Scammers snared

It's another in the long line of N.J. news items that earn the "you can't make this up" designation. The latest is about the police chief from a tiny Gloucester County town - and his wife - who stole $150,000 from a charity, the attorney general's office announced Tuesday. Not just any charity, but MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), which complements the public safety work that police do. Why MADD? Well, both were former leaders of the state chapter and the chief is on the national board of directors, so we can guess they know how the charity works.

They took the money by forming dummy corporation to produce promotional items. But nothing was ever ordered or delivered, or even made. The chief, as an officer for the state MADD chapter, approved the check request forms for the phony orders and then pocketed the very real MADD money the requests produced.

Top state law enforcement officials quite properly decried how a police chief can betray the public trust, as this one is charged with doing. If found guilty, this guy and his wife should get the maximum: 10 years in prison and fines up to $150,000. And let's hope the chief is among the first public officials subject to the new pension-forfeit law. His wrongdoing might not be directly connected to his work, but he wouldn't have become involved with MADD if it weren't for his job. What he did is an outrage. He shouldn't get one penny of taxpayer pension money.