TRENTON
– Acting Attorney General Ricardo Solano
Jr. and Division of Criminal Justice Director
Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced that a Newark
woman pleaded guilty today to assisting a
former employee of the City of Newark in a
conspiracy to steal hundreds of thousands
of dollars from the federally funded Women,
Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program
by means of fraudulent vouchers.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, Veronica Anderson,
51, of Newark, pleaded guilty to a charge
of third-degree receiving stolen property
before Superior Court Judge Michael A. Petrolle
in Essex County. Under the plea agreement,
the state will recommend that Anderson be
sentenced to a term of probation.
Deputy
Attorney General Michael A. Monahan took the
guilty plea for the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau. Judge Petrolle scheduled
Anderson’s sentencing for March 3.
In
pleading guilty, Anderson admitted that she
assisted Charles Brown, a former senior clerk
for the Newark WIC Program, in the distribution
of fraudulent vouchers. Brown did not have
a car or driver’s license, and Anderson,
who did, would drive Brown to distribute the
vouchers. She admitted that Brown paid her
between $100 and $200 each time she drove
him.
An
ongoing investigation by the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Bureau revealed that between
Dec. 1, 2005, and Jan. 31, 2007, Brown and
other employees of the Newark WIC Program
conspired to issue more than $1 million in
fake vouchers.
Brown,
42, of Newark, previously pleaded guilty to
second-degree official misconduct for his
role in the scheme and was sentenced on Feb.
23, 2009, to eight years in state prison by
Judge Petrolle. On Feb. 20, 2009, another
former senior clerk in the Newark WIC Program,
Wyetta Judson, 39, of Newark, pleaded guilty
to second-degree official misconduct. She
has not been sentenced yet. The state will
recommend that she also be sentenced to state
prison.
On
Dec. 1, Benedicto Bernal, 31, of Newark, owner
of Dreamers Supermarket on 7th Ave. in Newark,
pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree
money laundering before Superior Court Judge
Edward M. Neafsey in Mercer County.
In
pleading guilty, Bernal, who was not an authorized
WIC vendor, admitted that he purchased fraudulent
vouchers from Brown and resold them by the
stack to vendors in Essex, Camden, Union and
Middlesex counties. Ultimately, the fraudulent
vouchers were deposited into the bank accounts
of more than 20 WIC-authorized vendors throughout
New Jersey. Bernal admitted that his transactions
were designed to conceal the source of the
vouchers and their fraudulent nature.
The
state will recommend that Bernal be sentenced
to 10 years in state prison, one-third of
which would have to be served without possibility
of parole.
Bernal
was charged in an eight-count state grand
jury indictment obtained by the Division of
Criminal Justice on June 8, 2009. The indictment
also charged Audrey Walker Bey, 36, of Newark,
a former clerk for the Newark WIC Program
and Elvis Manuel Sanchez-Vasquez, 35, a former
owner and manager of Sanchez Supermarket on
Springdale Avenue in East Orange.
The
charges against Walker Bey and Sanchez-Vasquez
are pending. Walker Bey was arrested in May
2008 as a result of the investigation and
is free on $40,000 bail. An arrest warrant
has been issued for Sanchez-Vasquez, who remains
a fugitive.
The
investigation began when the New Jersey Department
of Health and Senior Services and the Newark
Department of Health and Human Services alerted
the Division of Criminal Justice to suspected
thefts of vouchers from the Newark WIC Program.
Deputy
Attorneys General Monahan and Jeffrey Manis
are prosecuting the case. The investigation
was conducted by Detective Michael Behar and
Sgt. David Salzmann of the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Bureau, with the assistance
of Administrative Analyst Kathleen Ratliff.
WIC
is a federally funded program, administered
by the New Jersey Department of Health and
Senior Services, that provides low-income
women who are pregnant or breast feeding and
guardians of children up to age 5 with vouchers
to purchase nutritional necessities, including
baby formula, milk, orange juice and cereal.
The vouchers can be redeemed at any store
approved as a WIC vendor for food items specifically
listed on the voucher. Once redeemed, the
vendor completes the voucher by filling in
the cost of the product supplied. The Newark
WIC Program is one of 18 WIC programs in New
Jersey.
Acting
Attorney General Solano and Criminal Justice
Director Gramiccioni noted that the Division
of Criminal Justice - Corruption Bureau has
established a statewide Corruption Tipline:
1-866-TIPS-4CJ. Additionally,
the public can log on to the Division’s
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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