Former Jersey City elected official indicted – The Hudson Reporter

Sudhan Thomas, former president of the Jersey City Board of Education and former Acting Executive Director of the Jersey City Employment and Training Program (JCETP), along with Ocean County attorney Paul Appel, were indicted for embezzlement, money laundering, and fraud in connection with multiple criminal schemes, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced on Nov. 2.

Thomas, 45, was charged in a 26-count indictment with embezzling funds from the JCETP, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with the alleged JCETP theft.

Thomas was charged with wire fraud for allegedly embezzling money from his 2016 school board campaign, wire fraud for allegedly embezzling money from his 2019 school board campaign, bank fraud for allegedly stealing checks issued by and to another school board candidates campaign in 2018, and mail and wire fraud for allegedly defrauding two Florida-based companies.

In January Thomas was charged by criminal complaint with embezzling funds from JCETP. He pleaded not guilty and was released on a $75,000 unsecured bond.

Paul Appel, 78, of Point Pleasant, is charged as Thomass alleged accomplice in several of the schemes, including the alleged embezzlement of funds from the JCETP, alleged money laundering in connection to the JCETP theft, the alleged embezzlement of money from Thomass 2016 school board campaign, and the alleged fraud against the two Florida companies.

Alleged theft of federally funded nonprofit

Thomas served as the JCETPs acting executive director from January 2019 until his resignation in July 2019.

The JCETP is a nonprofit organization that receives federal funding from grants to help residents prepare for and enter the workforce.

From March 2019 through July 2019, Thomas allegedly embezzled more than $45,000 from the JCETP.

During his brief time as the acting executive director, he allegedly caused checks to be drawn from JCETP accounts made payable to other people but which he allegedly received or used to pay his debts and expenses.

Thomas caused certain checks to be issued to Appel who then redirected the funds back to Thomas, including by issuing checks made payable to Next Glocal; Thomas was a director of Next Glocal.

Thomas allegedly embezzled JCETP funds by issuing JCETP checks made out to cash that he either cashed himself or used to obtain bank checks made payable to Next Glocal, which were then deposited into a bank account for Thomass personal use.

Thomas then allegedly used these JCETP funds deposited to Next Glocals bank account to pay for his personal expenses, including payments to his landlord and airfare and hotel expenses for a trip to Hawaii.

In August 2019, former JCETP employee Nuria Sierra filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against Thomas and the JCETP when she lost her job in July after alerting JCETP board members and state officials to several financial improprieties at the agency. She noted that Thomas had allegedly made three checks payable to cash and provided no receipts.

Candidate schemes

In 2016 Thomas was elected to the school board, serving as vice president and then president of the board.

Appel served as treasurer for Thomass 2016 campaign.

From September 2016 to November 2016, Thomas and Appel collected campaign contributions and deposited them into a bank account opened for the 2016 campaign that they both controlled.

Under the guise of collecting repayments for loans to the campaign or reimbursement for other campaign-related expenses, Thomas and Appel allegedly embezzled more than $8,000 from Thomass 2016 campaign for their own personal use.

Thomas ran for re-election to the school board in 2019.

From June 2018 to August 2019, Thomas collected campaign contributions and deposited them into two bank accounts opened for the 2019 campaign.

Under the same guise of collecting repayments for loans to the campaign, Thomas allegedly embezzled approximately $6,000 from the 2019 campaign by causing checks to be issued from the campaign bank accounts made payable to Thomas. He then allegedly cashed those checks or deposited them into a bank account for his personal use.

In November 2018, Thomas was an informal advisor for a candidate in the 2018 school board election. During that time he allegedly claimed that he required $100 checks to pay eight individuals who worked on the unnamed candidates campaign. When the campaign provided Thomas with the requested checks, Thomas allegedly fraudulently endorsed the checks and deposited them into a bank account for his personal use.

Thomas also got a $1,000 contribution check made payable to the candidates 2018 campaign committee which he allegedly fraudulently endorsed and deposited into a bank account for his personal use.

Floridia companies allegedly defrauded

In 2016, Thomas and Appel entered into an agreement with a Florida-based technology company to expand the companys business through a debit card program.

Between May 2016 and October 2016, Thomas and Appel allegedly made false representations regarding work they were undertaking as part of the agreement and induced the technology company to wire them a total of $48,500.

Thomas and Appel allegedly diverted the companys funds to their own bank accounts and used them to pay personal expenses, including payments to Thomass landlord, tuition for Thomass relative, and payments for Appels credit and debit card expenses.

According to the charges, the duo didnt provide any meaningful services or generate any business as required under the agreement with the Florida company, or spend any substantial parts of the funds provided by the company toward fulfilling the agreement.

That same year, Thomas and Appel entered into an agreement with a Florida-based housing company in connection with the sale of modular homes to veterans and the homeless.

Between October 2016 and April 2017, Thomas and Appel allegedly made false representations regarding work they would undertake pursuant to the agreement in order to collect monthly $2,000 payments from the housing company.

The housing company made five $2,000 payments to Thomas and Appel between November 2016 and March 2017.

Thomas and Appel allegedly misappropriated the funds without providing any meaningful services or generating any business as required under the agreement, or spending any substantial part of the funds toward the fulfillment of the agreement.

Facing prison time

Thomas and Appel face a maximum of up to 100 years in prison and up to $2.25 million in fines.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents with the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr., and special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, New York Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael C. Mikulka with the investigation leading to the charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tazneen Shahabuddin of the Special Prosecutions Division in Newark represents the government in this case.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. Thomas and Appel are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

For updates on this and other stories checkwww.hudsonreporter.comand follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Marilyn Baer can be reached atMarilynb@hudsonreporter.com.

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Former Jersey City elected official indicted - The Hudson Reporter