The former treasurer of a Red Bank nonprofit has been criminally charged with stealing thousands of dollars from the organization over the course of two years, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced Monday.
Officials sad Hazim Yassin, 32, of the Lincroft section of Middletown is charged with third-degree Theft by Unlawful Taking.
An investigation by the MCPO Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Bureau was initiated earlier this year, after the Red Bank Education Foundation performed a financial audit and identified a series of unauthorized withdrawals from its bank account that could not be reconciled – including four made in 2020, when the foundation was inactive due to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The investigation showed that at the time of the withdrawals, Yassin had served as treasurer of the nonprofit, which funds educational opportunities in the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics for local low-income and/or disadvantaged students.
A review of financial records revealed that Yassin was responsible for the withdrawals, which totaled $7,650, and reference to some of them was missing from the nonprofit’s treasury reports.
Yassin was served the charge against him on a summons, pending a first appearance to take place in Monmouth County Superior Court.
This case has been assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Lawrence Nelsen, Director of the MCPO Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Bureau.
Yassin is being represented by Robert A. Honecker, Jr., with an office in Freehold.
If convicted, Yassin would face a prison term of up to five years.
Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendants have all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.