2nd Marra's Employee Arrested, Charged With Theft

SECAUCUS, NJ — A second employee at Marra's drug store has now been arrested and charged with theft, as Secaucus police and the Hudson County prosecutor appear to be widening their investigation into allegations of long-term stealing at the family-owned business.

Marra's employee Joann Bernstein was arrested on Wednesday of this week. She was taken into handcuffs by Secaucus police just past 9 a.m. inside the drug store. Bernstein is charged with one count of theft in the third degree. She is charged with stealing approximately $16,000 from the business, by putting $16,000 worth of personal expenses on a business credit card issued by the store, say police.

As Patch first reported, earlier this month, on July 3, another employee, Linda Marra, was arrested and charged with stealing more than $50,000 from the business. Police say that alleged theft occurred over a one-year period.

It remains unknown at this point if the two women worked together on the alleged thefts. No charges of conspiracy have been brought against either woman, said Secaucus police. Bernstein, 55, worked as a pharmacist at the store, and Marra worked at the front.

Marra's is an institution in Secaucus and has been owned by the Marra family for decades.

According to NJ.com, the owners of Marra's first went to the police earlier this year when they realized money was missing from the gift shop, lottery machine and cash register on a regular basis. Additionally, the store received an anonymous call from a Capital One bank employee who told them Linda Marra had been making suspicious cash deposits into her personal bank account, according to the NJ.com report. She is accused of helping herself to more than $1,000 every week for the past year.

When Patch initially called Marra's, a woman who picked up declined to comment on the arrest, only saying it was a "very difficult" time for the family business.

Bernstein has her first court appearance Aug. 14 at Central Judicial Processing in Jersey City.