The mayor says the township will track unanswered questions as investigators work to recover money stolen from a land-acquisition payment.
CRANBURY, NJ – Cranbury will assemble a public record of residents’ questions about the theft of approximately $26 million in municipal funds, including questions officials cannot yet answer, Mayor Lisa Knierim said in a Nov. 11 update following a contentious Township Committee meeting.
The mayor said officials were preparing a frequently asked questions document and a dedicated section of the township website. Her Wednesday update also directed residents to municipal budgets and audit reports after requests for the township’s financial history.
The money was stolen during a Sept. 28 wire transfer intended to purchase land for Cranbury’s affordable housing obligations, according to the township’s Nov. 6 account.
Officials said investigators had frozen nearly $17.3 million. Based on the approximate figures released, that leaves about $8.7 million outside the amount reported frozen. Frozen assets have not necessarily been returned to the township, and the published figures do not establish the final taxpayer loss.
The investigation involves local, county, state and federal agencies, led by Cranbury police and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. The township said it was also evaluating insurance coverage and potential recovery.
The timing of public disclosure became a central issue at the Nov. 9 meeting. News 12’s Nov. 10 coverage described residents demanding explanations for the loss and for the period before the public learned about it.
Police Chief Giuseppe N. DeChiara took responsibility for decisions about releasing information. In a Nov. 9 statement, he said a confidentiality directive initially applied to township employees and was subsequently extended to the mayor and committee members.
DeChiara said earlier disclosure could have prompted those responsible to move the funds before investigators could trace or secure them. He described the frozen assets as the largest identifiable portion of the proceeds and said the remaining money appeared to have moved through multiple accounts and other financial channels.
Before the meeting, the township announced plans to introduce ordinances creating assistant township administrator and assistant chief financial officer positions, along with a proposed appointment of PKF O’Connor Davies for financial consulting. Those proposals were presented as steps to support administrative and financial operations; the Nov. 6 announcement did not establish that the positions had been filled.
The mayor’s latest update did not announce additional recovered money or resolve the remaining financial exposure. Residents can review the township’s finance records while officials prepare the promised answers and continue the investigation.