Governor Phil Murphy | Official Website of Phil Murphy
Governor Phil Murphy | Official Website of Phil Murphy
TRENTON — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) announced the sentencing of a Mercer County woman for theft exceeding $268,000 in survivor benefits fraudulently collected from her deceased husband’s pension after she had remarried.
Sandra VonScheven, 49, of Hamilton, New Jersey, was ordered on August 23, 2024 by state Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Hughes to pay full restitution to the New Jersey Division of Pension and Benefits. Judge Hughes also imposed a probation term conditioned on 364 days in county jail. The jail term was suspended pending successful completion of probation.
VonScheven was indicted by a state grand jury in January 2021 following an investigation by the OPIA Corruption Bureau and the Pension Fraud and Abuse Unit of the State Treasury’s Division of Pensions and Benefits. She reached a plea agreement with the Attorney General’s Office in June 2024.
“This sentence should serve as a warning that we will not allow individuals to enrich themselves at the expense of New Jersey taxpayers and public servants,” said Attorney General Platkin. “This crime went on for nearly a decade, but it was ultimately detected and the defendant held responsible.”
“For years the defendant unlawfully collected taxpayer funds she knew she should no longer be getting, instead of doing the right thing and informing the State that she had remarried,” said Drew Skinner, Executive Director of OPIA. “As a result of this case, the defendant will be held to account and to repay her ill-gotten gains.”
According to publicly filed documents and statements in open court, VonScheven began collecting survivor spousal benefits from her deceased husband's pension in November 2001. Her late husband had been a retired municipal police officer in New Jersey. Surviving spouses are entitled to widow or widower’s benefits under the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System until they remarry.
The Division of Pensions and Benefits notified OPIA that VonScheven continued receiving survivor spousal benefits despite remarrying on January 15, 2010. She knowingly accepted these benefits through November 2019, totaling over $268,000.
The case was handled by Deputy Attorneys General Brian Uzdavinis and Adam Gerken of the OPIA Corruption Bureau under supervision from Bureau Deputy Chief Frank Valdinoto, Bureau Chief Jeff Manis, and OPIA Executive Director Skinner.
Defense Attorney: Edward Bertuccio from Freehold Borough, New Jersey
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