Toms River Tax Thief Gets Probation

The former New Jersey tax investigator from Toms River who admitted skimming $6,630 from two taxpayer accounts is sentenced to three years' probation.

Joseph Stack, 62, is also prohibited from public employment in New Jersey and is required to pay full restitution. He was sentenced in Mercer County Superior Court.

Stack pleaded guilty in January to theft by unlawful taking, a third-degree felony. He was indicted in August 2009.

Stack testified that between August 1, 2005 and August 31, 2006, he used his access to computer records in the Division of Taxation to dip into two business accounts, one belonging to someone already dead, to move the money through three transfers into accounts belonging to a living relative and to his dead mother.

Stack admitted preparing state income tax returns on behalf of his late mother and his relative, claiming that the transferred sums represented pre-paid taxes.

The discrepancy surfaced during an internal audit. Stack was dismissed in March 2009