https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/former-chief-financial-officer-of-not-for-profit-company-charged-with-stealing-2-5-million-money-laundering-and-tax-evasion/

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today announced that the former chief financial officer and comptroller of a Burlington County-based not-for-profit company has been charged with allegedly stealing more than $2.5 million from the company, money laundering and tax evasion. The defendant’s husband has been charged with receiving stolen property.

Colleen Witten, 55, of Buena, New Jersey, is charged by criminal complaint with one count of theft by unlawful taking (2nd degree), one count of forgery (4th degree), one count of financial facilitation of criminal activity (1st degree money laundering), four counts of failure to pay tax (3rd degree) and four counts of filing a fraudulent tax return (3rd degree).

Allan Witten, 55, of Buena, New Jersey, is charged by criminal complaint with one count of receiving stolen property (3rd degree).

“New Jersey corporate executives who abuse positions of financial trust must be held accountable,” said Attorney General Platkin. “The conduct alleged in this case is particularly harmful because the defendant allegedly stole from an organization trying to help adults with disabilities and used the ill-gotten gains to enrich herself. Our office will aggressively pursue white-collar fraud and make sure those who perpetrate these crimes are held accountable.”

“The alleged theft of funds from a non-profit corporation that is doing important work is especially troubling,” said DCJ Director Theresa L. Hilton. “We are always working with our partners to find this kind of criminal activity and bring those responsible to justice.”

“Colleen Witten once served as a trusted financial officer for an organization helping adults with disabilities,” said Legal Chief Pablo Quiñones of the Office of Securities Fraud and Financial Crimes Prosecutions (OSFFCP). “She allegedly abused that trust by stealing millions of dollars from the organization for her own personal benefit and tried to hide stolen money by laundering it through her family business. Our office remains committed to rooting out such significant white-collar crimes in New Jersey.”

From May 2019 to March 2024, Colleen Witten was the comptroller, and later, chief financial officer of a Burlington County-based not-for-profit that provides services to adults with disabilities. As alleged in the complaint, she used her positions to misappropriate approximately $2.58 million directly from the company’s legitimate bank accounts.

From June 2023 to March 2024, Witten allegedly transferred more than $500,000 to a landscaping company she controlled, knowing that the transactions were designed to conceal the source of the money. From July 2020 to April 2024, Witten allegedly failed to pay income taxes totaling $174,480.

The charges against Allan Witten allege that on March 7, 2024, he knowingly received $189,000, knowing or believing the money had been stolen.

Deputy Attorney General Veronica Daddario is prosecuting this matter for the OSFFCP, under the supervision of Legal Chief Quiñones, Deputy Legal Chief Brendan Stewart, and Deputy Chief Adam Heck.

The charges in the complaints are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

First-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity carries a fine up to $500,000 and a sentence of between 10 to 20 years in state prison with a minimum term of imprisonment fixed at, or between, one-third and one-half of the sentence imposed, which runs consecutively to the sentence imposed for the criminal activity from which the property was derived.

Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of up to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. Third-degree crimes carry a sentence of up to five years in a state prison and a fine of up to $15,000. Fourth-degree crimes carry a sentence of up to 18 months in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by detectives and investigators within the Division of Criminal Justice assigned to the OSFFCP and investigators with the New Jersey Division of Taxation. The Attorney General thanked the New Jersey Division of Taxation-Office of Criminal Investigations for its assistance in the case.