Previous Newark Housing Authority (NHA) director of facts technologies Venancio Diaz admitted yesterday to embezzling NHA money to buy digital equipment for resale, U.S. Lawyer Philip Sellinger introduced right now.

According to Sellinger’s launch, Diaz purchased a whole of 1,509 cell telephones, tablets, and other similar electronic devices among 2013 and 2021 that he activated for a brief time period on the NHA’s account right before reselling them. In total, Diaz embezzled $594,425 for his own use.

Theft of an company receiving federal money carries a utmost sentence of ten several years in jail and a highest great of $250,000 or twice the sum embezzled, whichever is larger (which in this scenario is the latter) Diaz’s sentencing is scheduled for August 4.

Diaz is the latest in a series of Newark officials charged by federal prosecutors above the last couple months.

Previously this month, Newark West Ward Councilman Joseph McCallum pleaded responsible to accepting bribes and kickbacks from developers, contracting organizations, and other businesses in exchange for obtain and assist obtaining community contracts as aspect of a scheme to defraud Newark and the Newark Neighborhood Financial Progress Corporation, now acknowledged as Devote Newark!

Previous Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia (D-Hoboken), who had served as director of the Newark Office of Financial and Housing Progress, was indicted final October for his position in a bribery plan.