Councilman Rob Acerra Calls on Monmouth County Prosecutor to Launch Criminal Probe

Accusations of Property Tax Fraud & Sexual Harassment Abound in Lawsuit

Mayor Downplays Allegations, Urging “Confidentiality”

Today, Ocean Township Councilman Rob Acerra sent a letter to Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni requesting an immediate investigation into possible criminal activity allegedly perpetrated by a member of the Ocean Township Council, and confirmed that the Prosecutor’s office intends to move forward in examining the allegations.

“I spoke on the phone with the Prosecutor’s office, and I can confirm that they seem to be intent on moving forward with investigating these allegations after receiving my letter,” said Councilman Rob Acerra.

In a recent lawsuit filed against the Township by an ex-employee, not only were allegations of property tax fraud detailed, there were allegations of a hostile work environment fostered by intimidation, retaliation, and sexual harassment. The township employee in question holds a managerial position, and he allegedly called women “b**ches,” discussed their “kankels,” enacted men beating women and the office, and repeatedly violated the personal space of female employees.

“I am coming forward with this information for three reasons,” Acerra said. “First, we need to swiftly learn if any of my colleagues on the Council engaged in criminal behavior by committing property tax fraud, as alleged in the lawsuit. Secondly, the residents of the Township must immediately be made aware of the tax fraud and sexual harassment that may be occurring within the walls of their government. And the other reason I am coming forward is I believe this information never would have seen the light of day had I not done so, evidenced by the Mayor’s text messages to the rest of the Council attempting to strong-arm us into using ‘confidentiality’ as it pertains to this incident.”

“I am the lone watchdog that Ocean residents have on the Council right now, as evidenced by this particularly disturbing series of events,” Acerra continued. “Furthermore, to watch the Mayor shrug off allegations of fraud and sexual harassment at “bulls**t” in a news story yesterday displays a level of callousness which calls his leadership abilities into serious question. In the era of “Me Too,” our default position should always be to take allegations such as these extremely seriously and investigate accordingly. If re-elected this Tuesday I will be moving for the appointment of an independent investigator within the Township to get to the bottom of these allegations and help us implement appropriate reforms.”

Councilman Rob Acerra is a candidate for Council with his running-mate Victor Ashkenazi in the Tuesday, May 14th election on the “Ocean First” ticket.

EDITOR’S NOTE: