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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a former office manager at
New Jersey City University in Jersey City
pleaded guilty today to helping her husband
steal $486,578 from the university’s
Student Government Organization.
According
to Director Taylor, Shaunette P. Ruffin-Moody,
48, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty to a
forgery charge before Superior Court Judge
Lourdes I. Santiago in Hudson County. The
Division of Criminal Justice obtained a
state grand jury indictment on Dec. 1, 2010
charging Ruffin-Moody and her husband, Alex
A. Moody, 51, in connection with the theft.
The state will recommend that Ruffin-Moody
be sentenced to three years in prison. She
will be permanently barred from public employment
as a result of the plea. Alex Moody pleaded
guilty to theft and was sentenced on May
3 to six years in prison by Judge Santiago.
The couple must pay full restitution of
$486,578.
Santiago
scheduled Ruffin-Moody to be sentenced on
Sept. 9. The state prison sentences will
run concurrently with federal prison sentences
imposed on the couple on April 26 as a result
of their guilty pleas to charges filed by
the U.S. Attorney’s Office related
to the theft. Ruffin-Moody was sentenced
to 18 months in federal prison, and Moody
was sentenced to six years in federal prison.
Deputy
Attorney General Perry Primavera prosecuted
the case and took the guilty plea today
for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau. The state charges stem from an investigation
by Detective Sgt. Geoffrey P. Forker, Detective
Mario DiRienzo, and the State Police Official
Corruption North Unit. The New Jersey State
Police arrested Shaunette Ruffin-Moody and
Alex Moody on state charges in late August
2010. They were subsequently charged by
federal authorities.
Ruffin-Moody
was office manager for the Student Government
Organization (SGO) at New Jersey City University.
The SGO is a non-profit organization funded
by student activity fees. 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
State Police investigation revealed that
from May 7, 2007 to July 8, 2010, Ruffin-Moody
issued 247 unauthorized checks totaling
about $486,578 from the SGO checking account
made payable to herself, her husband or
others. The defendants forged the signature
of the school’s associate dean of
students on most of the checks. 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 after the
suspicious checks were identified.
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