Bridgewater Couple Charged with Using Their Positions as Trustees of a Community Organization to Transfer Its Valuable Real Estate and $30,000 to Companies They Created

TRENTON, NJ – February 5, 2008 – Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that a Bridgewater man and his wife were charged today with using their positions as trustees of the Martinsville Community Center to deed the center’s valuable land and building for one dollar to a company they created. The couple also allegedly diverted more than $30,000 in funds of the community center to another company they owned.

According to Director Paw, John Cleary, 75, and his wife, Diane, 72, were each charged with second-degree misapplication of entrusted property in connection with the real estate, and third-degree misapplication of entrusted property in connection with the funds.  In addition, a charge of second-degree misapplication of entrusted property was filed against The Now School, a non-profit entity created by the couple that now has title to the property formerly owned by the Martinsville Community Center at 1961 Washington Valley Road.

Second-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $150,000 fine, while third-degree crimes carry a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $15,000 fine. The charges were filed today in Superior Court in Somerset County by State Investigator Harry Maronpot Jr. of the Division of Criminal Justice, who investigated with State Investigator Michael Behar.  Deputy Attorney General Thomas Clark is prosecuting the case.

The charges will be served on the defendants by complaint summons. The couple must appear in court on February 15 to answer the charges. The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The building at 1961 Washington Valley Road has been leased by the Holy Spirit Fellowship Church.  It is charged that between October 2000 and June 2006, rent payments from the church to the Martinsville Community Center totaling $30,400 were diverted by the Clearys to a company called Premax Corp., of which John Cleary is a 50 percent shareholder and Diane Cleary owns the other 50 percent. On June 30, 2006, John and Diane Cleary, as trustees of the Martinsville Community Center, deeded the land and building of the community center to The Now School, which purportedly is an Internet-based nonprofit dedicated to philosophy and education. In reality, The Now School does not even have a Web site. The property has been assessed at $380,000.