South Jersey Woman Stole Her Dead Mother's Pension Benefits: AG

TRENTON - A South Jersey woman has been indicted by a state grand jury for stealing $140,873 in state pension benefits that belonged to her mother, who died eight years ago, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said

Diana A. Heil, 48, Pleasantville, was indicted recently on charges of second-degree theft by unlawful taking and second-degree misapplication of entrusted property or property of government, Grewal said

Heil’s mother was receiving survivor’s benefits as the beneficiary of Heil’s deceased father, who had been a member of the New Jersey Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund, at the time of her death in 2005. The state Division of Pensions and Benefits was not told of the mother’s death and made monthly payments for eight years into a joint checking account that the mother shared with Heil, Grewal said.

Those payments accrued in the mostly inactive checking account until 2013, when the bank alerted Heil about the deposits, and Heil in turn alerted the state about her mother’s death. The Division of Pensions and Benefits subsequently conducted an audit and contacted Heil about returning the funds that were deposited into the account.

Heil acknowledged that the money did not belong to her and promised to return it. But she instead made a series of large withdrawals and wire transfers from the bank account, resulting in the theft of approximately $140,873 in state funds, he said.

Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. The indictment was handed up to Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson in Mercer County, who assigned the case to Gloucester County, where Heil will be ordered to appear in court at a later date for arraignment.

The charge is the result of an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau, conducted with assistance from the New Jersey Division of Pensions and Benefits.

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