A New Jersey charity for the families of deceased police officers misused donations to fund personal expenses that included vacations to Disney World for members of its board of directors, the state’s attorney general said Friday.
The state sued the Brick-based National Police Relief Association and some of its board members, alleging they misused more than $200,000 in donations, raised primarily to benefit the families of cops killed in the exercise of their functions. Two of the defendants are former employees of the state Department of Corrections.
The lawsuit “alleges that these illegal payments and benefits to board members amounted to approximately fifteen times the total amount given to deceased law enforcement officers or their families and more than double the amount intended for charitable purposes.” , the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
The state alleges that most of the embezzled funds went to direct payments to two married board members; An additional $25,000 was reportedly spent on cars, meals, and leisure travel, including the trip to Disney World.
The AG’s office also said it had obtained a court order preventing the charity or its board members from raising or distributing any new funds.
The association’s website is no longer functional and information about lawyers was not immediately available.