| TRENTON
– Attorney General Stuart Rabner and
Division of Criminal Justice Director Gregory
A. Paw announced that a former judiciary
clerk for the State of New Jersey was indicted
today for allegedly using her access to
state computers to falsify court records
in an attempt to avoid paying a judgment
filed against her and her husband.
According
to Director Paw, Barbara Nieves, 37, of
Browns Mills, was indicted by a state grand
jury on a second-degree charge of official
misconduct and a third-degree charge of
tampering with public records or information.
The
indictment alleges that Nieves, on Feb.
21 and March19, 2003, while working as a
judiciary clerk at the Ocean County Courthouse,
entered the computer record system of the
Administrative Office of the Courts to access
and alter court records related to the judgment
to make it appear that it had been paid
off.
Nieves
and her husband pleaded guilty to welfare
fraud in 1995 and were ordered as part of
their sentence to pay $3,485 in restitution
to the Burlington County Board of Social
Services. At the time that Nieves allegedly
altered the court records, there was a $3,300
unpaid balance on the judgment. An investigation
by the Division of Criminal Justice determined
that Nieves allegedly altered two documents
to indicate that the judgment was satisfied,
and subsequently deleted one document related
to the judgment from the database.
“For
a judiciary clerk to fraudulently alter
documents on file with the courts, as alleged
in this indictment, is a serious breach
of the law and the public trust placed in
her,” said Attorney General Rabner.
“The public must be able to rely on
the integrity of court records.”
“The
indictment alleges that this defendant used
her public office to commit a new fraud
in order to avoid paying the debt for a
prior act of criminal fraud,” said
Director Paw. “We have no tolerance
for public officials who engage in this
type of corrupt activity.”
Nieves
worked as a clerk for the state courts in
Ocean County from 2002 to 2004, and in Mercer
County from 2004 to May 2006, when she was
suspended without pay for allegedly falsifying
her employment application for Mercer County.
She subsequently agreed to be terminated
and to be barred from future employment
with the New Jersey Judiciary.
Second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a criminal fine of $150,000,
and third-degree crimes carry a maximum
sentence of five years in prison and a fine
of $15,000. The indictment is merely an
accusation and the defendant is presumed
innocent until proven guilty.
The
indictment was handed up today in Superior
Court in Mercer County. It will be assigned
to Ocean County, where the defendant will
be ordered to appear at a later date to
answer the charges.
Attorney
General Rabner credited the Administrative
Office of the Courts, which conducted an
initial investigation and referred the matter
to the Division of Criminal Justice. He
also credited Detective Dustin Lesnever
of the New Jersey State Police, who investigated
for the Division of Criminal Justice with
assistance from State Investigator Kiersten
Pentony. Supervising Deputy Attorney General
Jennifer Gottschalk presented the case to
the grand jury.
Attorney
General Rabner and Director Paw noted that
the Division of Criminal Justice - Special
Prosecutions Bureau has established a toll-free
Corruption Tipline for the public to report
corruption, financial crime and other illegal
activities. The statewide Corruption Tipline
is 1-866-TIPS-4CJ. Additionally,
the public can log on to the Division of
Criminal Justice Web site at www.njdcj.org
to report suspected wrongdoing. All information
received through the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Tipline or Web page will
remain confidential.
|
