220,000

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: White-collar crime detectives from Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli’s Office today charged a Fort Lee businessman with embezzling $220,000 from his now-former employer.

Photo Credit: Courtesy Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office

Basil Karatzas, 46, of Hilltop Court, formed his own company — Mytilana Holding Ltd. — while working for Compass Maritime Services, which Molinelli said specializes in the sale, purchase and valuations of ships and off shore vessels worldwide.

Karatzas, who’d worked as a ship appraiser for Compass Maritime since 2005, “fraudulently sent invoices for work payable to Mytilana Holding Ltd. that he had done on behalf of Compass Maritime Services,” the prosecutor said.

The more than 100 invoices paid $220,000, he said.

Karatzas was served with a summons ordering him to answer a single charge of theft by deception tomorrow in Bergen County Central Municipal Court. The case will be presented to a grand jury, Molinelli said.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office

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