The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
03-21-1991
WOMAN CHARGED IN THEFT OF $887,000
By Peter J. Sampson, Record Staff Writer
Date: 03-21-1991, Thursday
Section: NEWS
Edition: Four Star B, Also in Two Star, One Star
A North Bergen woman embezzled more than $887,000 over a three-year
period from the Belleville company where she worked as a bookkeeper, an
Essex County grand jury has charged.
In the process, Mirtha Bonet, 42, betrayed a 20-year friendship
with Sara Denehy, the wife of company President Robert Denehy, and
practically destroyed his photochemical manufacturing firm, an executive
of the firm said Wednesday.
Charles Bieber, a vice president of Helion Industries Inc., said
the alleged theft plunged the firm into Chapter 11 bankruptcy
proceedings and forced it to close three plants in South Carolina,
California, and Toronto, furloughing 25 employees.
Bieber said Bonet was fired in May, shortly after company officers
discovered the alleged theft during an independent audit.
Bonet justified her actions by telling Denehy that she had to keep
up "a very high standard of living," Bieber said.
That lifestyle included the purchase of a summer home in Ship
Bottom, a new house in Wayne, "all sorts of jewelry, fine art pieces,
and statues," as well as four new cars for relatives and vacations for
her children in Hawaii, Mexico, and Europe, he said.
"She told us her father had died and left her a nice lump sum of
money and that she sold a house for a good profit and was making a
fortune with an art gallery she opened in Hoboken," Bieber said.
A five-count indictment, handed up Tuesday, charged Bonet with
theft by deception, forgery, and the fraudulent filing of state income
tax returns. If convicted, she could face up to 26 1/2 years in prison
and a $130,000 fine.
Between Feb. 1, 1987, and April 30, 1990, Bonet allegedly wrote
more than 100 checks, in amounts ranging from $2,005 to $9,980, to
herself and her credit card company from the account of her employer.
She was able to cash the checks by forging the signature of Denehy's
wife, the indictment said.
Bonet's attorney, Kevin G. Roe of Hackensack, said Wednesday that
Bonet "maintains her innocence and has a valid defense to the charges,
which have been over-exaggerated in an attempt to scapegoat her for an
otherwise failing business."
Roe said his client remains free on $50,000 bail set after her
arrest last year.
Keywords: NORTH BERGEN. WOMAN. THEFT. FRAUD. BELLEVILLE. BUSINESS. EMPLOYMENT
Copyright 1991 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.