WALL TOWNSHIP, NJ – A Wall Township Police Department Sergeant has been charged with second-degree official misconduct, third-degree theft by deception, third-degree theft by unlawful taking, and fourth-degree falsifying records, on top of the previous second-degree theft by unlawful taking charge, for stealing over $75,000 from his local Police Benevolent Association (PBA) chapter.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced the additional charges on Friday. The charges were filed against James R. Cadigan, 41, who was solely responsible for orchestrating and running the PBA’s annual summertime barbecue fundraiser called “Pignic,” in 2022 and in many preceding years.
An investigation into Cadigan’s activities was initiated last year by the MCPO Professional Responsibility & Bias Crime Bureau, upon receipt of a referral by the Wall Township PBA Local No. 234, after a significant amount of cash proceeds was found missing following the Pignic.
The investigation revealed that Cadigan made numerous unauthorized cash withdrawals from multiple PBA bank accounts and wrote checks to himself and to cash from these accounts starting from at least 2018 and in each year thereafter.
The investigation further revealed that Cadigan used a debit card intended for purchases to benefit the Wall American Youth Football (AYF) nonprofit organization, of which he was the President, to purchase approximately $20,000 worth of items for his own personal use.
These items included pool pumps and chemicals, a quilted hammock, a truck hitch, a karaoke machine, a weight sled trainer, a boot warmer, an inflatable movie screen, grill tools and accessories, a pressure washer, backyard and holiday decorations, and accessories for tapping and serving draft beer.