NJ Watchdog: Criminal probe secrets center on Christie's second-in-command

The public’s right to know the outcome of a criminal probe of an alleged $245,000 pension fraud involving New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno will be debated next week in state appellate court.

New Jersey Watchdog is appealing a lower court’s decision not to release the findings of an investigation by the state attorney general’s Division of Criminal Justice. Oral arguments are scheduled to be heard next Wednesday at Rutgers Law School in Camden.

Guadagno frequently serves as acting governor when Chris Christie travels outside the state on presidential campaign trips. She is mentioned as a likely Republican candidate for governor in 2017 – and could take the reins even earlier if Christie steps down before his term expires.

The alleged fraud occurred when Guadagno was Monmouth County sheriff in 2008, the year before she first ran for lieutenant governor as Christie’s running mate.

Guadagno made false and conflicting statements that enabled her chief officer, Michael Donovan, to improperly collect an $85,000 a year pension in addition to his $87,500 salary, as first reported by New Jersey Watchdog in 2010. The story included links to several smoking-gun documents, including an internal memo initialed by Guadagno.

In May 2011, DCJ began a criminal investigation at the request of a state pension board. But the probe was riddled by a major conflict of interest because Guadagno is a former DCJ deputy director. Christie did not use his constitutional power to appoint a special investigator or independent prosecutor.

Stonewalled by DCJ and the governor’s office for nearly two years, New Jersey Watchdog sued the state in 2013 for records of the investigation.

The investigative news site won a partial victory in the trial court last year when Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson ordered DCJ to reveal some of the documents it sought.

However, Jacobson also ruled DCJ was allowed to keep the findings of the investigation secret. After reviewing the documents in private, the judge determined the state’s interest in keeping the records confidential outweighed the public’s right to know.

In September 2014, New Jersey Watchdog appealed Jacobson’s decision to the State Appellate Division.

Lawyers for the state contend disclosure would undermine DCJ’s future ability to conduct corruption investigations. The investigative news site is arguing that the public has an overriding interest in knowing whether or not the probe itself may have been corrupted.

Appellate Division Judges George S. Leone and Carol E. Higbee will preside at the hearing. Judge Michael A. Guadagno, the lieutenant governor’s husband, is not assigned to the case.

The story is online at http://watchdog.org/235567/christie-criminal-probe-secrets/.

NJ Watchdog: After 16 years as double-dipper, cop retires for 2nd pension

As New Jersey looks to fix a state pension system that's billions in debt, Patrick J. Higgins and other double-dippers find new ways to squeeze it for every dollar they can.

Higgins retired this month – for a second time. So the longtime law officer will begin collecting two state pensions, totaling nearly $100,000 a year, instead of one.

A New Jersey Watchdog examination of the underlying circumstances illustrates how public officials can legally exploit the state’s troubled retirement system, which is underfunded by $170 billion.

In 1999, Higgins retired as a state police detective. Since age 51, he has collected pension checks from the State Police Retirement System, which currently pays him $55,000 a year. SPRS rules allow members to retire after 25 years of service, regardless of age.

But Higgins never really retired. The month before that “retirement” took effect, he was hired by the Sussex County sheriff as an investigator. He quickly enrolled in another state pension plan, the Public Employees Retirement System. Higgins remained in PERS when he left the sheriff’s office in 2003 to join the county prosecutor’s staff in a similar position.

For 16 years, Higgins has collected a Sussex County salary – $101,696 in 2014 – plus his SPRS pension. Last year, his two streams of income from public coffers added up to $156,746.

At age 67, Higgins has decided to retire again – this time as a detective sergeant in the county prosecutor's office. But it’s not a garden-variety retirement based on his length of service.

Instead, it’s a disability retirement – a type of pension that will pay him more than he would have otherwise received. It was approved by the PERS board of trustees in closed session last month.

The full story is online at http://watchdog.org/207540/new-jersey-double-dipper/.

NJ Watchdog: New Jersey double-dippers scoop New Yorkers at the public trough

Start spreading the news: New Jersey is a paradise for double-dippers compared to neighboring New York.

