FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Arlene Golub, the former director of the Freehold Township Senior Center, pleaded guilty on April 30 to theft by failing to remit a $4,284 payment back to township coffers from a local travel agency that had arranged two vacation cruises for senior center members, Monmouth County Prosecutor Peter E. Warshaw Jr. announced.
Golub, 70, of Freehold Township, entered her plea before state Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Scully, sitting in Freehold. Scully is scheduled to sentence Golub on June 22.
Golub, who retired from her position as the senior center director in September 2011, pleaded guilty to theft by failure to make required disposition of property, a third-degree crime, pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, according to a press release.
Under the terms of the agreement, the prosecutor’s office will recommend that Golub receive a $5,000 fine, pay restitution of $200 to Freehold Township, perform 100 hours of community service and, by order of the court, forever forfeit the right to hold public office in New Jersey.
Golub was represented by attorney Darren M. Gelber, of the firm Wilentz, Goldman and Spitzer, PA. In a statement provided to the News Transcript, Gelber said, “Arlene Golub was a dedicated and longtime employee who faithfully served the Township of Freehold for many years. She helped found the Freehold Township Senior Center, and served as a driving force to offer township seniors a wide variety of programming.
“Her guilty plea reflects her acknowledgement of a serious lapse in judgment — her failure to turn over to the township immediately upon receipt funds that should have been deposited in municipal accounts. All township funds have been accounted for, and the township suffered no economic loss. There is no evidence of any other financial irregularity involving Mrs. Golub, who has cooperated in the investigation.
“There will undoubtedly be those who choose to capitalize upon Mrs. Golub’s admitted mistake by smearing the good name and reputation she has built over her many years of service. Those who choose instead to be fully informed will soon realize that this isolated incident does not and could not erase all of the good that Mrs. Golub has accomplished for the senior citizens of Freehold,” Gelber said.
According to the press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, a joint investigation conducted by the prosecutor’s office and the Freehold Township Police Department determined that Golub, as part of her job duties as the director of the senior center, organized two cruise ship excursions — one departing on March 14, 2009, and the other on May 27, 2010.
Both trips were arranged through the same Marlboro-based travel agency. Although each participating senior made his or her own travel arrangements through the agency, the agency had agreed to remit money back to Freehold Township because all of the senior center travelers used the same travel agency.
Pursuant to their agreement, the travel agency tendered a total of four checks back to Freehold Township. Golub instructed the travel agency to make the checks payable to her.
Thereafter, Golub endorsed one of the checks for $1,528 for deposit into the authorized Freehold Township account.
However, the remaining three checks, totaling $6,584, were deposited by Golub into her own personal bank account.
From these proceeds, Golub paid $2,300 to a bus company that transported senior travelers from Freehold Township to the two different locations from where the ships departed. Golub, however, improperly retained and used the remaining $4,284, according to the press release.
Golub later had a meeting with township officials to gain support for hosting another senior cruise.
One official complained that the township had not made any money from the last two cruises. This prompted Golub to finally return $4,084 to Freehold Township on Aug. 25, 2011 ($200 less than the full amount as a result of a miscalculation by Golub), according to the press release.
The case was assigned to Assistant Prosecutor John Loughrey of the Special Prosecutions Bureau in the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.