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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced today that a Hillside police officer
was indicted by a state grand jury for allegedly
conspiring with his former girlfriend to
steal funds from the Homelessness Prevention
Program administered by the state Department
of Community Affairs.
According
to Director Paw, Vitor “Victor”
Pedreiras, 30, of Hillside, allegedly conspired
with his ex-girlfriend and another woman
to submit four false applications for grants
under the program and to bribe a former
DCA administrator to process the applications,
which totaled $14,963. The administrator,
Robin Wheeler-Hicks, 48, of Elizabeth, has
pleaded guilty to stealing more than $866,000
from the Homelessness Prevention Program.
When the thefts were uncovered, Pedreiras
allegedly coached his girlfriend to lie
to state investigators.
The
state grand jury returned a 10-count indictment
charging Pedreiras with conspiracy (2nd
degree), bribery in official and political
matters (2nd degree), two counts of official
misconduct (both 2nd degree), theft by deception
(3rd degree), two counts of tampering with
public records or information (both 3rd
degree), falsifying records (4th degree),
witness tampering (3rd degree), and hindering
apprehension or prosecution (3rd degree).
“It’s
deeply disturbing that a police officer,
who took an oath to uphold the law and serve
the public, is alleged to have stolen from
a program designed to help some of our most
vulnerable citizens,” said Attorney
General Milgram.
“This
police officer had a duty to report this
fraudulent scheme, but instead he allegedly
joined in,” said Director Paw. “He
is now facing a number of serious charges.
We have already taken guilty pleas from
nine people in this investigation.”
The
Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) provides
grants to eligible individuals and families
who, through no fault of their own, are
in jeopardy of becoming homeless. It provides
money to pay rent to keep a family in a
current home, and provides applicants with
two months rent and security deposit for
a new residence if they have been forced
out of their home.
Pedreiras’
former girlfriend, Joana Pereira, 25, of
Newark, formerly known as Joana Rodrigues,
pleaded guilty on Feb. 21 to a charge of
third-degree theft by deception. Pereira,
a landlord, admitted she submitted four
fraudulent HPP applications totaling $14,963
with one of her tenants, Tashime Mitchell,
33, of Irvington, who shared the proceeds
with her.
Three
applications listed Joana Pereira as landlord
and listed as tenant either Mitchell or
a relative or acquaintance of one of the
women. The fourth listed Vitor Pedreiras
as landlord and a relative of his as the
tenant. It is alleged that Vitor Pedrerias
conspired in the filing of all four fraudulent
applications.
Second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a criminal fine of $150,000,
while third-degree crimes carry a maximum
of five years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
Fourth-degree crimes carry a sentence of
up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000
fine.
The
indictment, which was handed up late yesterday,
is merely an accusation and the defendant
is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The indictment was handed up in Superior
Court in Mercer County.
>>
View
Indictment (534k pdf) plug-in
Mitchell
and Renita Livingston, 33, of Hillside,
previously pleaded guilty to assisting Wheeler-Hicks
in submitting numerous false HPP applications.
Wheeler-Hicks was formerly the DCA-Union
County senior field representative who had
responsibility for processing HPP cases
in the county. Wheeler-Hicks pleaded guilty
last year to second-degree charges of bribery
and theft by deception, admitting she submitted
at least 428 false HPP applications totaling
$866,560. Her sentence is pending.
Mitchell
pleaded guilty to bribery and was sentenced
on Nov. 3, 2006 to five years in prison,
and Livingston pleaded guilty to conspiracy
and was sentenced on Dec. 15, 2006 to three
years in prison. Mitchell was ordered to
pay $29,000 in restitution, and Livingston,
$10,500.
Former
DCA employees Florence Glenn, 34, of Dover,
Del., and Clarice Patterson, 54, of Roselle,
pleaded guilty in the case to third-degree
official misconduct and were sentenced on
Aug. 4, 2006 to three years probation conditioned
on, among other things, payment of restitution
of $2,300 and $2,785, respectively.
On
Sept. 28, 2005, three others pleaded guilty
in the case:
- Carletta
Smith,
33, of Somerset, a former CPA, self-employed
landlord, and owner-of-record of four
corporations that pleaded guilty to official
misconduct in the case (C&C Financial
Group LLC, CCB Investments LLC, Jonah
Investment Group LLC, and 96 Eaton Place
LLC);
-
Monica Smith, 30, of
Spotswood; and
-
Lisa Smith Foster,
35, of Howell.
The
guilty pleas required those three defendants
to pay full restitution of $33,859 to the
DCA. At the time of the plea, Lisa Smith
Foster was admitted into PTI. Carletta Smith
forfeited her CPA license. The corporate
defendants forfeited $101,577. Monica Smith
received probation.
The
Department of Community Affairs alerted
the Division of Criminal Justice when program
officials uncovered questionable applications
and transactions involving the Homelessness
Prevention Program in Union County. The
DCA provided administrative resources and
investigative assistance to the Division
of Criminal Justice throughout the investigation.
The
case was presented to the state grand jury
by Deputy Attorney General Anthony Picione.
The investigation was conducted by State
Investigators Joseph Caloiaro, Rob Feriozzi,
Anthony Luyber and Kiersten Pentony; Civil
Investigator Wayne Cummings; New Jersey
State Police detectives Dustin Lesnever,
Gerald Nachurski and Gregory Shawaryn and
Analyst Alison Callery, assigned to the
Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Unit.
Attorney
General Milgram noted that the Division
of Criminal Justice has established a toll-free
Corruption Tipline for the public to confidentially
report corruption, financial crime and other
illegal activities: 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
The public also can confidentially report
suspected wrongdoing online at www.njdcj.org.
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