New York law requires its state and local government agencies to formally certify an “urgent need” for rehiring the retired workers. officials must declare there are “no available, qualified non-retirees” who can fill the open positions, which must be publicly advertised.

New Jersey governmental units can generally hire back retirees without any justification or legal restrictions. Special paperwork and approvals are not needed – and in some instances, workers can return to the public payrolls the day after they retire.

In New York, 665 retirees are currently working at public jobs with waivers, according to the Empire Center report.

Meanwhile, New Jersey officials do not track the hundreds – and likely thousands – of working retirees who receive both governmental pensions and salaries.

New York State’s efforts to control double-dipping – by “retired” public officials who collect pensions while continuing to work in government jobs – are highlighted in a study released this week by the Empire Center, a non-profit think tank based in Albany.

While the Garden State is not mentioned in the report, an analysis by New Jersey Watchdog reveals significant differences in how the two states approach the double-dipping dilemma.

The story is now online at http://watchdog.org/182661/nj-ny-double-dippers/.

State Comptroller Names Towns That Enrolled Professionals In PERS

Middletown's on the list. No shock there. The municipal judge, prosecutor, and public defender are all feeding at the trough. - hat tip Linda Baum

From NJFOG:

October 26, 2014 by Tom Wyka

As mentioned in a previous news post, the Office of the State Comptroller revealed in a 2012 report that 332 municipal professionals were enrolled in the state pension system at that time in spite of a 2008 law intended to curb this kind of abuse. The state comptroller will not say who they are but recently released the names of the 228 municipalities that enrolled them. County is generally not listed, so where the report lists a town for which there is another New Jersey town with the same name, it is not always clear which town it is.

The New Jersey Pension Fraud and Abuse Unit is now sending out letters to at least some municipalities requiring them to remove their professionals from the pension rolls. That is welcome news for taxpayers, who have a right to know not only which municipalities have been ignoring the spirit of the law, but which professionals may be improperly receiving benefits.

NJ WATCHDOG: Double trouble for Christie

For immediate release:

BRIDGEGATE AND DOUBLEGATE SPELL DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR CHRISTIE

Long before Bridgegate, Gov. Chris Christie and his administration have quietly tried to escape Doublegate – an alleged $245,000 pension fraud involving Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.

New Jersey Watchdog revealed last week that an investigation by the attorney general’s Division of Criminal Justice was virtually non-existent, producing only a secret five-page report following a 13-month probe.

Today, NJ Spotlight followed up with a comprehensive report by Mark Magyar.

Bridgegate and Doublegate spell double trouble for the Christie and company. While Bridgegate has gained national fame, the details of Doublegate are still not widely known. Here is a summary comparing the two scandals:

Bridgegate is an investigation into whether the Christie Administration closed traffic lanes at the George Washington Bridge as retribution against the mayor of Fort Lee, who refused to endorse Christie in the 2013 election.

Doublegate began as an investigation into alleged pension fraud involving Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. It now focuses on whether the Christie Administration effectively sabotaged the investigation.

Bridgegate was investigated by an outside law firm hired by the governor. The inquiry was headed by attorney Randy Mastro.

Doublegate was investigated by the attorney general’s Division of Criminal Justice. Despite an apparent conflict of interest – Guadagno is a former deputy director of DCJ – Christie did not appoint a special investigator or prosecutor.

The Bridgegate report by Mastro is 360 pages. It was publicly released and posted on the Internet at http://gdcreport.com/.

The Doublegate report by DCJ is five pages. It remains a secret document, despite a public records lawsuit by a New Jersey Watchdog reporter.

During the Bridgegate probe, Mastro and his associates interviewed 75 witnesses during a two-month period

During the Doublegate probe, there is no record that DCJ contacted, interviewed or took statements from anyone during a 13-month investigation.

Christie held two press conferences to discuss Bridgegate – a two-hour marathon in January and another one in March after the Mastro report was released.

Christie and Guadagno have repeatedly refused to answer questions about Doublegate.

The Democrat-controlled State Legislature has aggressively pursued an investigation of Bridgegate that has dimmed Christie’s chances of pursuing the White House in 2016.

