Two individuals have been charged in connection with a business email compromise scheme that defrauded a Trenton small business owner out of $150,000, Mercer County Prosecutor Janetta D. Marbrey announced Tuesday.
Marijane Reilly, 69, of Marietta, New York, and Glenn James Stenzel, 64, of Granbury, Texas, were each charged with one count of second-degree theft of property lost, mislaid or delivered by mistake. If convicted, they face five to 10 years in state prison and fines of up to $150,000.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the fraud was first reported in August 2024, when the business owner realized a wire transfer intended for a legitimate recipient had been fraudulently diverted to an unauthorized bank account.
An investigation led by Det. Michael Smith of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office Cyber Crimes Task Force traced the funds to a Key Bank account controlled by Reilly.
From there, investigators determined that Reilly disbursed most of the funds via official checks to Stenzel. Surveillance footage and bank records confirmed Reilly accessed the account in New York and transferred the bulk of the money to Stenzel in Texas.
Authorities were able to preserve approximately $30,000 that remained in one of the accounts at the time of the investigation, pending legal proceedings.
The investigation involved the issuance of numerous subpoenas, search warrants and court orders to banks and internet service providers.
Marbrey credited Smith’s forensic and financial tracing work with leading to the rare identification of suspects in what is often a faceless crime.
“This case highlights the growing threat of cyber-enabled financial crimes and the importance of law enforcement collaboration across jurisdictions,” Marbrey said in a statement.
“Detective Smith’s diligent work led to the rare identification and charging of suspects in what is typically a faceless cybercrime,” she said.
The case involved assistance from the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office and the Collin County Sheriff’s Office in Texas. The investigation remains ongoing as authorities work to identify the individuals responsible for initiating the cyberattack.
Anyone who believes they may be a victim of an internet-based financial crime is encouraged to contact local law enforcement and submit a report to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov, the FBI’s central hub for cybercrime reporting.
Despite having been charged, all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
