North Brunswick Woman Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $42,000 From RWJ

A former head cashier for the Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Group pleaded guilty Friday to embezzling approximately $42,000 from her employer, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced.

Dewyna Brown, 38, of North Brunswick, the former head cashier for the Cash Administration Unit of the Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, pleaded guilty to a charge of third-degree theft by unlawful taking before Superior Court Judge Bradley J. Ferencz in Middlesex County.

Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that she be sentenced to up to 364 days in the county jail as a condition of a term of probation.  She will be permanently barred from public employment and must pay restitution of approximately $42,000.

As head cashier, Brown was responsible for keeping track on spreadsheets of the money bags received by her unit and the envelopes in each bag containing cash, checks or credit card slips received as co-payments from patients for appointments and medical services.  In pleading guilty, Brown admitted that she stole envelopes containing cash and falsified the log sheets she prepared in order to cover up the thefts.

The state’s investigation revealed that, from 2011 until her suspension in January 2013, Brown routinely stole the cash from one or more envelopes on a daily basis, and omitted the envelopes from the total on the corresponding spreadsheet.  She took the cash for her personal use and hid the empty envelopes in her office.

Deputy Attorney General Heather Taylor took the guilty plea for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.  Sentencing for Brown is scheduled for May 19.

The case was referred to the Division of Criminal Justice by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, which uncovered the thefts as a result of an internal audit.  Sgt. David Salzmann, Detective Timothy Herron and Deputy Attorney General Taylor conducted the investigation for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.