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Abraham Garcia, 56, of North Bergen, and Walter Somick, 46, of Wayne, were charged in separate indictments with official misconduct, theft by deception, tampering with public records and falsifying records.
Detectives from the state Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau caught Garcia (above, left) putting in for more than 130 hours of no-show work and Somick (above, right) receiving pay for 110 hours he didn’t work, acting state Attorney General John J. Hoffman said.
“It’s shameful that taxpayers in North Bergen had to pay for municipal employees who allegedly collected substantial salaries by lying about their work hours while barely showing up for their jobs,” Hoffman said. “This type of corruption is a costly betrayal of the public’s trust.”
“We’re committed to making strong use of New Jersey’s tough anti-corruption laws to deter this type of abuse,” added DCJ Director Elie Honig. “If convicted of official misconduct, these men would face minimum terms of five years in state prison without parole.”
As CLIFFVIEW PILOT originally reported, state investigators removed several boxes of documents from the North Bergen Parks & Recreation Department offices in the Kennedy Boulevard municipal building on March 9.
Garcia worked as a supervisor of security for the North Bergen Board of Education and is an assistant NBHS varsity football coach. At the same time, he’s been employed as a recreational aide by the township DPR, collecting $1,038 every two weeks in 2014 and $1,094 every two weeks so far this year, Hoffman said.
“Garcia consistently submitted timesheets indicating he worked 42 hours for the two-week pay period,” the attorney general said. “It is alleged, however, that he falsified timesheets to indicate he worked for the DPR during hours when, in fact, he was home, running errands, socializing or doing other things unrelated to the DPR.
Somick, a union electrician, also held a rec aide job with the department, which paid him $1,405 every two weeks last year and $1,481 every two weeks in 2015 to date, Hoffman said.
“Somick submitted timesheets indicating that the number of hours he worked varied from one pay period to the next, but they reflected an average of approximately 60 hours of work every two weeks,” he said. “It is alleged, however, that he falsified timesheets to indicate he worked for the DPR during hours when, in reality, he was at his home engaged in personal activities.
“Local residents pay enough in property taxes without having to foot the bill for fraud,” Hoffman said.
Deputy Attorneys General Cynthia Vazquez, Victor R. Salgado and Julia Zukina are handling the case.
The lead investigators were Detective Garrett E. Brown and Investigator Joseph Salvatore, assisted by Detectives Lee Bailey, Matthew Burd, Kiersten Pentony and Thomas Page of the Corruption Bureau Central Squad, as well as Sgt. Patrick Kendig and Detective Joseph Saiia.
Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson assigned the Garcia indictment to Hudson County and the Somick indictment to Passaic County.
IMAGES: Courtesy: NJ ATTORNEY GENERAL
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