TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that the Division of Criminal
Justice today obtained an indictment charging
a suspended office manager at New Jersey
City University and her husband with stealing
approximately $485,000 in student funds.
According
Director Taylor, the state grand jury indictment
charges Shaunette P. Ruffin-Moody, 48, and
Alex A. Moody, 51, of Jersey City, with
conspiracy, official misconduct and theft
by deception, all in the second degree,
and forgery, a third-degree crime. The New
Jersey State Police arrested Ruffin-Moody
on Aug. 27 and her husband on Aug. 30 in
connection with the alleged theft of funds
from the Student Government Organization
(SGO) at New Jersey City University.
The
indictment alleges that between May 7, 2007
and July 8, 2010, Ruffin-Moody, who was
office manager for the SGO, issued 247 unauthorized
checks totaling approximately $485,000 from
the SGO checking account made payable to
herself, her husband or others. The defendants
allegedly forged the signature of the school’s
associate dean of students on most of the
checks.
The
SGO is a non-profit organization funded
by student activity fees charged to students.
About $600,000 is deposited into the SGO
checking account annually. Ruffin-Moody’s
salary and benefits are paid from the funds,
but most of the budget is used to fund student
athletics and other student activities.
As part of her duties, Ruffin-Moody filled
out payment vouchers to have SGO checks
issued. The vouchers and checks had to be
validated and signed by other university
officials. The unauthorized checks were
discovered in July 2010, after several SGO
checks bounced and Ruffin-Moody reported
that the SGO had exceeded its budget. She
was suspended without pay from her job as
office manager after the suspicious checks
were identified.
Deputy
Attorney General Perry Primavera presented
the case to the grand jury for the Division
of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau. The
indictment stems from an investigation by
Detective Sgt. Geoffrey P. Forker, Detective
Mario DiRienzo, and the State Police Official
Corruption North Unit.
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.
The indictment is merely an accusation and
the defendants are presumed innocent until
proven guilty. The indictment was handed
up in Superior Court in Mercer County, but
assigned to Hudson County.
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