Father charged with spending donations collected for son

By Audrey Levine Staff Writer
   MANVILLE — A Somerville resident was charged with third-degree theft by failure to make a required disposition today (Thursday) after police discovered that he had spent more than $33,000 in charitable donations collected for his son.
   Tubal Eduardo, 31, of Somerville, was initially taken into custody for failure to make child support payments when the subsequent charge was issued by the Somerset County prosecutor’s office.
   According to Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest, Mr. Eduardo and his now 4-year-old son, Noah, were the only survivors after an accidental fire killed Mr. Eduardo’s girlfriend, Heather Marchie, and her two other children on South Fifth Avenue in March 2007.
   Following the tragedy, the Weston School Parent Teacher Association (PTA) collected donations from the community, which were then deposited in a bank account at the Manville Federal Credit Union to be used for Noah’s future.
   In June 2007, the Weston School PTA closed the account and issued a check for $33,351.24 to Noah, and another check for $5,000 to Mr. Eduardo.
   In a previous court order, issued earlier in June 2007, it was determined that any money received for Noah’s future would be placed in a joint account naming Debra Jean Walters, Ms. Marchie’s mother, and Mr. Eduardo as co-holders of the account. During these proceedings, the money from the Weston School PTA was held in a safety deposit box and, in September 2007, the checks were turned over to Abimael Eduardo, Mr. Eduardo’s brother.
   Mr. Forrest said that it was understood through a verbal agreement that the money would be managed by Abimael Eduardo and Heather Marchie’s sister, Nicole Latch.
   According to Mr. Forrest, Noah’s check was then deposited into a new money market savings account with Mr. Eduardo named as the custodian, while Mr. Eduardo opened a separate account for his $5,000.
   Abimael Eduardo, Mr. Forrest said, told his brother and the bank representative that Noah’s money was not to be used until he turned 18 years old. Mr. Eduardo’s check was deposited in an account with only his name.
   In a family court hearing, Mr. Forrest said, Mr. Eduardo admitted to using Noah’s money to live off of, pay fines and purchase a car. Checks of bank records for Noah’s account found eight transfers to Mr. Eduardo’s account, two overdraft protections to his account, two payments for a credit card held by Mr. Eduardo and eight cash withdrawals by Mr. Eduardo.
   Mr. Eduardo is currently being held at Somerset County Jail. Bail was set at $20,000, with a 10 percent option.