Former Lawrence Mayor Charged With $75K Theft in Asbury Park Housing Authority Role

Article by Anthony Bellano

Former Lawrence Township Mayor Mark W. Holmes was charged with theft after he allegedly stole more than $75,000 in state money while he was the Asbury Park Housing Authority executive director, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced Friday morning.

Holmes, 52, was arrested at his home Thursday evening and charged with second degree theft by deception. An investigation conducted by the Monmouth County Prosecutor Office's Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Bureau exposed the fact that Holmes stole more than $75,000 by diverting state grant funds, collecting reimbursements for unauthorized meals and double-dipping on per diem payments when traveling, Gramiccioni said.

Holmes served as the executive director for the APHA from November, 2008 through April, 2011. Before that, he was the authority's Deputy-Director, Gramiccioni said.

A few months before becoming executive director, Holmes applied for a $99,897 grant award from the State Department of Labor and Workforce Development. He received the grant, a Literacy Skills Training Grant intended for training in computers and other marketable skills to Asbury Park public housing residents. However, Holmes schemed to embezzle the grant money, according to Gramiccioni.

With Holmes as the APHA executive director between Nov. 19, 2008 and Aug. 14, 2009, the grant's sum was reduced by $75,721.40, and transferred into the authority's general operating fund. The money was ultimately moved into accounts opened and controlled by Holmes, Gramiccioni said.

He also used a debit card and an American Express credit card to make multiple unauthorized purchases in the amount of $2,869.86 for his benefit during a trip to Florida in January and February, 2011, Gramiccioni said. He used the debit card about 127 times for the unauthorized purchase of meals in Asbury Park and Lawrence Township, in the amount of $16,985.62.

Holmes also submitted reimbursement vouchers for meals totaling $3,397.28, despite paying for the meals using the American Express credit card.

Holmes was lodged in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, on $70,000 bail with the option to post 10 percent, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Francis J. Vernoia, P.J. Cr.