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TRENTON - Attorney General
Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director
Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced that Morris
County Tax Commissioner Anthony Crecco was
indicted today on charges he conspired to
steal $278,650 from his Elks Lodge to gamble
in Atlantic City and voted to award a county
contract to a software vendor with which he
had personal dealings.
The indictment also charges
that Crecco, 62, of East Hanover, rigged a
raffle to obtain a computer donated by the
same vendor, and underpaid state sales tax
on a Mercedes he bought from the vendor’s
chief executive officer, a friend, by underreporting
the price by $14,700.
The nine-count state grand
jury indictment, which charges Crecco with
official misconduct and theft, among other
crimes, is the result of an investigation
by the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption
Bureau and the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau.
“We charge that Mr.
Crecco betrayed county taxpayers by awarding
a lucrative public contract to a firm he was
connected to, and betrayed his fellow Elks
by stealing huge sums from them to gamble,”
said Attorney General Milgram. “We must
root out officials who place their own interests
before the public interest and the laws they
are sworn to uphold.”
“It is disturbing that
a tax commissioner would fail to pay hundreds
of dollars in sales tax,” said Director
Gramiccioni. “The detectives and analyst
assigned to this case worked in coordination
with our deputy attorney general to skillfully
follow the leads and uncover each of the crimes
charged in the indictment.”
According to Director Gramiccioni,
the indictment charges Crecco with conspiracy,
theft by failure to make required disposition
of property, and misapplication of entrusted
property, all in the second degree, for allegedly
conspiring with another member of the Florham
Park-Fairfield Elks Lodge, who was not charged
or named in the indictment, to steal approximately
$278,650 in lodge funds, which the men used
to gamble.
The money allegedly was used
to pay off “markers” in Atlantic
City casinos. Markers are lines of credit
that casinos offer to gamblers. The markers
were in Crecco’s name and were used
to cover the two men’s gambling debts.
In a single weekend in June 2007, the two
men allegedly misapplied over $101,000 in
Elks money to pay off markers in three casinos
and pay off a pawn
shop where the co-conspirator
had pawned property to pay off markers. When
markers were paid off, Crecco obtained new
markers, which were used to return the majority
of the money to the Elks lodge. However, the
men failed to repay thousands of dollars to
the Elks.
The other charges in the indictment
all relate to Crecco’s dealings with
a software vendor, Vital Communications, and
its chief executive officer.
A committee appointed by the
county tax administrator to evaluate contractors
voted in December 2004 to recommend that the
county accept a bid by Vital to supply software
to the tax board for $118,560. The county
freeholders approved the bid. As a member
of the evaluation committee, Crecco had a
duty to recuse himself from that request for
proposals because he was in the process of
negotiating with Vital’s CEO to buy
a Mercedes from him. Crecco allegedly violated
his duty by participating in the recommendation.
He voted for Vital, giving its bid a perfect
score.
The indictment further alleges
that he directed another committee member
to vote for Vital. Crecco was president of
the county tax board at the time. The indictment
charges Crecco with two counts of second-degree
official misconduct, one count for his own
vote and the second for pressuring the other
committee member to vote for Vital. Crecco
golfed with Vital’s CEO and had attended
his wedding in Las Vegas.
In connection with the raffle,
Crecco is charged with theft by unlawful taking
and rigging a publicly exhibited contest,
both third degree offenses. Vital Communications
donated a personal computer worth $1,200 for
a raffle on Sept. 3, 2004, at the annual conference
of the New Jersey Association of County Tax
Boards in Cape May. Crecco, who was president
of the association, allegedly entered the
name of another man in the raffle after the
man left the conference. Crecco allegedly
placed the man’s ticket on top of the
other tickets in the raffle box so it would
be selected. The man was unaware he had won,
and Crecco allegedly picked up the computer
from Vital’s headquarters after the
conference and kept it for his own use.
Crecco is charged with theft
by unlawful taking and purposely failing to
turn over sales tax, both in the third degree,
in connection with his failure to pay the
full sales tax due on his purchase of a car
from Vital’s CEO. Crecco paid the CEO
$28,700 in January 2005 to purchase a 1998
Mercedes Benz SL 600. However, in registering
the car with the Motor Vehicle Commission,
Crecco reported that he purchased the car
for $14,000. As a result, Crecco paid $840
in sales tax to the state when he actually
owed $1,722. He is charged with stealing the
$882 he failed to pay.
The investigation was conducted
and coordinated by Detective Deniele DeBoer,
Detective Sgt. 1st Class Bryant C. Hoar, Detective
Sgt. Geoffrey P. Forker and Detective Sgt.
Myles Cappiello of the New Jersey State Police
Official Corruption Bureau, and Analyst Allison
Callery and Deputy Attorney General Robert
Czepiel Jr. of the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau. Deputy Attorney General
Czepiel presented the case to the state grand
jury.
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 defendant is presumed innocent
until proven guilty.
The indictment was handed
up to Superior Court Judge Pedro J. Jimenez
Jr. in Mercer County,
who assigned the case to Morris County, where
Crecco will be ordered to appear at a later
date to answer the charges. The indictment
is linked to this release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
Attorney General Milgram noted that the Division
of Criminal Justice Corruption 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 page 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.
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