Middletown Woman Charged With Stealing $673K From Employer

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — A Middletown woman was arrested Friday and charged with stealing from her employer, an Eatontown-based manufacturing business, alleges the Monmouth County prosecutor.

Michelle Pulignano, 51, of Middletown, has been charged with second-degree theft following a three-month investigation. In total, she is charged with stealing $673,000 from her employer over a two-year period.

The name of the Eatontown-based manufacturing company was not disclosed by the county prosecutor. However, Pulignano worked as a bookkeeper there for the past thirty years.

The company notified Eatontown police two years ago — on May 1, 2017 — that they had a suspected employee theft. The case was then referred to the county prosecutor's office, who helped Eatontown police investigate.

Detectives say that between April 1, 2017 and April 17, 2019, Pulignano awarded herself unauthorized salary increases and personal bonuses in the amount of $223,846. In addition, during the same time period, she wrote checks to herself in the amount of $450,000 from the company’s payroll account without authorization, say police.

If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in a New Jersey state prison.