Bergen County prosecutor disputes audit of Ridgewood coin theft case
FEBRUARY 11, 2015, 6:43 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015, 6:32 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — The Bergen County prosecutor disputed on Wednesday the findings of a forensic audit that determined the theft from Ridgewood’s coin room was even greater than originally thought — $377,526 more than suspected.
Meanwhile, a state legislator is calling for the Attorney General’s Office to help the village find out how the additional money was stolen in a years-long heist of parking meter quarters.
Still, village officials remain intent on unraveling the truth behind the missing money — an unfathomable 3.4 million quarters from 2010 to 2013
Thomas Rica, a former public works inspector for the village, used a master key to access the coin room, where collected meter quarters are sorted and stored. Rica, a Hawthorne resident, admitted stealing $460,000 in coins under a plea deal reached with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. In return, he received no jail time, five years’ probation and must pay back at least half the money.
I keep asking, does anyone know what this thief has done with the money he stole?
Did anyone attend the session last night? I had to work late.
From what I gather, the estimate is based on a regression of prior year meter revenues and current year meter revenues compared with the years when people (plural) were skimming? If so, that’s a pretty good proxy, short of finding the stolen loot in someone’s basement. Or does the prosecutor expect us to believe there was a coincidental drop off in revenue from 2010 to 2014, during which train station parking fees were doubled? Not likely.
The record has a nice graphic showing how heavy $850,000 in quarters really is. I’ve said before and I’ll say again: I’d wager at least a half dozen people were using the coin room for petty cash on a daily basis. It is going to blow open soon enough. Someone will spill the beans for immunity.
Hopefully the State or the Feds can come in for an objective investigation.
jjj, He bought toys. Boat, truck, jet skis etc. The Record has plenty of articles on the subject, search the site.
I’m unclear on why he doesn’t need to pay back taxes on the difference between what he admitted stealing and what he’s obligated to repay. That’s income, plain and simple. Unless that was part of the deal…but I don’t see how it could have been. The Bergen County prosecutor has no juice with the IRS.
Having an understanding about how such things work, I doubt that the police/prosecutor obtained much from him about how much he actually stole, and what he did with it. This would include how he converted literally mountains of quarters into spendable cash. Try buying a jet-ski with bags of quarters! Whenever a plea deal is negotiated, the key word is negotiated. If the guy and his lawyer agreed to plead guilty, then you can be absolutely certain that they will agree to a monetary amount that was significantly less than that which was actually stolen. Any details about how the scheme was perpetrated are simply not delved into, as the plea of guilt deal kind of sets the agenda and shuts everything else down. Cops and prosecutors always aim for the guilty plea deal as it avoids the costs and unpredictability of a trial. Of course, the prosecutor is going to dispute this latest finding as it tends to make him look foolish. Bottom line, folks, this is a case of public money being stolen. Had this been a case of an employee stealing a similar amount from a bank, or some other private concern, then you can rest assured that there would have been a far more vigorous investigation and prosecution, not to mention a sentence of prison time. I agree with others in that I suspect a whole lot of politics also went into this prosecution to avoid exposing a some much lesser accomplices and quite obviously, some terrible internal security and accounting controls.
As for the tax question, it could very well be a case of the IRS (plus NJ taxation) quietly waiting to see what he files this year. The tax questions are very clear when they ask about income from any source. If he does declare the $460,000, then he will be on the hook for paying tax on that. If he neglects to declare it, then he’s made his situation a whole lot worse, as it’s public record that he obtained this income. Not only would e be on the hook for the taxes, but also for filing a false return. Now, he would be able to write-down the “stolen” income with any amounts that he’s already paid back. I suspect that his lawyer has already covered this matter with him and has probably obtained the services of a skilled CPA.
I’m sure the plea deal was reached as to minimize the embarrassment for the town officials
Wouldn’t it be less embarrassing if Rica and whomever else stole from us suffered actual consequences? And by actual consequences, I mean a net loss in money or time. As it is, Rica profited by the difference between what he stole and what he needs to repay, and someone(s) else got away with it.
As a Ridgewood taxpayer, I am embarrassed by the situation as is.
By the way, for those of you who want to read the report
https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/2015Report.pdf