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TRENTON
- A Trenton woman was indicted today on
charges she used a temporary placement in
a state job to steal identities and bank
account information which she used in schemes
to steal thousands of dollars in money and
services, Attorney General Anne Milgram
announced.
Rhonda
Coons, 51, of Trenton, was charged today
in a state grand jury indictment with a
series of thefts and attempted thefts in
which she allegedly used the personal identifying
information of two women and the bank account
information of three lawyers and one title
company.
Coons
allegedly stole the information while working
in a temporary placement as an administrative
assistant for the Department of Community
Affairs from April to November 2004. She
worked for a temporary employment agency,
Joule Staffing Services of Hamilton. Coons
worked for DCA’s Division of Housing
and handled closing documents for sales
of affordable housing units, which included
personal information of buyers and sellers,
along with bank account information for
lawyers and title companies involved in
the transactions.
The
indictment stems from an investigation by
the Division of Criminal Justice, Hamilton
Police Department, Freehold Township Police
Department, Bernardsville Police Department
and Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office
has multiple charges pending against Coons
in separate cases, including identify theft,
theft by deception and insurance fraud.
In
connection with the indictment obtained
today by the Division of Criminal Justice,
Coons allegedly used the personal identifying
information of one woman to obtain a credit
card over the Internet in October 2006 which
she used to make several thousand dollars
in charges. She made some partial payments
against the account, but left an unpaid
balance of approximately $2,782. She also
used the woman’s identity to open
an account in 2004 with Cingular Wireless,
through which she received approximately
$373 in telephone services for which payment
was not made.
Between
November 2006 and April 2007, Coons allegedly
used the bank account information for the
title company and the three lawyers in an
attempt to draw eight separate telephone
checks totaling approximately $3,890 from
the accounts to pay outstanding balances
on the fraudulent credit card. She also
allegedly tried to draw two telephone checks
totaling approximately $421 from the title
company account to make payments on her
personal Cablevision account. All of the
fraudulent telephone checks were discovered,
usually by the account holder, and the payments
were reversed by the banks.
Coons
allegedly used the personal identifying
information of the second woman to open
an account in 2004 with Verizon, through
which she obtained nearly $1,200 in telephone
services for which payment was not made.
The
investigation was conducted and coordinated
for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau by Detective Robert Stemmer and Deputy
Attorneys General David M. Fritch and Robert
Czepiel. Fritch and Czepiel presented the
case to the grand jury. Attorney General
Milgram thanked the Hamilton Police Department,
Freehold Township Police Department, Bernardsville
Police Department and Mercer County Prosecutor’s
Office for assisting in the investigation.
She also thanked the Department of Community
Affairs for its valuable assistance.
The
10-count state grand jury indictment charges
Coons with two counts of theft by deception
(3rd and 4th degree), making false statements
in procuring a credit card (4th degree),
fraudulent use of a credit card (3rd degree),
four counts of attempted theft by deception
(3rd degree), and two counts of identity
theft (3rd degree).
Third-degree
charges carry a maximum sentence of five
years in prison and a $15,000 fine, while
fourth-degree charges carry a maximum sentence
of 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendant is presumed innocent until proven
guilty.
The
indictment was handed up to Superior Court
Judge Gerald J. Council in Mercer County.
Coons
is being held in the Mercer County Jail
without bail for a violation of her probation
stemming from a 2006 theft charge.
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