Richard Doren has conducted from behind the scenes one of the biggest check cashing oper­ations in New Jersey-but his wife, Maureen Doren, is the licensee for the three Doren estab­lishments. These are Reliable Check Cashing Ser­vice, Inc., and Boulevard Check Cashing Service, Inc., both of Union City, and Passaic Check Cashing Service, Inc. Doren testified at a private session at the SCI that he and his wife have been in the check cashing business for a number of years, although he said he also is a construction contractor and a realtor. At the public hearing, however, he invoked his Fifth Amendment privi­lege against self-incrimination and refused to answer questions put to him by Counsel Gaal. The Commission thus was compelled to interrogate him, even in the face of his "same answer" refusal to testify, in order to put into the record significant sworn private testimony about a questionable $300,000 "loan" as well as about the manner in which New York gangsters wheeled and dealed with his check-casher entity. The questions in­dicated that one reason his wife became the licensee for his check cashing outlets was that he has a criminal record. Counsel Gaal tackled the $300,000 issue first, her questions depicting how Doren's friend, JohnBertoli of North Bergen, "loaned" him $300,000 without interest in the form of a check which the Commission utilized as an exhibit.* The testimony:

Q. Mr. Doren, you have previously testified before this Commission that John Bertoli, whom you identified as a friend and business associate, lent you $300,000 interest-free in the form of a $300,000 check which you believed reflected the proceeds of a [real estate] closing. Is that correct?
A. Same answer.

Q. You further testified that you deposited that check in your check cashing account as a loan, held it for a few months and then purchased a certificate of deposit in the name of John Bertoli to repay the loan. Is that cor­rect?
A. Same answer.

Q. Mr. Doren, would you please look at what has been marked as Exhibit C213?* Is this [an] enlargement of the check, front and back, that Mr. Bertoli gave you?
A. Same answer.
A. Please note the endorsement on the back of this check which reads "Diversico In­corporated, Diane Wahl, for deposit only. " Mr. Doren, isn't it true that Diane Wahl, who is John Bertoli's daughter, never signed that check?
A. Same answer.

Q. Was that endorsement or portions thereof placed on the check by you or at your direc­tion?
A. Same answer.

Q. Would you agree with us that by the nature of the endorsement, compounded by the lack of an identifiable check cashing endorsement stamp which Passaic Check Cashing routinely uses, one would assume looking at this check that it was deposited in an authorized corpor­ate account of Diversico Incorporated?
A. Same answer.

Q. A review of the records of Passaic Check Cashing does not reflect this transaction as a loan. Why not?
A. Same answer.

Q. A review of the records of Passaic Check Cashing reflects the $300,000 sitting un­touched in a non-interest-bearing account of Passaic or held as cash on hand for nine months. Is that true?
A. Same answer.

Q. After you received this check did you actually keep that quantity of money at the check cashing business over that period of time and why?
A. Same answer.

More Unanswered Questions

John Bertoli, a politically prominent North Bergen businessman, submitted unsubtantiated evidence to the SCI in support of a contention that he had included the $300,000 check loan to Doren in federal and state income tax returns. Nonethe­less, he refused to answer questions about the transaction, including the validity of the check itself, invoking his Fifth Amendment privilege. The unanswered questions alone, however, suggested his role in the deal. Although he testified after the interrogation of Doren was completed, his ap­pearance will be noted here, mid-way through Doren's testimony, in order to round out the $300,000 check incident. At the conclusion of her questioning of Bertoli, Counsel Gaal emphasized the importance of the issue by revealing that it had been referred for investigation to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the State Division of Taxa­tion. Counsel Gaal:

Q. Please look at the exhibit. * Have you seen this check before, Mr. Bertoli?
A. Same answer.

Q. Isn't it true that Diversico Incorporated is nothing more than a paper company?
A. Same answer.

Q. Was the check showing the endorsement, "Di­versico Incorporated, Diane Wahl, for deposit only," negotiated through Passaic Check Cashing Services?
A. Same answer.

Q. Were the proceeds of that $300,000 check de­picted in that exhibit reported for income tax purposes and were taxes paid on that amount?
A. Same answer.

Q. Did you receive any of the proceeds of the check depicted in this exhibit directly or in­directly?
A. Same answer.

MS. GAAL: Mr. Chairman, this matter has been referred, because of the amount of the check, to the New Jersey State Division of Taxation and the Internal Revenue Service for their investigation.

