Payroll Clerk Gets Jail Time For Inflating Relatives' Work Hours In Jersey City: Officials

JERSEY CITY, NJ — A former payroll clerk for the Jersey City Department of Recreation was sentenced to prison Friday for stealing approximately $80,000 by fraudulently inflating payroll hours for at least four relatives and associates, the state attorney general's office said.

Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said Angela Rivera, 42, of Jersey City, formerly a payroll clerk and senior analyst for the Jersey City Department of Recreation, has been sentenced to three years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Militello.

Meanwhile, four relatives and "associates" who allegedly took part in the scheme were charged by summons on Jan. 6, 2020 with theft by unlawful taking, the office noted, and began a pre-trial intervention program in 2021 . If they finish the program and make restitution, their charges will be dismissed.

Angela Rivera pleaded guilty on Jan. 27, 2021 to a charge of second-degree theft by unlawful taking. She is required to pay full restitution to the city and is permanently barred from public employment.

From Dec. 31, 2016 through Feb. 23, 2018, the state says, Rivera stole $80,553 by inflating payroll hours for certain former part-time and seasonal employees "who are her relatives or personal associates," said a release from the Attorney General's Office. "She altered timekeeping spreadsheets for those employees, causing paychecks to be issued that reflected additional hours the employees did not actually work."

Also, "A number of those paychecks were deposited into Rivera’s personal account after she forged the employees’ signatures to endorse the checks over to her."

Rivera was charged in an investigation by attorneys and detectives in the OPIA Corruption Bureau, which began with a referral from the Jersey City Department of Recreation. When the Recreation Department initially learned of the alleged misconduct, they completed an internal audit and referred the matter to OPIA.

“Government officials and employees have a duty to handle public funds with honesty and integrity,” said Acting Attorney General Platkin. “If they breach that duty, we will hold them accountable.”

“The Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is working hard to deter this type of dishonest conduct and enforce a culture of integrity in government,” said OPIA Executive Director Thomas Eicher. “We urge anyone with information about official misconduct and abuse of public resources to contact us confidentially.”

OPIA has a toll-free Tipline 1-844-OPIA-TIPS for the public to report corruption. The AG’s Office has an Anti-Corruption Reward Program that offers a reward of up to $25,000 for tips leading to a conviction for a crime involving public corruption.

Information is posted at: http://nj.gov/oag/corruption/reward.html.

Defense Attorney for Rivera: Gina Mendola Longarzo, Esq., Chatham, N.J.Get FREE breaking news alerts in your New Jersey town, or a daily 6 a.m. newsletter with local news. Sign up with your zip code here and you'll get an email asking for your preferences.