The State Legislature has essentially ignored Doublegate, which could bring the pension abuses of both Democrats and Republicans into the public spotlight.

New Jersey Watchdog’s latest update on Doublegate is online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2014/06/02/christie-guadagno-investigation-2/.

NJ WATCHDOG: Ex-lawmaker doubles his NJ pension

For immediate release:

GOV. CHRISTIE'S CREW HELPS EX-LEGISLATOR DOUBLE HIS PENSION

Larry Chatzidakis needed a favor from Gov. Chris Christie’s administration.

Nearing his 62nd birthday, the former New Jersey assemblyman had never held a full-time public job. Based on his 11 years as a legislator plus other part-time government posts, Chatzidakis might qualify for a modest state pension of roughly $19,000 a year.

Then a new executive position was created at the Motor Vehicle Commission – in the face of Christie’s vow to cut the state’s work force.

Chatzidakis was hired by MVC in May 2011 at a salary of $95,000 a year. It was also an opportunity to double his annual pension to $38,630 by the time he retired this year.

“It’s a fact I was hired and I retired,” Chatzidakis told New Jersey Watchdog. “The motivation? People can think anything they want.”

The month after he retired, the longtime GOP leader from Burlington County’s Mount Laurel Township returned to the public spotlight to defend Christie’s role in the Bridgegate scandal.

Quid pro or no, the Chatzidakis case illustrates how questionable pension practices continue under the nose of a governor who championed reforms of the state retirement system.

The story is online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org. The direct link is http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2014/04/21/christie-pension-abuse/.

NJ WATCHDOG: Last chance for NJ to keep Doublegate secrets

For immediate release:


A judge is giving the state’s Division of Criminal Justice one final chance to argue why an index of records from a hush-hush criminal investigation involving Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno should not be released to a New Jersey Watchdog reporter.

“I frankly don’t see why it should be kept confidential,” said Judge Mary C. Jacobson during a hearing in Mercer County Superior Court. “It’s highly unusual to keep a Vaughn index confidential.”

The 96-page Vaughn index lists 779 pages of documents gathered by DCJ during a probe requested in May 2011 by the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System board of trustees.

One allegation is Guadagno, as Monmouth County sheriff in 2008, made false and misleading statements that enabled her top aide to improperly collect an $85,000 a year pension in addition to his $87,500 salary. The facts were first reported by New Jersey Watchdog in October 2010.

Two months ago, the PFRS board learned the investigation was closed. But DCJ has refused to disclose the result of the Doublegate probe or any details.

“What the state overlooks is that the investigation itself is highly suspect,” argued the reporter’s attorney, Donald M. Doherty Jr., in court briefs. “It smacks of a dirty deal and the use of the investigative exemption to avoid exposing a sordid situation.”

Guadagno is a former deputy director of DCJ. Faced with conflict-of-interest concerns, Gov. Chris Christie did not exercise his constitutional power to appoint an independent investigator or prosecutor for a case involving his second-in-command.

Spokespersons for Christie, Guadagno and DCJ have declined comment on the case.

The full story is now online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org. The direct link is http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2014/04/14/doublegate-secrets-guadagno/.

NJ Watchdog: Pension hypocrisy blocks Christie's comeback

For Immediate Release:

An embattled Gov. Chris Christie is trying to regain his political mojo with a new campaign to reform New Jersey's pension system and its $52 billion debt.

But unless Christie fixes his own administration's pension abuses, the governor risks charges of hypocrisy. According to New Jersey Watchdog investigations:

• Louis Goetting, Christie's deputy chief of staff, rakes in $228,860 a year – $140,000 in salary plus $88,860 in pension as a retired state employee.
• Of 60 double-dippers in the executive branch, 19 were hired under Christie, New Jersey Watchdog reported in 2012.
• A subsequent New Jersey Watchdog investigation last year identified 80 State Police retirees who returned to the state payroll full-time as double-dippers.
• Adam Heck, the governor's associate legal counsel, gets a $44,818 a year state disability pension in addition to his $110,000 salary.
• Heck is one of 18 "disabled" state employees who collect salaries for working plus disability pensions because they supposedly can no longer work, New Jersey Watchdog discovered.

