Ex-Director Admits Stealing $175K From Waretown Senior Community, Faking Kid's Cancer

WARETOWN, NJ — The former lifestyle director of a Waretown senior community who stole more than $175K meant for the association and then faked her child having cancer to get her case adjourned has pleaded guilty in both of these instances.

Alicia Campbell, 37, pleaded guilty to theft and obstruction of justice on June 27, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said. The Mays Landing resident is set to be sentenced on Sept. 5 and faces six years in prison for the theft charge and 18 months for the obstruction charge. These sentences are to run concurrently. Campbell will also be required to pay restitution of about $147,000.

Campbell previously served as lifestyle director at Greenbriar Oceanaire Community & Golf Course, a gated senior community in Waretown. She was responsible for providing entertainment, planning events and purchasing items for the senior community, Ocean County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael T. Nolan, Jr. said.

Between January 2019 and January 2022, Campbell used more than $81,000 of the association's funds to buy items for her own personal benefit, Nolan said.

She also used Venmo to send money to third parties from the association's accounts, only to have that money immediately sent back to her and deposited into her personal bank account, exceeding $94,000, Nolan said. Read more: Director Stole $175K From Waretown Senior Community: Cops

Campbell was indicted on charges of theft, financial facilitation and forgery on Jan. 3, 2024; she was then arraigned on Feb. 5, 2024, Nolan said.

In April 2024, Campbell said her minor child was undergoing treatment for leukemia in Philadelphia, Nolan said. That summer, she said the treatments were unsuccessful and her child needed to go to the Texas Children's Hospital for immediate and urgent care, Nolan said.

Campbell supplied documentation purportedly from the doctors treating her child. The court "repeatedly" granted her adjournments so she could take care of her child, Nolan said.

She asked for another adjournment in August 2024, claiming her child was still being treated in Texas, Nolan said. Campbell submitted documentation on letterhead from the Leukemia Program at the Texas Children's Hospital outlining the child's condition and treatment regimen.

However, the prosecutor's office noticed that the hospital's address was wrong, and there was no contact information for the doctor who allegedly wrote the letter, Nolan said.

Detectives investigated and learned that not only was the letter forged, the hospital had never even met Campbell, nor did it provide treatment for her child, Nolan said.

On Oct. 29, 2024, Campbell was charged with tampering with public records or information, impersonation, forgery, obstruction of justice, and making an unsworn false statement to authorities. She was taken into custody at her Mays Landing home and was released from Ocean County Jail due to bail reform.