Tax collector hearing moved up; trial likely to be postponed

SECAUCUS – The upcoming trial of suspended Secaucus Tax Collector Alan Bartolozzi has been rescheduled and moved up to Sept. 21.
Bartolozzi had originally been scheduled to go on trial on Sept. 28 for allegedly stealing nearly $25,000 from a local union.
However, Assistant Prosecutor Leo Hernandez said Friday that there will now be a hearing held on Sept. 21, at which the impending trial will likely be postponed.
The embattled tax collector, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, was indicted in January on one count of theft by unlawful taking in the third degree.
The charges stem from Bartolozzi’s role as volunteer treasurer for the Secaucus Public Employees’ Association, a municipal workers’ union.
A September trial date was set after Bartolozzi rejected a plea offer in June.
Shortly after a trial date was scheduled in this case, however, Bartolozzi was indicted on six counts of theft and official misconduct in the second degree in connection with his work as Secaucus Tax Collector.
An independent audit requested by the town revealed that $777,725 is missing from the tax office, which Bartolozzi headed for 24 years, before he was suspended without pay in 2009.
The six counts he’s facing in that case, according to Hernandez, include theft by unlawful taking in excess of $75,000; computer theft in excess of $5,000; theft by failure to make required disposition of property received; misapplication of entrusted property of the government; official misconduct; and pattern of official misconduct.
He was indicted on these charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty, in mid-August.
The trial on the union case will now almost certainly be postponed in light of the new charges in the tax office matter, Hernandez stated. – E. Assata Wright