FREEHOLD – A local man has been charged with stealing more than a quarter of a million dollars from his former employer over the course of a little more than a year, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced Wednesday.
Mark A. Cocciardi, Jr., 46, of Ocean Township is charged with second-degree Theft by Deception.
The charge marks the result of an investigation by members of the MCPO Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Bureau. Leveraging review of a variety of business and financial records, the investigation revealed that at various times from August 2021 into October 2022, while employed as a sales manager at a construction supply company in Asbury Park, Cocciardi used sales receipts to process fictitious returns of building materials that customers had previously purchased. He then issued himself credit for the materials on his personal credit cards – just short of $268,800 in all.
Cocciardi was arrested without incident yesterday and served with a summons complaint pending future proceedings in Monmouth County Superior Court.
This case is being prosecuted by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Lawrence Nelsen, Director of the Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Bureau. Information about Cocciardi’s legal representation was not immediately available.
Anyone with information about this or related matters is urged to contact MCPO Detective Bob Afanasewicz at 800-533-7443.
Convictions on second-degree criminal charges are commonly punishable by up to 10 years in state prison.
Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.
