What are New Jersey residents more upset about, the fact that a trusted tax collector stole their tax payments — or what he used the money for?
Richard Bartolozzi, a former a tax collector for the town of Secaucus, NJ, is accused of stealing more than $800,000 in city tax payments and funds from the local municipal union between Feb. 2008 and May 2009.
While Mr. Bartolozzi has plead guilty (as part of a plea deal),to two counts of second-degree theft, there seems to be some disagreement as to how much Bartolozzi actually swindled.
Prosecutors claim that Bartolozzi stole $777,000 in tax payment funds from Secaucus residents. But, as part his plea agreement, Bartolozzi contends that the amount is actually only $75,000.
Bartolozzi also allegedly took close to $25,000 from the Secaucus Public Employees, but he ‘s only admitting to stealing more than $500.
So what did this tax collectors do with all of this money he allegedly stole? Prosecutors think he used to pay a dominatrix. In fact, there’s evidence that Mr. Bartolozzi had money transferred 19 times to a woman known simply as “Tara Juliana.”
