Employee Stole $20K From Montgomery Gas Pipe Line Company

MONTGOMERY, NJ — A man hired to manage a Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line property in Montgomery was charged with theft of, in excess of $20,000, according to Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson.

Joo Kim, 63 of Smithfield Road in East Hanover Township was charged with third-degree theft by failure to make required disposition of property received.

Kim was hired by the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line in 2014 to manage their property, located at 153 North St. in Belle Mead, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigations Unit.

Kim’s responsibilities included maintenance of the property, as well as paying the quarterly real estate taxes to Montgomery Township on behalf of the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company with a check that the company would send him each quarter, according to the investigation.

From August 2015 to October 2016, Kim did not make payments to the township for the property taxes despite receiving the funds from Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, according to the investigation.

On Thursday, Kim turned himself into the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office where he was processed and subsequently released on a summons.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigations
Unit at 908-231-7100, or the Montgomery Township Police Department at 908-359-3222 or via the STOPit app. The STOPit app allows citizens to provide anonymous reports including videos and photos. STOPit can be downloaded to your smart phone for free at the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, access code: SOMERSETNJ.

Information can also be provided through the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477) or online at www.888577tips.org or at www.scpo.net and click on either “Crime Stoppers” or “TIPS HOTLINE”. All anonymous Crime Stopper tips will be kept confidential.

(Image via Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office: Joo Kim, 63, of Smithfield Road in East Hanover Township)

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