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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that former Clayton Borough police
chief Frank Winters and his wife Bernice
Winters were indicted today by a state grand
jury for allegedly stealing more than $150,000
from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Their
alleged fraudulent scheme involved companies
they owned which were paid to supply promotional
items for MADD, but did not.
According
to Paw, Winters, 61, and his wife, 56, were
indicted today on charges of conspiracy
and theft by deception, both in the second
degree, and filing false and fraudulent
state income tax resident returns, a third-degree
crime. Second-degree crimes carry a sentence
of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of
up to $150,000, while third-degree crimes
carry a sentence of up to five years in
prison and a fine of up to $15,000.
The
Winters, who live in Newfield where Frank
Winters previously was a councilman, are
former leaders of MADD at the state and
local levels. Frank and Bernice Winters
are both former chairmen of the New Jersey
state chapter of MADD. Frank Winters also
served on the national board of directors.
He allegedly used his prominent position
to further the conspiracy and theft. Frank
Winters resigned as chief after he was charged
by complaint in this case on April 24.
“To
steal from a non-profit public service organization
dedicated to saving lives, as this couple
is alleged to have done, is outrageous,”
said Attorney General Milgram. “But
when you add that Frank Winters was a police
chief sworn to uphold the law, his actions
are an unconscionable violation of the public
trust and a betrayal of the people of the
state. We need to build a culture of integrity
in New Jersey and fight the kind of deceit
reflected in these charges.”
“Chief
Winters and his wife allegedly padded their
own bank account and paid for luxuries like
jewelry and travel with funds that should
have been used to advance the important
work of Mothers Against Drunk Driving,”
said Director Paw. “What makes it
even more disturbing is that they held leadership
positions in MADD and allegedly used them
to further their scheme.”
The
Winters were charged with conspiracy and
theft by deception for allegedly funneling
money raised by MADD to two companies they
owned, Holiday House and Lasting Impact,
which purportedly supplied promotional items
like pens and key chains. The Winters allegedly
tried to hide their ownership interest in
the companies, which they ran from their
home. Lasting Impact was represented to
be a subsidiary of Holiday House.
The
state alleges that the Winters appeared
to place orders on behalf of MADD to Holiday
House and Lasting Impact for promotional
items for local chapters, but in reality
the items were not ordered, purchased or
delivered. Frank Winters, as a state officer
for MADD, allegedly approved some of the
MADD check request forms for the false and
fictitious orders.
The
state charges that the Winters treated the
money from MADD which was received by Holiday
House and Lasting Impact as their own, depositing
money into their personal bank account and
using it to pay for their own personal debts
and expenses, such as their mortgage, car
payments, dinners, travel, jewelry, computer
equipment and furniture. The scheme allegedly
took place for nearly three years, from
July 2001 to June 2004.
It
is further alleged that the Winters filed
false or fraudulent New Jersey income tax
returns for the calendar years 2002, 2003
and 2004 by not reporting on the returns
the income that they derived from Holiday
House and Lasting Impact.
Attorney
General Milgram credited State Police Det.
Sgt. Glenn Pender, Lt. Miguel Cartagena
and Detective David Caracciolo in the Major
Crimes Unit for leading the investigation.
Deputy Attorney General Jill Mayer presented
the case to the grand jury. Gloucester County
Prosecutor Sean Dalton took over supervision
of day to day operations of the Clayton
Borough Police Department after Chief Winters’
was charged on April 24.
The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty. The indictment was handed up to
Superior Court Judge Linda R. Feinberg in
Mercer County. The case was assigned to
Superior Court in Gloucester County where
the Winters will be ordered to appear at
a later date to be arraigned on the charges.
>>
View
Indictment (183k pdf)
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The
Division of Criminal Justice - Special Prosecutions
Bureau has established a toll-free Corruption
Tipline for the public to report corruption,
financial crime and other illegal activities.
The statewide Corruption Tipline is 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
Additionally, the public can log on to the
Division of Criminal Justice Web site at
www.njdcj.org
to report suspected wrongdoing. All information
received through the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Tipline or Web page will
remain confidential.
MADD is a non-profit organization which
was founded in 1980 in California by mothers
whose children were killed by drunken drivers.
There are approximately 600 affiliates nationwide.
There are eight chapters in New Jersey.
MADD is a major organization in lobbying
for tougher anti-drunken driving laws, including
the national legislation which raised the
drinking age to 21 and decreased the drunken
driving limit to .08 percent blood alcohol
concentration.
Nearly 17,000 people are killed each year
and about 500,000 seriously injured in alcohol-
related traffic crashes, according to national
statistics. In New Jersey, approximately
one third of all traffic fatalities are
alcohol related. In 2005, the last year
in which statistics are available, 252 people
were killed in alcohol-related traffic accidents,
according to the Division of Highway Traffic
Safety. That represented 34 percent of all
traffic fatalities that year. In 2004, 224
people died in alcohol-related traffic accidents,
representing 31 percent of the total killed.
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