The story is now online at New Jersey Watchdog. The direct link is Here 

NJ WATCHDOG: Court orders NJ to reveal pension probe secrets

For Immediate Release:

COURT ORDERS CHRISTIE ADMIN TO REVEAL PENSION PROBE SECRETS

A New Jersey court may force Gov. Chris Christie's administration to reveal information about a hush-hush state pension probe involving Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and a quarter-million dollar double-dipping scheme.

Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson ordered the attorney general's Division of Criminal Justice to submit an index of its investigatory records for release to a New Jersey Watchdog reporter.

The stakes are high for Christie, who eyes a 2016 campaign for the presidency, and Guadagno, who could become governor if her boss quits to run for the White House.

Jacobson's decision was a stunning setback for the state, which sought an order entirely dismissing the reporter's public records lawsuit.  The attorney general argued that all of its 770-plus pages of records should be exempt from disclosure.

Instead, the judge will require DCJ to argue its need for secrecy on a document-by-document basis.  Release of the index opens the door for specific arguments on whether the public interest in release of the records outweighs the state's interest in keeping the information confidential.

"The public has an indisputable and overriding interest in knowing about the integrity of government and the conduct of elected officials in their governance," stated the reporter in a certification filed with the court. 

DCJ began its criminal investigation in May 2011 at the behest of a pension board, according to a certification by a state pension official. Christie, Guadagno and DCJ officials have declined comment. In court papers, the state refused to acknowledge whether the case is open or closed.

The controversy began with an investigative report by New Jersey Watchdog in 2010 detailing how false statements by Guadagno enabled one of her top aides to improperly collect $227,000 in pension checks from the Police and Firemen's Retirement System.

The story is online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org. 

Middletown Twp Committee Approves Lucrative Board Compensation

by Linda Baum


While every other board and commission in Middletown is 100% volunteer, the Sewerage Authority (TOMSA) board members are highly compensated – they receive salary, pension credit, and health benefits. The board meets once a month for less than an hour.

When the Sewerage Authority was formed back in the 1960s, the board met between 3 and 5 times a week during the period when the sewer system was being designed. Today, the board’s effort is no greater than that of any other board in town, all the rest of whom volunteer their time.

Further, in the beginning TOMSA board members received only an annual stipend of $1000. They did not receive pension or medical benefits, which are in violation of the Township’s own ordinances that state that TOMSA board members shall receive no compensation other than salary.

There are 5 regular members and 2 alternates on the TOMSA board. Today, the annual salaries are $2,150 for the chairperson and $1,750 for other members. Health and pension benefits are worth tens of thousands more.

In 2009, in response to a new state law, the Township Committee passed Ordinance No. 2009-2967, which states “the Township Committee of the Township of Middletown believes it is the best interest of the taxpayers of the Township to eliminate the receipt of pension and/or health benefits by part-time elected and appointed officials”.

That ordinance stripped pension and health benefits for new board appointees but allowed for the continuation of benefits for any board member currently receiving them.

Thus, the Township Committee can save taxpayers a great deal of money by not re-appointing TOMSA board members as terms expire. Yet the re-appointments continue.

At Middletown’s annual organization meeting on Jan 6th, the Township Committee re-appointed to 5-year terms three members of the Sewerage Authority board whose current terms expire on Feb. 1st.

One of the re-appointees, Thomas Stokes, has been on the TOMSA board 25 years next month and has lived out-of-state half the year since 2010. With his re-appointment to the board, Mr. Stokes was changed from a regular member to an alternate, no doubt to save him the trouble of attending meetings while he continues to collect salary and benefits through Feb. 2018.

The patronage needs to end. Residents should demand that the Township Committee pass an ordinance eliminating all compensation – salary and benefits – for all board members.

Eliminating TOMSA board perks would save Middletown property owners over $100,000 a year.

NJ WATCHDOG: Christie Flip-Flops; Will Run with Guadagno

For Immediate Release:

DESPITE SCANDAL, CHRISTIE & GUADANGO WILL RUN TOGETHER IN 2013

In an apparent flip-flop, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie welcomed Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno back as his running mate for 2013 – despite the baggage of her pension scandal.

