Ridgewood officials: Probe finds another $377,000 in meter quarters stolen
FEBRUARY 10, 2015, 11:24 AM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015, 8:33 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Auditors found that nearly $850,000 was in fact stolen from the now-infamous coin room where collected parking meter quarters were stored. Thomas Rica, the village’s former public works inspector, admitted pilfering fistfuls of quarters from the room last March.
Rica said he stole $460,000 and received no jail time, according to a plea deal he reached with the county prosecutor’s office. A judge upheld the agreement for five years’ probation, which disappointed local officials who were pleased, though, that Rica would be forced to pay back at least half of the money.
Rica’s former attorney scoffed at the notion his client stole more quarters, and even village officials suggested there might be an accomplice.
The audit, released by the village Tuesday and delivered to its insurance fund the day before, uncovered a timeline of theft that started in 2010 — a year earlier than previously reported by authorities.
Using information from interviews with village employees as well as Rica’s own financial records, which were turned over to the village by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, auditors determined Rica deposited $471,815.05 to his various bank accounts between 2010 and his arrest on Jan. 13, 2013.
In the first two weeks of 2013 alone, the findings show Rica stole $10,413.51. In 2012, the audit report indicates he took $375,647.84 in quarters. The audit estimated $297,234.34 went missing in 2011, and that Rica pocketed $166,045.89 in 2010.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-officials-probe-finds-another-377-000-in-meter-quarters-stolen-1.1268169
