A Florida resident made his initial appearance in Newark Federal Court after he was arrested last week in Miami, Fla., on charges that he used and affixed a fraudulently made Department of Justice seal on correspondence that he mailed to a luxury car company with corporate offices in New Jersey, while falsely representing that he was a federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced.
Paul Richard Johnson, 55, of Miami, Fla., is charged by complaint with fraudulent use of a government seal on a letter dated October 15, 2024, to an automotive manufacturer with corporate offices in New Jersey, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 506(a)(2). The defendant appeared yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge José R. Almonte in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Johnson, who had never been employed by the DOJ, began corresponding with an automobile manufacturer around July 2024 to resolve a dispute related to Johnson’s unpaid automobile lease. Due to the length of the delinquency, the automobile company had referred the matter to collections and wrote off Johnson’s debt, which ultimately resulted in Johnson receiving negative credit report entries. In his attempt to get the automobile manufacturer to take steps to repair his credit history, Johnson affixed the DOJ seal to letters he transmitted to the company.
For example, on or about July 11, 2024, Johnson sent a letter to the company’s corporate offices in central Ohio that featured the DOJ seal on the letterhead along with a heading of “US Department of Justice” and a subheading of “National Security Division.” Johnson wrote this letter to complain that the company had “reported me to all three credit bureaus for a loan write-off.” Further, Johnson wrote that “DOJ’s internal security team which monitors my, and other, personal information” had purportedly confirmed that the automobile manufacturer had reported a delinquency that led to the notification of the three credit bureaus. Johnson signed the letter, described his position as “Supervising Attorney, Criminal Division,” and listed a fraudulent DOJ e-mail address, despite never having been employed there.
Johnson sent at least two additional letters to the automobile manufacture’s Ohio headquarters in which he affixed the fraudulent DOJ seal and represented himself to be an “Assistant United States Attorney.”
Then, around October 15, 2024, Johnson wrote a fourth letter, this one directed to the automobile manufacturer’s corporate offices in Bergen County, New Jersey. As with the three earlier letters, Johnson used letterhead featuring the DOJ seal and referred to the “US Department of Justice” under which appeared the subheading “National Security Division.” Johnson rehashed many of the statements and requests from his earlier letters, but added, in the concluding paragraph, that “[i]f there is anything you can do to facilitate an alternative outcome, I can categorically state that your actions will be looked upon both favorably by me, including but not limited to, the 94 other US Attorneys’ offices.” Beneath his signature, Johnson listed his occupation as “Assistant United States Attorney,” and listed the same fake e-mail account purportedly with the DOJ.
The charge of fraudulently using a government seal is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