"I am thrilled she is going to be part of the team as we seek to serve the people of New Jersey for another four years," said Christie in a statement.

Last week, Christie said he was unsure whether Guadagno would be on the ticket. When he announced his campaign to seek a second term, the governor said he had yet to talk to Guadagno about her plans.

With Guadagno, Christie is betting voters will overlook a $245,000 pension controversy that followed the lieutenant governor from her tenure as Monmouth County sheriff.

Christie has never publicly addressed the issue – including the question of whether he should appoint an independent prosecutor to handle the case.

False statements by Guadagno in 2008 enabled her chief officer, Michael W. Donovan Jr., to collect nearly $85,000 a year in state retirement pay in addition to his $87,500 annual salary. The story was first reported by New Jersey Watchdog in 2010.

For the full story, go to New Jersey Watchdog at http://newjersey.watchdog.org.

Trentonian Editorial: Dogging the Guv

This editorial published in the Trentonion today ties in nicely with the last post pertaining to NJ Watchdog and it's investigative reporter Mark Lagerkvist.

Lagerkvist has doggedly pursued the issue of public officials who retire from one public sector service jobs, start collecting a public pension and then either gets appointed to - through nepotism or cronyism - or elected to another public sector job and collect a salary from the state as well as their pensions. This type of public tax payer abuse is known as double-dipping and the Christie administration has done nothing but condone these abuses:

Gov. Christie travels the land hailed by enthusiastic crowds eager to sample his blunt-talk, no-nonsense Jersey routine — the stuff that made him a star of YouTube. But everywhere the Guv goes, there’s this growling pit bull, its jaws firmly clamped on the gubernatorial ankle. Can’t shake the thing. Dang dawg.

The dang dawg would be the N.J. Watchdog. N.J. Watchdog is nothing if not tenacious. The dawg is kenneled in Red Bank, under the aegis of veteran investigative reporter Mark Lagerkvist. This dang dawg refuses to be impressed by the fact that the governor is an important personage who was on the short list of prospective VPs.

The dawg snarls and barks at the Christie administration like it’s nothing more than another assemblage of backroom pols trying to put one over on the folks who just arrived on the back of the pickup with a load of turnips out of Millway or some such deep South Jersey backwater. Dang dawg has Christie’s No. 2 treed right now and won’t go away no matter how much the administration keeps shouting, “Go on, git outta here!” No. 2, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, sits up there on the limb, waiting to see what happens next. Dang dawg’s waiting her out.

Here’s the current status: Dawg has put the state government in the peculiar position of dragging itself into court. This has to be one of the oddest antics in the annals of Blackstone. The state in effect is suing itself to keep itself from handing over records N.J. Watchdog has demanded. The records pertain to possibly embarrassing — or worse — finagling Guadagno allegedly did when she was Monmouth County Sheriff.

Dang dawg alleges that she pulled a slick one to enable an aid to do a little double dipping at the expense of taxpayers. She allegedly classified one Michael Donovan Jr. as a lowly underling in charge of arrest warrants when actually he was her chief sheriff’s officer and paid as such. This enabled him to go on collecting an $85,000 public pension on top of his $87,500 sheriff’s office salary — all in alleged contravention of the statutes of the Great State of New Jersey and the peace and dignity thereof, to use the flowery verbiage favored by law enforcement.

One arm of the state government, the N.J. Government Records Council, was going through the pension records pursuant to dang dawg’s demand. But now another arm of government has hauled that arm into court to enjoin it from releasing said documents. Meanwhile, the Lt. Guv sits up there on the limb, and dang dog stands down there growling about double dipping and how Christie’s vaunted pension reform overlooks what could be New Jersey’s official state dance if the square dance weren’t already it.

And so we wait. No problem, so far, for the Guv, as he travels about the land. Nobody out there in Iowa or Wisconsin asking the Guv, “What’s all the barking?” It’s gotta be unfomfortable for No. 2, though, up there in that tree.