Rosemary McClave

The decision of a rookie Superior Court Judge to allow Rosemary McClave to enter a pre-trial intervention program (against the wishes of the Attorney General) and avoid the possible loss of her freedom and pension is likely to be second guessed by some reform oriented legislators.  Look for someone to introduce a bill that removes public officials from the PTI eligible list.  The 66-year-old McClave was indicted earlier this year for using former Assemblyman Neil Cohen's campaign funds to pay for personal items.

In a way, the allegations against McClave were similar to the ones against the late Anthony Impreveduto, who also got caught in 2004 using his campaign war chest to pay for personal expenses.  Impreveduto, the lone notch on Attorney General Peter Harvey's war on corruption belt, had to resign his Assembly seat, spend five years on probation, and pay some hefty fines - not that there's anything wrong with that. McClave gets to keep her day job as the municipal Treasurer for Teterboro, population 18, at least for now.

The state Attorney General's opposition to McClave's participation in the PTI program increases speculation that she did not help them with their long-running probe of McClave friend Charlotte DeFilippo, the Union County Democratic chair.

Indicted in March on one count of third degree theft by deception and six counts of third degree tampering with public records or information, the former campaign treasurer of former Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Roselle) has entered a Pretrial Intervention (PTI) Program with Mercer County over the objection of the state Attorney General's Office.

Under the provisions of the court-ordered program, which requires 50 hours of community service, the state charges against Rosemary McClave of Hillside would be dismissed.

With that in mind, Deputy Attorney General Erik Daab on July 21st wrote a letter to David Eberhardt, criminal division manager for Mercer, expressing the state's objection to the program for McClave, chief financial officer of Teterboro with longstanding ties to the Union County Democratic Committee.

Daab reminded Eberhardt that in an audeotaped interview with state police, McCalave admitted that between March of 2003 and November of 2006, she wrote ten checks to herself totaling $5,562.54 from the Election Fund of Neil Cohen.

HILLSIDE – A campaign spokesman for mayoral candidate Jerome Jewell said Rosemary McClave no longer occupies her position as treasurer of the Hillside Democratic Committee. 

“Rosemary was replaced as treasurer of the Democratic Committee last night,” said Jewell campaign consultant Pat Politano. “She has stepped aside. Arthur Kobitz is the new treasurer for the Hillside Democratic Committee.” 

Attorney General Anne Milgram Monday charged the 66-year old McClave, former Assemblyman Neil Cohen’s campaign treasurer, with stealing money from his election fund to use for personal expenses.

Jewell is running for mayor with the backing of the Hillside Democratic Committee.

Rosemary McClave the campaign treasurer was indicted yesterday on charges that she used Neil Cohen's campaign account to pay for clothing and toys from QVC.  The indictment, which carries a mandatory prison sentence if she's convicted, doesn't seem to bother the Borough of Teterboro, the Bergen County municipality with a population of eighteen that employs her as municipal treasurer.  The Borough Manager told PolitickerNJ.com today that the allegations against McClave are unrelated to her job as the official custodian of taxpayer funds, so she can continue to hold her local government post as she awaits trial.  State law does not require public officials who handle taxpayer dollars to step down while accused of corrupt activities.

Rosemary McClave, who was indicted yesterday for allegedly using former Assemblyman Neil Cohen’s (D-Roselle) campaign account to pay for personal expenses while she was his campaign treasurer, remains employed and active as Teterboro’s Chief Financial Officer.  

McClave could not be reached at her office this morning, but Borough Manager Paul F. Busch said that she will remain in her position, at least until her case is through.

“She’s been indicted, which means there have been some accusations that the grand jury has found made the charges indictable. But she has not been convicted and none have anything to do with her employment here,” said Busch. “We’ll just have to wait and see how this all plays out.”

Anne "Little Chris" Milgram has been on a roll lately, announcing six politically relevant indictments in the last two weeks.  With the exception of Assemblyman Joseph Vas (D-Perth Amboy), the others are relatively minor players: Antonio Santana, who allegedly falsified three absentee ballots in Newark; former Perth Amboy Democratic Chairman Raymond Geneske; two former Vas aides, Melvin Ramos and Jeffrey Gumbs; and Rosemary McClave, the Treasurer for the and Neil Cohen's campaign treasurer.

There is some speculation that the indictment of the 66-year-old McClave might be more about her longtime political alliance with fellow Hillside resident Charlotte DeFilippo than about allegations that she used Cohen's campaign account to pay for $5,562 in personal expenses charged to an American Express card.  According to published reports, Milgram's office has spent the last two years looking at top Union County officials, including DeFilippo, the Executive Director of the Union County Improvement Authority.

Attorney General Anne Milgram today charged former Assemblyman Neil Cohen’s campaign treasurer with stealing money from his election fund to use for personal expenses.

Milgram indicted Rosemary McClave, 66, a Hillside Democratic activist who works as the Borough of Teterboro’s (population 18 as of the 2000 census) chief financial officer, for allegedly writing $5,562.54 in checks to herself  (payable to American Express) that were purportedly meant to reimburse campaign expenses.  But Milgram charged that McClave never put any campaign expenses on the credit card, instead using it to buy clothing from QVC and toys.  

Cohen, for his part, was indicted by Milgram in December on child pornography charges.  He resigned last summer after his the legislators he shares an office with, state Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union) reported him to the Attorney General’s after a staffer found pornographic images of what appeared to be an underage girl printed out from his legislative office computer.  

There is nothing out of the ordinary about legislative staffers drawing down paychecks from both the government and from campaign committees.  But the case of Gleisha Givens, who served as Chief of Staff to Assemblyman Neil Cohen, looks a little strange.

Over the last seven months, Givens has received eighteen separate payments totaling $23,400 from Cohen’s campaign while working full-time for his legislative district office.  All of these payments came after the 2007 election, where Cohen had just token opposition.  They are listed on Cohen’s Election Law Enforcement Commission reports as bonus payments, or payments for extra work.

Cohen resigned Sunday amid allegations that he had child pornography on a legislative office computer.