Who’s in Control Here? Anatomy of a Bank Infrastructure’s Failure

A prominent Woodbridge, N.J., attorney, who served as the town’s municipal counselor, had been missing for more than 24 hours. Stephen J. Domenichetti had vanished on July 7, 1994, just hours before he was scheduled to surrender to police on charges of defrauding a local savings bank of $8.4 million in a mortgage loan scheme. When he failed to turn himself in that afternoon as promised, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The next day, traffic was streaming by the Cheesequake Rest Area on the Garden State Parkway. It seemed like everyone was trying to get an early start to the Jersey shore for the weekend. At about 3:45 p.m., a motorist called police after spotting a middle-aged man slumped over inside a late model Mercedes parked in the rest area’s commuter lot. The man turned out to be Domenichetti, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. With this act he put an end to an incredible four-year scheme, which apparently provided a very comfortable lifestyle and fed his gambling addiction. (He was known to be a frequent visitor and high roller at the casinos in nearby Atlantic City.)