Ex-Montclair Zoning Official Sentenced For Financial Crimes: Report

MONTCLAIR, NJ — A former member of the Montclair Zoning Board will have to pay restitution and do community service in connection with financial crimes he committed several years ago, a report says.

According to the New Jersey Courts municipal database, Tom Reynolds was charged with several offenses in 2019, including money laundering, identity crime, theft by deception and corporate misconduct. Those charges have since been disposed, the database shows.

In 2017, a friend agreed to have Reynolds manage design work on a building that he’d purchased in Newark. However, after noticing “discrepancies” in the project’s bank account, he cut ties with Reynolds and asked the bank to audit the account, which led to a criminal investigation, NorthJersey.com reported.

Reynolds also took out a fraudulent mortgage on the building, which spurred a lawsuit from the mortgage company, his former friend said.

At a sentencing hearing last week, Reynolds said the crimes were a “very silly mistake” that he made while trying to give his wife something that he could not afford: her dream honeymoon and dream wedding.

“I dipped into the wrong pot to do it,” he said.

Reynolds will have to pay $29,000 in restitution and serve 250 hours of community service as part of a plea deal his lawyer negotiated, NorthJersey.com reported. However, he recently filed a civil suit against his former friend, claiming that he shouldn’t have to pay restitution. Read the full article here.

Reynolds served on the Montclair Zoning Board from 2012 to 2019. He was also president of the local NAACP chapter from 2010 to 2014.

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