TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
that the former chief financial officer for
the Middlesex County Economic Opportunities
Corporation, a charitable nonprofit agency
funded with state and federal grants, pleaded
guilty today to stealing $51,000 from the
agency.
According
to Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni,
Claudia Grant, 79, of Perth Amboy, pleaded
guilty to an accusation charging her with
third-degree theft by deception before Superior
Court Judge Frederick P. DeVesa in Middlesex
County.
The
Middlesex County Economic Opportunities Corporation
(MCEOC) is a nonprofit agency which provides
funds and assistance to needy residents of
Middlesex County. It receives funding in the
form of various grants from federal and state
agencies for that purpose. Grant served as
chief financial officer of MCEOC from May
1971 to March 2006.
In
pleading guilty, Grant admitted that between
July 2004 and February 2005, she used her
position as chief financial officer to authorize
the payment by MCEOC of $99,106 to credit
card companies to pay off her personal credit
card debt. Of that amount, $48,000 represented
reimbursement of cash advances that Grant
made from her personal credit cards in order
to pay a premium bill to Aetna Inc. for health
care coverage for MCEOC employees. However,
there was no legitimate reason for payment
by MCEOC of the balance of $51,106 in personal
credit card debt of Grant. She admitted that
she stole that amount from the agency.
Grant
is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge DeVesa
on Feb. 22. Under the plea agreement, Grant
must pay full restitution to MCEOC of $51,106.
The state agreed to leave the sentence to
the discretion of the judge.
Detectives
Melissa Calkin and Lee Bailey investigated
for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau. Deputy Attorney General Steven J.
Zweig of the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau is prosecuting the case
and took the guilty plea. The investigation
started with a referral from the Department
of Community Affairs, which raised concerns
regarding financial problems at MCEOC and
the agency's use of grant funding.
Attorney
General Milgram noted that the Division of
Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau has established
a toll-free Corruption Tipline 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
The public can also log on to the Division’s
Web site www.njdcj.org
to confidentially report suspected wrongdoing.
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