Ex-CFO Stole $2.5M From Disability Org. In Burlington Co.: AG

BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ — The former chief financial officer of a not-for-profit company in Burlington County stole more than $2.5 million from the organization, authorities said Friday. Her husband has also been charged.

Colleen Witten was the comptroller and later the CFO of the Occupational Training Center of Burlington County, a company that serves adults with disabilities.

From May 2019 to March 2024, Colleen Witten misappropriated $2.58 million from the company's bank accounts, the OAG's said. Some of that money was laundered through a landscaping company she owned, officials said.

Colleen Witten, 55, of Buena, transferred more than $500,000 to a landscaping company she controlled in an effort to conceal the source of the money, the OAG said. She also failed to pay $174,480 in income taxes over a four-year period, according to investigators.

She was charged with financial facilitation of criminal activity (first-degree), theft by unlawful taking (second-degree), four counts of failure to pay taxes (third-degree), four counts of filing a fraudulent tax return (third-degree), and one count of forgery (fourth-degree).

Her husband — Allan Witten, 55, of Buena — was charged with receiving stolen property (third-degree). The charge stems from March 2024, when the OAG says he received $189,000 that he knew was stolen.