PENSION BOSS, PETTY THIEF
State Division of Pension and Benefits supervisor arrested for allegedly stealing from subordinate’s purse and desk >>
TRENTON » A state pensions employee realized money and other items kept disappearing from her desk.
The 11-year employee lobbed complaints with the higher-ups at the New Jersey Division of Pensions and Benefits, but she was advised just not to bring items to work, the employee’s husband told The Trentonian this week.
“They kept blowing her off,” the husband told the newspaper.
After dealing with her belongings being stolen at work for about a year, the employee bought a $50 video camera and set it up on her desk.
Two days later, she nailed the culprit.
Bernadine Brozena, a supervising pension benefits specialist who earns an annual salary of $96,415, was captured on video stealing money from her subordinate’s pocketbook, said the husband, who The Trentonian will not name to protect the identify of the victim.
Brozena, 57, of Lawrence, was arrested by state police on June 26 at the Pensions and Benefits office located at 50 W. State St. in Trenton, Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio said Tuesday in an email.
When police arrived, they spoke with several supervisors from the Division of Pensions along with the victim, DeBlasio said.
The victim told police that she suspected that her direct supervisor, Brozena, had been stealing from her at work for nearly one year and reported that money, clothing, jewelry and her car keys were lifted by her boss, authorities said.
After reviewing video surveillance, probable cause was developed and Brozena was placed under arrest at her place of employment without incident, prosecutors said. She was charged with one count of third-degree theft by unlawful taking.
A spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Treasury, which oversees the Division of Pensions, said Tuesday that Brozena was suspended without pay following her arrest.
Spokesman Willem O. Rijksen said via email that the department “does not comment on ongoing investigations” when asked about the allegations of how the supervisors handled the initial complaints.
Brozena is a bigwig with the pension department.
In 2014, the 28-year state employee took home a whopping $118,345 by earning her salary of $83,804 and overtime totaling $35,690, records show. The following year, she earned $104,454, making it almost unimaginable that she would allegedly steal $20 to $60 a day from her subordinate, the husband said.
The victim’s husband called the division’s handling of his wife’s complaints as “epically concerning” and “reeking of irresponsibility.”
The husband claims the supervisor his wife took her initial complaints to rents her house out to Brozena and had a car transaction with her.
“There’s financial interest of keeping her employed,” said the husband, who’s a lawyer and is mulling filing official misconduct charges.
Even more egregious, the husband said, is that after Brozena was caught redhanded, the bosses asked if it would be OK instead of the alleged thief being charged, that she would just be transferred to another department.
The husband said his wife would be willing to talk about Brozena’s arrest. But she left a message with a Trentonian on Tuesday night calling the situation “pretty volatile” and not wishing to make comment until Brozena is indicted.
The husband said his wife has been treated poorly at work since the arrest and bosses have tried to quiet her from talking about the events with other employees.
“The other people who had worked there or since retired said they repeatedly warned the management the same thing and nothing has been done,” said the husband, who is a former cop. “She wants to advocate for all of the other people who are victims of this lady. Who knows how many more victims are out there?”
Brozena’s case is active and pending. There are no scheduled court dates at this time, prosecutors said.
On her Facebook page, Brozena said she is a former general manager at Wawa who attended St. Anthony High School in Hamilton.