Freehold, NJ - Woman Admits Stealing $120G From Center In Ocean Township

Freehold, NJ - A Beachwood woman faces a possible five-year prison term after admitting in court that she stole about $120,000 from an Ocean Township Center while employed there as a bookkeeper.

Lisa A. Gordon told Superior Court Judge Patricia Del Bueno Cleary that she pocketed cash provided to the Ruth Hyman Jewish Community Center for membership, activity or camp fees. "You knew that was not your money to take?" Cleary asked her.
"Yes," the 38-year-old replied.

In exchange for her plea, Assistant Prosecutor Edward Quigley told the judge he would recommend a five-year prison sentence and dismiss all charges against Gordon's 40-year-old husband, Christopher. Gordon's lawyer, Kelly Anderson Smith, said she'll ask for a three-year prison sentence.

As part of the plea, she must cooperate with the center in its civil claim pursuits to recover the funds, including providing truthful testimony about who else might have been involved.
The center claims that $480,000 was taken from the center, according to Brian Ansell, the center's lawyer.
Gordon had been charged with embezzling more than $400,000 but told the judge that she stole about $120,000. She had also been charged with laundering the cash, $380,000, by buying chips at casinos in Atlantic City.
When Cleary first asked her how she took the funds, she responded, "Myself and many others . . ."
The judge stopped her, telling Gordon she only wanted to know what Gordon did.

Gordon is "extremely remorseful. She wants to pay as much restitution as she can and wants to . . . do what she can to make this right," Anderson Smith said.
She said Christopher Gordon had no knowledge that his wife was taking funds.
Some of the funds were used to build a new home on an oversized lot in Beachwood.