Three charged with thefts from Aberdeen condo association

FREEHOLD - A Monmouth County grand jury returned a 21-count indictment Aug. 13 charging a woman, her husband and mother with multiple offenses stemming from an investigation of thefts and mismanagement of an Aberdeen condo association's money.

Lauren M. Carty, 30, and her mother, Marie L. Carty, 63, both of Little Silver, face multiple counts of theft by deception, theft by failure to make required disposition, conspiracy, misconduct by a corporate official and misapplication of entrusted property.

Both women were the owners of Property Management Association LLC. In that position, they were responsible for managing the Wellington Place Condominium Association in Aberdeen, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. Authorities said that in this capacity, they controlled incoming payments from condominium owners and outgoing payments to vendors.

Authorities began their investigation after the association was contacted by various vendors regarding a lack of payment for their services.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the investigation revealed that the defendants misappropriated approximately $995,000 of the association's money for personal use from January 2005 until September 2006. Investigators also found that the defendants opened credit card accounts in the name of the association without its permission and used those credit cards for personal use.

Lauren Carty was also a shareholder in the Carty French Development LLC, a contracting company, where she was responsible for bookkeeping, billing, issuing checks and making payments for bills, investigators said.

The investigation showed that she failed to pay various bills and vendors, and as a result, the corporation lost approximately $200,000 during the years 2005 and 2006.

The investigation also showed that both women issued bad checks to various vendors from September 2006 to February 2007, totaling over $75,000.

The indictment also included charges against Lauren Carty's husband, Christopher Reid, 38, with receiving stolen property and theft by deception. Investigators said that Reid received approximately $73,020 of the money stolen from the association.

Authorities said that Reid made car payments for a Mercedes-Benz with checks from the association's bank account, and that he received this money via checks from the association written out to cash and endorsed by him and checks from the association written to him directly.

A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office and the N.J. Department of Treasury, Division of Taxation, concluded that each of the three defendants failed to file state income tax returns for both 2005 and 2006.

"These defendants engaged in a theft which had serious consequences to the Wellington Condominium Association and its homeowners," Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin said in a press release. "The defendants' actions illustrate that they place their selfish interests above the needs of the Association."

A representative of the Wellington Place Condominium Association was not available for comment.

State Superior Court Judge Bette E. Uhrmacher set bail for Marie Carty at $50,000, and $150,000 for Lauren Carty, the Prosecutor's Office said.

Maximum penalties for the offenses are up to 10 years in state prison for a second-degree crime, five years in state prison for a third-degree crime, and 18 months in state prison for a fourth-degree crime.

Police in Holmdel and Little Silver also assisted the investigation.

- John Sutton