Doren Cashed Checks for Mob

Returning to Doren, whose wife was the state­licensed front for his check cashing empire, Coun­sel Gaal's next series of questions to the still silent witness reflected his check cashing activities on behalf of Genovese crime family members and associates:

Q. Do you know Joseph Pagano or his wife of Monsey, New York, and have you ever cashed checks for or on behalf of the Paganos?
A. Same answer.

Q. Isn't it true, sir, that during testimony before this Commission in private session you ident­ified Joseph Pagano as a customer and friend of yours, of the check cashing business, who cashed checks drawn on his wife's account?
A. Same answer.

Q. On January 23, 1987, and on February 6 of 1987, two checks made payable to cash total­ing $17,300 and drawn on the account of Joseph Pagano's wife were negotiated through Passaic Check Cashing. Do you recall these transactions?
A. Same answer.

Q. Isn't it also true that there are other Pagano checks that were cashed through Passaic?
A. Same answer. Doren next was confronted with surveillance photographs showing him in the company of such known New York mob figures as John Masiello, Jr., and Serafino (Sal) Basilone, at Doren's Passaic Check Cashing entity. Doren was asked:

Q. Does this photograph depict them on one day when Masiello brought a check for Pagano to be cashed?
A. Same answer. Doren was also asked about another mob figure whose check cashing needs he accommodated:

Q. Do you recognize the names Robert Ubriaco, [also known as] Bobby Bader or "Bobby Bumps, " or the New York corporation, Col­ossal Foods?
A. Same answer.

Q. During the second week of February in 1987, Passaic Check Cashing cashed $43,000 in checks made payable to the New York corpor­ation, Colossal Foods, its president, Robert Ubriaco or Bobby Bader, an alias used by Ubriaco. Do you know Mr. Ubriaco as being an associate or employee of [the] Joseph Pagano mentioned earlier?
A. Same answer.

Clients Identified as Mob Figures

During SCI Intelligence Chief Dintino's testi­mony, he unequivocally identified Pagano, Masiello, Basilone and Ubriaco as organized crime figures. Counsel Gaal prefaced her ques­tions to him with a summary of Doren's unsavory connections:

Q. [A] check cashing scenario that was testified [to] during this hearing involves Passaic Check Cashing Services, Incorporated. Richard Doren, the husband of the owner of record for the Passaic Check Cashing Services, In­corporated, has indicated to the Commission that a Mrs. Pagano, the wife of Joseph Pagano, or Joseph Pagano himself, both of Westchester County, New York, would call Passaic Check Cashing and advise Richard Doren that they were sending down a check or checks and they wanted those checks cashed and that John Masiello, Jr., would be picking up the cash. In addition to that testi­mony, Doren has been observed during photographic surveillances engaged in con­versations while walking outside his check cashing operation with two individuals ident­ified as John Masiello, Jr., and Serafino (Sal) Basilone. We also have heard testimony that Robert Ubriaco was noted to have cashed $43,000 in checks at Passaic Check Cashing Service in a one-week period either under the name Ubriaco, his alias, Bobby Bader, or a Congers, New York, [company] known as Col­ossal Foods, for which Ubriaco is listed as the corporate president. Do either John Masiello, Jr., or Serafino (Sal) Basilone mean anything to you and, if so, why?
A. John Masiello, Jr., is a criminal associate of the Genovese crime family. He has convictions for assault, grand larceny, extortion. He's cur­rently involved in gambling. Serafino (Sal) Basilone is also a criminal associate of the Genovese crime organization. He has a con­viction for conspiracy involving grand larceny.

Q. Do you know Joseph Pagano, Sr., of 287 Route 306, Westerly Hills, Monsey, New York; date of birth 8-28-28?
A. Joseph Pagano, Sr., is a capo in the Genovese crime family. He has convictions for bankruptcy fraud, narcotics, gambling and weapons offenses. He's currently involved in gambling and labor racketeering.

Q. Do you know Robert Ubriaco, who resides at 112 Laurder Lane, Monsey, New York; his date of birth 1-23-46?
A. Yes, I do. He also is an associate of the Geno­vese crime organization and he has been and still is a driver and bodyguard for capo Joseph Pagano. He has a conviction for narcotics of­fenses.

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