Loveladies Woman Convicted of Theft

A former bookkeeper for a Ship Bottom business awaits a July 26 sentencing date, for diverting store money to pay off credit card bills and buy a car.

Gina Harles, 56, of Loveladies, was convicted in Toms River of computer theft and theft counts after a five-week trial.

She was placed in the Ocean County Jail and could be sentenced to as many as 10 years in prison, along with paying $53,000 in restitution.

According to investigators in the office of Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato, the owners of Hot Spring Spas, LTD, alerted law enforcement about suspected thefts in late 2007.

Ship Bottom Police Detective Michael Nash and Ocean County Prosecutor Detective Thomas Tiernen began building the case after a forensic accounting audit supported their claims.

Harle was indicted in 2010. During the trial, prosecutors contended that between 2004 and 2007, she ran up charges on a company credit card and used the firm's money to pay her own bills off and place $26,000 toward a new Volvo.

Assistant Prosecutors Martin Anton and Peter Ryan presented evidence that Harle accessed a computer network between June 2006 and July 2007, using company proceeds to pay about $6,000 worth of personal bills via the Internet.