Story by Ethan
On May 17th, 2026, the arrest of Ibelis Gonzalez, age 46, was announced by New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport. Ibelis Gonzalez was charged with second-degree Theft by Deception, second-degree Impersonation/Theft of Identity, and third-degree Offenses Including False Government Documents. The arrest and charges against Ibelis Gonzalez were a result of an investigation handled by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
According to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, between the dates of May 14th, 2024, and June 10th, 2024, Ibelis Gonzalez entered several different bank branches in New Jersey under Citizen Bank. When visiting each bank branch the defendant allegedly presented false identification documents for each of the six victims in order to take out debit cards in their names. Ibelis Gonzalez then allegedly withdrew approximately $60,500 from the various Citizen Bank branches under the victims’ names in addition to ATM withdrawal transactions. The total amount of money allegedly stolen by the defendant was $86,840. On June 10th, 2024, Ibelis Gonzalez attempted to obtain another debit card under a victim’s name at a different Citizen Bank branch. However, bank employees contacted local law enforcement and officers from the Irvington Police Department responded to retrieve the identification the defendant was attempting to submit. The fraudulent identification in question had Ibelis Gonzalez’ photo on it paired with the name of one of the victims.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office stated that the charges against Ibelis Gonzalez are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
