Friday, February 17, 2006 

Salem County Social Services Scam

$250G scam at Social Services:

Kim M. Flowers, a social worker from the Salem County Board of Social Services in Penns Grove and five other people, including her sister were arrested Thursday and charged with stealing and conspiring to steal more than $250,000 from the Salem County Board of Social Services over a three-year period.

Flowers, who began working in the Social Services Office in 2000, devised a scheme where she used actual Social Services client information and falsely created requests for financial assistance. She would then direct the false claim funds to her co-conspirators who would then divide the money amongst them.

The five co-conspirators who were all arrested and charged Thursday afternoon with theft and conspiracy to commit theft are as follows:

Christina Ahmed, 37, of Kerlin Road in Salem - $24,148

Flowers' sister, Diane L. Biddle, 39, of Crossland Avenue in Salem - $23,250

Richard C. Cunningham II, 42, of Fort Mott Road in Pennsville - $25,655

Renne D. Garvin, 42, of Fairview Avenue in Pennsville - $21,220

Wendy J. Sparks, 34, of Acton Station Road in Salem - $143,532

If the defendants are convicted of this crime they could face a maximum of 10 years in a state prison.

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2:47 PM | |

Wednesday, February 08, 2006 

Middletown Schools Superintendent Suspended

Witmer's" alleged offenses detailed:

Middletown Schools Superintendent Dr. David Witmer was suspended for misappropriated nearly $23,000 worth of vacation and personal days and removing damaging information about himself from reports, according to administrative charges filed Tuesday with the state Department of Education. Last week the Board of Education suspended Witmer, 68, for 120 days without pay or benefits.

Filing of the charges by the school board begins a process that could result in Witmer being fired from his $176,604-a-year job, which he has held since February 2003. His initial contract was extended in 2004 to June 30, 2008.

Monmouth County First Assistant Prosecutor Peter Warshaw on Tuesday would not confirm whether the administrative charges filed against Witmer by the board formed the basis for the "review" of Witmer that is now ongoing in the Prosecutor's Office.

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2:21 PM | |

Tuesday, February 07, 2006 

Paterson Schools Official Guilty of Taking Bribes

Ex-official at Paterson schools pleads guilty to taking bribes:

James Cummings, the former Paterson schools facilities chief pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to two counts of bribery, making him the highest ranking official yet to be swept up in the ongoing corruption probe of the state's third-largest district.

Cummings, 59, who headed the facilities office until 2003, admitted taking $25,000 from one contractor and free home repairs from another in return for favorable treatment in millions of dollars of district contracts.

Cummings said that while facilities director in 2000, he accepted $25,000 from two executives of Paint Smart Contractor Inc. of Nutley, in exchange for helping the firm secure work with the district. The firm ultimately billed the district for more than $250,000 in painting and related services.

Less than a year later, Cummings admitted, he accepted free sheetrock and its installation at his Sparta house from a principal of Olympic Windows Inc. of Hawthorne, valued about $22,000. Olympic Windows billed the district $2.7 million in construction work it claimed to have done, according to prosecutors.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Chiesa refused to say if the investigation could reach higher into the administration of the former Schools Superintendent Edwin Duroy. Duroy led the district for seven years and resigned in 2004 while under fire for mismanagement and waste.
"All I am saying is the investigation is continuing," Chiesa said.

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8:28 AM | |

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Paul Madison - An observer of the Garden State from Central New Jersey. Read More

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