Three Charged With Stealing Money From Ocean County Vets Charity

The word despicable comes to mind when hearing the charges filed against three former workers at a veterans charity in Ocean County.

The three defendants have been indicted by a grand jury for stealing money from Vetwork, a charity that has a stated mission to assist "our veterans in coming home, getting situated, receiving financial, social, and medical aid, and readjusting to domestic life in the U.S."

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office says Jesse Violante, 34, of Tuckerton; Mary Anne Dileo, 67, of Manahawkin; and Gary Mclain, 34, of Little Egg Harbor embezzled money from Vetwork, between February 2018 and June 2019.

An audit commissioned by the Vetwork Board of Directors revealed that each of these workers received extra payments from payroll than they were entitled to.

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During this period of time, Violante was the director of Vetwork and was responsible for overseeing the employees of the organization and certifying all expenses. Dileo was the office manager and handled processing payroll, while Mclain was in charge of community outreach.

The audit and investigation determined that Violante, Dileo, and Mclain took additional payments on certain weeks in excess of their regular payroll checks.

In total, Violante received five extra payments totaling $5,855, while Dileo received twenty-six duplicate payments totaling $19,588, and Mclain received five duplicate payments totaling $4,972. These payments were not authorized and attempts were made to keep them hidden.

According to a release from the Prosecutor's Office, Violante and Dileo and Mclain, have surrendered to authorities and are awaiting trial.