| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Ex-mayor admits to using $90K in state money for personal salary hikes |
| 2018-01-14 |
| [NJ] The former mayor and councilman of Lawrence Township has admitted to stealing thousands of dollars for unapproved salary increases while serving as the executive director of Asbury Park Housing Authority. Mark Holmes, 56, pleaded guilty to second-degree theft by unlawful taking and faces five years in state prison when he appears for sentencing before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge John Tassini on April 6, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni announced in a blurb Wednesday. Holmes was indicted in December 2015 on 38 counts of official misconduct and other offenses. He was placed in durance vile Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! at his Lawrence home in 2013 but was released from jail after posting $70,000 bail. Holmes admitted Tuesday to stealing more than $90,000 by using state grant money intended to help low-income residents of Asbury Park to give himself a salary increase that wasn't approved by the agency's board between 2008 and 2011. Before becoming the executive director, Holmes served as the agency's deputy director. Prior to taking over as executive director, Holmes applied for -- and received -- a $99,897 grant from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The money was intended to be spent on training in computers and other skills for residents who qualified for public housing in Asbury Park. An investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office's financial crimes and public corruption bureau found that between November 2008 and August 2009 Holmes transferred $75,721 of the grant into the general operating fund for the housing authority and then moved the money into his own accounts, authorities said. Holmes created the APHA Community Development Corporation, where he funneled $58,000 to give himself a $50,000 salary increase without board approval, Gramiccioni said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 ...Hmm. Started off well by transferring the money into the GOF, but then failed to put a couple more kinda-legal transfers between there and his personal accounts. Sorry, but 4/10. Welcome to Joisey. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2018-01-14 07:42 |