Ocean County Woman Stole Thousands From Motorcycle Dealership Where She Worked: Prosecutor

FREEHOLD, NJ — A Toms River woman is accused of stealing $27,000 from the motorcycle dealership where she had been the general manager, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said.

Chelsea A. Marra-Kaufmann, 36, has been charged with third-degree theft by taking or exercising unlawful control over property, Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said.

Marra-Kaufmann had been general manager of a motorcycle dealership in West Long Branch, authorities said. They did not name the motorcycle dealership.

Investigators learned Marra-Kaufmann had erroneously received three additional paychecksn in late 2022 without authorization by the dealership’s executive leadership, the prosecutor's office said. The checks amounted to nearly $6,000. Marra-Kaufmann never reported it, prosecutors said.

As investigators looked closer, they learned a $3,300 check Marra-Kaufmann wrote to buy a motorcycle was returned for insufficient funds, and she hid the loss under the guise of multiple bank fees, prosecutors said.

In a separate 2023 sale, she was supposed to pay an $18,000 deposit but never did and then conducted a series of transfers in the accounting system to cover up the loss, prosecutors said.

In all, the theft added up to slightly more than $27,000, prosecutors said.

Marra-Kaufmann was served the charges against her on a summons, with a first appearance tentatively scheduled to take place on Tuesday in Monmouth County Superior Court, the prosecutor's office said.