Atlantic County, NJ, employee charged in official misconduct investigation

An Atlantic County employee has been charged in an official misconduct investigation involving the misuse of EBT benefit cards.

The prosecutor's office says last Tuesday, March 11th, 43-year-old Adriana D. Quirindongo of Egg Harbor City, an Atlantic County Department of Family and Community Development clerk, was charged with the following:

• Second-degree official misconduct
• Third-degree crime of pattern of official misconduct
• Third-degree theft by unlawfully taking
• Fourth-degree unlawfully receiving a benefit.

According to officials, this past November, an Atlantic County Department of Family and Community Development investigator contacted the county prosecutor's office after discovering an EBT benefit card "had been compromised by an Atlantic County Employee."

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That investigation allegedly revealed that Quirindongo took three EBT cards from her workplace and unlawfully completed 17 transactions, "thus depriving the rightful card owners of $2,490.06 in benefit funds."

The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office's Professional Standards and Accountability Unit is continuing this investigation. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call (609) 909-7666.

The public is reminded that charges are accusations and all persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.