By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Staff Writer
The former paid accountant of a student performing arts group at Princeton University pleaded guilty Friday to embezzling $240,000 from the club, according to state officials.
Thomas John Muza, 56, of Hightstown, pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree theft by unlawful taking before Superior Court Judge Timothy P. Lydon in Mercer County. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Mr. Muza be sentenced to three years in state prison. He must pay restitution of $240,000, including $200,000 that he must pay at sentencing, according to the attorney general’s office.
“Instead of exhibiting the loyalty he should have felt for this celebrated musical-comedy troupe after serving as their accountant for 20 years, Muza exploited the trust he had garnered by stealing nearly a quarter of a million dollars,” Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said. “This was a shameless betrayal.”
Mr. Muza was the accountant for the Princeton Triangle Club of Princeton University, an independent nonprofit touring theater troupe, from 1993 until May 2013, when he was dismissed after discrepancies and suspicious expenditures were discovered in the troupe’s financial records. The Triangle Club, which was founded in 1891, has had a number of famous members through the years, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jimmy Stewart, José Ferrer and Brooke Shields.
In pleading guilty, Mr. Muza admitted that between January 2008 and February 2013, he used his position as accountant for the Triangle Club to steal approximately $240,000. Mr. Muza, who was paid an annual salary of $4,000, was a signatory on the club’s bank account, according to the attorney general’s office.
Speaking on behalf of the Triangle Club’s Board of Trustees, Chairman Marc Segan said, “After we completed our internal investigation, we placed our trust in the attorney general’s office and the justice system, and that confidence has been rewarded. We are grateful for that, and we are also deeply grateful to our loyal alumni, who have expressed concern and various forms of support in the months since this news first broke. The club is also fortunate to have benefited from the wisdom and generosity of its extraordinary attorneys at Cravath, Swaine and Moore LLP.”
The crime has not impaired the club’s performance schedule or operations. Its most recent show, “An Inconvenient Sleuth,” was a great success in its opening at McCarter Theatre in November and on its national tour this January. It will be return to McCarter in Princeton on May 29 and 30.
Mr. Muza also served for many years as general manager of McCarter Theatre, a nonprofit professional theater company based on the campus of Princeton University. He was removed from that position as a result of the theft investigation.
The investigation revealed that Mr. Muza wrote Triangle Club checks to himself and cashed them or deposited them into his personal bank account. He used the money to pay his personal credit card debt, mortgage payments and utility bills, according to the attorney general’s office.
Mr. Muza was initially charged by the Division of Criminal Justice on Nov. 27, 2013, and was indicted on June 2, 2014. The case was referred to the Division of Criminal Justice by the law firm that serves as counsel for the Triangle Club, which conducted an initial investigation of the thefts. The Princeton University Police Department also provided assistance.
“The message here is that white collar crime does not pay,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Muza will pay back every dollar he stole, serve a state prison sentence, and carry a felony record with him the rest of his life.”
Deputy Attorney General Peter Gallagher took the guilty plea for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial and Computer Crimes Bureau. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 4.
Deputy Attorney General Mark Kurzawa and Detective Benjamin Kukis conducted the investigation for the Division of Criminal Justice Financial and Computer Crimes Bureau and presented the case to the state grand jury. Detective James Lanzi handled the investigation for the Princeton University Police Department.
Acting Attorney General Hoffman and Director Honig noted that the Division of Criminal Justice has established a toll-free tip line 1-866-TIPS-4CJ for the public to report corruption, financial crime and other illegal activities. Additionally, the public can log on to the Division of Criminal Justice website at www.njdcj.org to report suspected wrongdoing. All information received through the tip line or website will remain confidential.
