A local couple hired a part-time personal assistant who later stole roughly $3.2 million from them, prosecutors say. Federal prosecutors identified the aide as Charles Gallo.
According to nj.com, the family hired Gallo in 2018 as a personal assistant to a local couple. During the alleged scheme, he withdrew cash from their ATM card, cashed checks made out to himself, opened a line of credit in their names, and made unauthorized charges on their credit cards. He also used funds from the couple’s bank accounts to pay card balances.
Justia Law cites court records filed in the Southern District of New York in a lawsuit involving the couple and banks. Daily Voice reported that Gallo’s theft spanned March 2022 to March 2023 and involved unauthorized credit-card purchases, ATM withdrawals, checks, and a line of credit.
Library Job Doubled as Cover
At the time of the fraud, Gallo also worked as a technology administrator at the Ridgewood Public Library. According to Daily Voice, he shipped fraudulently ordered merchandise to the library and his Hawthorne home. He ordered computer equipment, gaming systems, and collectibles online.
The same court documents reported by Daily Voice reveal that Gallo generated more than $2 million of the total loss through a single web-based payment account linked to the elderly victims’ credit cards.
Guilty Plea
Gallo was arrested in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He later pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud on May 2, 2025, in Newark federal court.
Bernstein Family Turns to the Banks
A federal civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, case number 1:24-cv-03552, names JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America as defendants, per Justia Law. The complaint included negligence and Truth in Lending Act claims, but on March 28, 2025, the court dismissed the Truth in Lending Act and negligent-misrepresentation claims; only the General Business Law claim survived among the claims addressed in the opinion.
The alleged fraud resulted in substantial losses to the couple.
Questions About Financial Institutions’ Responsibilities
The lawsuit raises questions about financial institutions’ responsibilities when customers face unauthorized transactions.
Questions about financial institutions’ responsibilities when customers face unauthorized transactions are part of the broader discussion. It’s a dynamic playing out against a grim national backdrop: Americans aged 60 and older reported $7.75 billion in fraud losses across more than 201,000 complaints in 2025, a 59% jump over the previous year, according to FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center data cited by TechEase. This case illustrates the broader risks of financial exploitation.
The case underscores the importance of safeguards against financial exploitation. The General Business Law claim survived the court’s ruling, leaving the dispute focused on the banks’ alleged role in the losses.
