Defendant also Charged with Financial Crimes Related to $600,000 in Cash Deposits

TRENTON — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) today announced a state grand jury has indicted a suspended Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office (BCPO) lieutenant after he allegedly removed and tampered with drug evidence, including cocaine and fentanyl, on multiple occasions. The defendant was also charged with financial facilitation of criminal activity, structuring financial transactions, and filing fraudulent tax returns in connection with his making approximately $600,000 in cash deposits into bank accounts he controlled.

A state grand jury in Trenton voted to indict Kevin T. Matthew, 48, of Cedar Grove, New Jersey. Between January 2019 and November 2023, Matthew allegedly signed out narcotics from BCPO’s main evidence vault that had been seized during the course of numerous BCPO narcotics investigations. The indictment contains a series of counts related to nine narcotics cases where Matthew is charged with removing and tampering with seized evidence. In each of those nine cases, Matthew is alleged to have withdrawn narcotics evidence from the vault in amounts consistent with an intent to distribute those substances.

“The alleged misconduct by the defendant represents a stunning, tremendous disservice to the public,” said Attorney General Platkin. “This case highlights the corrosive effects that corruption can have on public safety and trust. Instead of making Bergen County safer, the indictment alleges the defendant repeatedly withdrew from the evidence vault large amounts of dangerous drugs that had already been seized by law enforcement. This alleged conduct was a betrayal of this officer’s colleagues, his agency, his community, and his oath, and the grand jury’s findings reflect the severity of this alleged behavior.”

“The defendant allegedly tampered with drug evidence in case after case, all for personal benefit,” said Drew Skinner, Executive Director of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. “As the charges in this case demonstrate, no one is above the law.”

The investigation revealed that Matthew was a member of the BCPO’s Special Victims Unit, not the BCPO’s dedicated narcotics unit. Because of his official position, however, Matthew had access to law enforcement databases that contained information about narcotics cases and items of evidence, including seized illegal drugs. He allegedly searched for drug cases in those databases and, as alleged in the indictment, he periodically requested items of evidence containing narcotics held by the BCPO in matters in which he had no investigative or official role.

According to the indictment, Matthew periodically signed out and physically removed narcotics evidence that contained cocaine, heroin, or fentanyl and that had been previously tested by the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) Laboratory for purposes that included the use of that evidence in court.

It is alleged that Matthew signed out items of narcotics evidence on various dates between January 2019 and November 2023, even though he lacked any authorized purpose to access that narcotics evidence as part of his job duties.

According to the indictment, Matthew repeatedly returned narcotics evidence with differences in composition, weight, and/or packaging than originally documented by the NJSP Laboratory.

It is further alleged that the lieutenant’s conduct has impaired the evidentiary chain of custody and the items’ reliability as evidence in criminal prosecutions.

Moreover, a review of the defendant’s bank records revealed that during the approximate time period when some of the evidence was being improperly removed from the vault, there was allegedly a series of cash deposits at various financial institutions, spread out across diverse dates. The indictment states that the defendant periodically made multiple cash deposits of U.S. currency totaling approximately $600,000 into accounts he controlled — deposits that are not derived from or traceable to his salary and compensation as a sworn law enforcement officer.

As alleged, the pattern of deposits indicates an intention to avoid banks’ federal requirement to report cash transactions in excess of $10,000 aggregated daily.

The indictment alleges Matthew failed to report or disclose any of the deposits as income to government agencies so that local, state, or federal taxes could be collected.

The indictment charges a total of 50 counts including the following:

• Financial Facilitation of Criminal Activity (1st degree)
• Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Dangerous Substance (1st and 2nd degree)
• Pattern of Official Misconduct (2nd degree)
• Official Misconduct (2nd degree)
• Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance (3rd degree)
• Tampering with Public Records or Information (3rd degree)
• Tampering with Physical Evidence (4th degree)
• Filing a Fraudulent Tax Return in 2022 and 2023 (two separate counts, 3rd degree)
• Structuring one or more transactions with the purpose of evading a transaction reporting requirement (3rd degree)

First-degree charges generally carry a sentence of 10 to 20 years in New Jersey state prison and a fine of up to $200,000. Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in New Jersey state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. Third-degree charges carry a sentence of three to five years in New Jersey state prison and a fine of up to $15,000. Fourth-degree offenses could lead to up to 18 months in New Jersey state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

The Attorney General’s Office thanked the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office for its assistance during the investigation.

Assistant Attorney General Mary Catherine Ryan and Deputy Attorney General Amy Sieminski are prosecuting the case for OPIA, under the supervision of Corruption Bureau Co-Directors Jeff Manis and Eric Gibson, and OPIA Director Skinner.

Charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Defense counsel:
Charles Sciarra, Esq., Clifton, New Jersey