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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a Paulsboro woman who formerly
worked as a local administrator of the New
Jersey Home Energy Assistance (HEA) Program
was indicted today with two men on charges
they stole $28,200 from the program by filing
fraudulent applications to obtain benefits.
Two
other women who were employed as local administrators
of the HEA Program previously pleaded guilty
to official misconduct in connection with
fraud involving the program and face or
have been sentenced to state prison sentences.
In addition, a heating oil supplier was
sentenced to prison as a result of the ongoing
investigations by the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Bureau, conducted with
assistance from the Department of Community
Affairs (DCA).
According
to Director Taylor, Denise Nicole Johnson,
36, of Paulsboro, was charged today in a
state grand jury indictment with official
misconduct (2nd degree). In addition, Johnson,
her boyfriend, Anthony Lamont Taylor, 34,
of Paulsboro, and her half-brother, , were charged with
theft by deception, misapplication of entrusted
property and property of government, financial
facilitation of criminal activity (money
laundering), tampering with public records
or information (all 3rd degree), and falsifying
records (4th degree).
“This
is the fourth case that we have filed in
the last twelve months as a result of our
ongoing investigations into fraud against
the New Jersey Home Energy Assistance Program,”
said Attorney General Dow. “By vigorously
investigating and prosecuting these cases,
we are working to prevent misappropriation
of taxpayer dollars and ensure that program
funds are used to heat the homes of vulnerable
residents who are rightful beneficiaries
of the program.”
“Through
the exemplary work of our investigators
and attorneys, we are continuing to follow
the evidence and build strong cases charging
fraud against this program,” said
Director Taylor.
Deputy
Attorneys General David M. Fritch and Robert
Czepiel presented the case to the grand
jury for the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau.
From
February 2005 through September 2006, Johnson
was employed as an HEA aide in the Paulsboro
Office of Tri-County Community Action, a
nonprofit contracted by the DCA to administer
the HEA program in Cumberland, Gloucester
and Salem counties.
Johnson,
Taylor and allegedly stole a total
of approximately $28,200 in HEA funds between
March 1, 2006 and August 31, 2009, during
and after Johnson’s employment at
Tri-County. The thefts involved 11 HEA applications,
which variously included false information
about the identities of applicants, where
the applicants resided, their dependents,
and household income. Johnson allegedly
received approximately $22,905 on nine applications.
It is alleged that Taylor received $2,648
on one application for which he submitted
false information, and also received
$2,648 on a single application for which
he submitted false information.
Johnson is charged with official misconduct
because, while employed by Tri-County Community
Action, she created two fraudulent applications
by entering false information into the DCA
benefits system which generated $2,924 in
fraudulent financial benefits for herself.
The
defendants allegedly accepted two-party
HEA benefit checks that were payable only
to individuals and their home heating suppliers.
The checks were to be used for the sole
purpose of procuring home heating fuel and
could be deposited only into the account
of a home heating supplier. However, the
defendants allegedly exchanged and cashed
the benefit checks through third parties
for cash or checks payable solely to each
of them individually.
It
is alleged that some of the HEA checks were
exchanged for cash or company checks from
Harris Fuel Oil of Paulsboro. Thomas J.
Harris, 66, of Woolwich, the owner and sole
proprietor of Harris Fuel Oil, pleaded guilty
on Aug. 10, 2009 in a related investigation
to second-degree charges of money laundering
and misapplication of entrusted property
and property of government. He admitted
that he defrauded the HEA Program of $400,000
by offering low-income beneficiaries of
the program cash for their state-issued
assistance checks instead of fuel to heat
their homes. He was sentenced to four years
in state prison on June 17 by Superior Court
Judge M. Christine Allen-Jackson in Gloucester
County. He was also ordered to pay restitution.
Today’s
indictment was handed up to Superior Court
Judge Pedro J.Jimenez, Jr., who assigned
the case to Gloucester County, where the
defendants will be ordered to appear in
court at a later date to answer the charges.
The indictment is posted with this release
at www.njpublicsafety.com.
Second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a $150,000 fine, while
third-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence
of five years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
Fourth-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence
of 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The indictment is merely an accusation and
the defendants are presumed innocent until
proven guilty.
In
related cases, , 24, of
Chester, Pa., was sentenced to five years
in state prison by Judge Allen-Jackson on
July 19, after pleading guilty to a charge
of second-degree official misconduct.
admitted she used her former position as
an HEA manager for Tri-County to process
false HEA applications for herself and five
family members, through which they obtained
$24,010 in benefits. The family members
were indicted with on Aug. 17,
2009 and also pleaded guilty. A third former
local HEA administrator, Nicole Victor,
37, of Paulsboro, pleaded guilty on July
19 to second-degree official misconduct
for defrauding the state program of $11,705
by filing false applications to obtain benefits
for herself. The state will also recommend
that Victor be sentenced to five years in
prison when she is sentenced on Oct. 15.
Victor, and ’s relatives
were all ordered to pay restitution.
The
investigations have been conducted and coordinated
for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau by Lt. Keith Lerner, Sgt. Robert
Ferriozzi, Detective Andrea Salvatini, Detective
Anthony Luyber, Deputy Chief of Detectives
Neal Cohen, Analyst Alison Callery and Deputy
Attorneys General Fritch and Czepiel.
The
HEA Program is administered by the Department
of Community Affairs and local agencies
contracted by the DCA. The HEA Program encompasses
two separate programs, the Low-Income Home
Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Universal
Service Fund Program (USF). The LIHEAP program
provides direct financial assistance to
beneficiaries in the form of payments to
utility companies and to fuel vendors to
help low-income households meet the cost
of home heating and medically necessary
cooling. The USF program assists such households
by providing credits against their natural
gas and electric bills. The Johnson,
and Victor cases involve both programs.
The Harris case involved the LIHEAP program.
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