A staffer for New Jersey Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew staged an elaborate fake hate crime, paying a body modification artist $500 to cut her body with a scalpel, federal prosecutors allege.

Natalie Greene, 26, a Rutgers law student who worked as a constituent services representative, appeared in federal court on Wednesday, charged with conspiracy to convey false statements and making false statements to the FBI.

According to a criminal complaint posted at justice.gov, Greene drove to a Pennsylvania scarification studio on July 23, 2025, where she paid "Individual 1" to cut patterns into her face, neck, back, and shoulder following a design she provided. She then picked up an unnamed co-conspirator, drove to a New Jersey nature reserve, and called 911, claiming three men had attacked her

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