A Union Police Department sergeant will forfeit his job after admitting to accepting thousands of dollars in overtime pay he didn’t earn, acting Union County Prosecutor Michael A. Monahan announced Thursday.
According to authorities, Michael Wittevrongel, 47, also will serve a term of probation, be ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $6,400, and be permanently barred from ever again seeking or obtaining public employment in New Jersey following a plea to a charge of third-degree theft before state Superior Court Judge Joseph P. Donohue.
The plea was the result of a two-month investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Prosecutions Unit, initiated by a referral from the Union Police Department’s Internal Affairs. The investigation revealed that Wittevrongel collected overtime payments multiple times in October 2017 for shifts he did not work.
Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for Mar. 23rd before state Superior Court Judge Candido Rodriguez, Jr.