TRENTON, N.J. - A New Jersey police chief and his wife were charged Tuesday with embezzling $150,000 from Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Frank and Bernice Winters of Newfield used the money to make mortgage and car payments and to eat out, state Attorney General Stuart Rabner said. Frank Winters is the police chief in Clayton and a councilman in Newfield.
Winters was suspended from his job. Rabner said that Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton would temporarily take over management of the police department in Clayton, a town of 7,000 south of Philadelphia.
The couple have both headed MADD's New Jersey operation and Winters also served on the national board. They allegedly set up a dummy corporation and charged MADD for promotional items that were never delivered.
"The alleged scheme is shocking on a number of levels," Rabner said. "Mothers Against Drunk Driving is a hard-working, grassroots organization founded more than 25 years ago to combat drunk driving and underage drinking. Ripping off donations to MADD, which were intended to make our streets and highways safer, is unconscionable."
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