Scam on rye: The inside story of a $100 million deli fraud

Colleen Stepanian for BI

When their scandal broke on April 15, 2021, Paul Morina and James Patten had gone to the mat for each other for decades in a town where going to the mat is everything. They were in their 60s, friends since third grade. Above all, they were wrestlers — toughened and trained in Paulsboro, New Jersey, home to one of the most decorated high school wrestling programs in America.

This tight-knit, blue-collar enclave of 2 square miles has spent decades sweeping state...