Nj Dav Post Commander

[Berta]

BELLEVILLE —" Nunzio Cupo, of Toms River, former commander of Disabled American Veterans Chapter 22, pled guilty Aug. 3 to taking $300,000 from the Belleville/Nutley chapter’s treasury.

The case was heard before criminal court Judge John C. Kennedy at the Essex County Court House in Newark.

Cupo was required to write a check for $75,000 to the DAV officers on the day he pled guilty to the embezzlement charges, with another $85,000 due at sentencing Sept. 28.

The DAV victims will be allowed to speak at the sentencing.

The return of the funds is part of conditions of his sentence set by the Essex County Probation Office. An arrangement will be set up as to how much restitution he will pay each month.

“We are heartbroken that a man who is supposed to be a disabled veteran let us down so hard,” Joseph Fornoratto said. “He was commander for 20 years.”

Cupo, 72, has no prior record and no formal complaint was filed. He pled guilty to to third-degree theft. He’s not facing prison time.

“If he doesn’t make the payments, he goes to jail though. The judge was very stern about that,” Fornoratto said.

Membership chairman Fosco Oliveti said cases like these are often lost in the paper shuffle at criminal court, but Fornoratto made an impression on the Essex County Court House personnel.

“When I came bagging on their door a second time, they told me they’d take care of it,” Fornoratto said.

He also said Essex County Prosecutor Paula T. Dow, a good friend of his, was very helpful, as were many others in the prosecutor’s office. He said they were sympathetic to the case since their parents had been in the service.

Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Kim Acocella said after Fornoratto and other DAV members brought the county what they felt were the facts of the case, an independent investigation of the embezzlement began. She said there was no grand jury or trail since it was an open investigation and Cupo pled guilty before the case was indicted.

“Once Nunzio and his (West Orange) lawyer Anthony Mautone was presented with the case, a plea agreement was arranged with consultation with Joe Fornoratto,” she said, “The DAV victims were present in court at all times throughout the whole process.”

Stalemating the new building

The money Cupo admitted to stealing was from the 2003 sale of the previous DAV headquarters on Washington Avenue. The chapter received $400,000 for the building, which was close to 80 years old, and in need of extensive repair. The group currently meets at the senior center in Belleville.

They were looking around for a building to buy after the sale, but that never happened.

“There were nine or 10 buildings we could have brought but, he (Cupo) kept having reasons we shouldn’t buy them. He’d always refuse,” Fornoratto said.

By early 2006, it was apparent the funds from the sale were being siphoned out of DAV accounts at Wachovia Bank in Belleville into Cupo’s personal accounts. The chapter members became suspicious when Cupo responded to inquiries of the funds being down to $192,000. He told them he bought stocks with the money for the DAV, but that they had dropped in value.

Then the members began to get even more suspicious when Cupo wanted to make a large donation to a fundraising affair the group did not approve of. This all came to light in February 2006, and at the next DAV member meeting in March, Cupo was voted out of office and Joe Fornoratto became the new commander.

“We trusted him and didn’t believe that he’d do such a thing,” Oliveti said.

When they finally checked the books, the situation was worse than they thought. They realized Cupo had been cashing large unauthorized checks in amounts ranging from $500 to $30,000 at Wachovia.

“Once treasurer Frank Plelaia saw this, he nearly dropped dead right there in the bank. He hasn’t been well ever since and refuses to take any officer positions or ever sign a check for the DAV again,” Fornoratto said.

Plelaia was grief stricken because Cupo had gotten his signature on some of the checks without his knowledge. While Plelaia was not in any way responsible for Cupo’s extravagant spending, the fact that he was associated with the crime left him severely shaken.

The new commander also indicated there is no paper trail that Cupo ever was disabled. It appears that Cupo never went to the VA hospital in either Newark or Elizabeth, did not receive any vet services or disability checks, he said.

Big money, big spending

Oliveti said Cupo was draining the accounts for about one-and-a-half years. He said some members suspect a gambling habit as the reason. They believe the ex-commander’s profit-sharing condo in Cancun and a boat in a lot in Absecon, a town 80 miles from Atlantic City, was acquired with the DAV funds.

“He sold the lot in Absecon for $87,000 just three weeks before the Aug. 3 court date. We went to tax records at the assessors for that information,” Oliveti said. “It’s a shame, because he always had a good job and enough money.”

Oliveti said that officers and members of the DAV chapter 22 had tangible evidence Cupo took $160,000 by signing and cashing unauthorized checks. Plus, $140,000 was stolen through the purchase of unauthorized stocks. These claims are currently under investigation in civil court.

“We’re lucky we caught him when we did, or we’d have nothing left,” Fornoratto said.

Cupo also never sent in yearly reports for the funds during that time, even after repeated requests from the state and national DAV, they said. Two of the state offices were threatening to close the chapter.

“It was a terrible mess. There were no proper records,” Fornoratto said.

But Chapter 25 is still intact and will be merging with the Kearny, Lyndhurst and Rutherford DAV chapters. There was a ground breaking on Mill Street in April for a brand new building for the 600-plus DAV members.

Even without the funds intact, the ingenuity and drive of Fornoratto got the town and other generous and sympathetic residents to pitch in with an amazing amount of donations and labor. See the Aug. 1 issue of The Observer for that story.

Oliveti said the purpose of the DAV is a benevolent one — to help vets find services, to get them medical help if needed as well as disability checks.

“To say taking the money from this organization for himself is a travesty, is the least you can say about it.” Oliveti said.

“There were nine or 10 buildings we could have brought but, he (Cupo) kept having reasons we shouldn’t buy them. He’d always refuse,” Fornoratto said.

By early 2006, it was apparent the funds from the sale were being siphoned out of DAV accounts at Wachovia Bank in Belleville into Cupo’s personal accounts. The chapter members became suspicious when Cupo responded to inquiries of the funds being down to $192,000. He told them he bought stocks with the money for the DAV, but that they had dropped in value.

Then the members began to get even more suspicious when Cupo wanted to make a large donation to a fundraising affair the group did not approve of. This all came to light in February 2006, and at the next DAV member meeting in March, Cupo was voted out of office and Joe Fornoratto became the new commander.

“We trusted him and didn’t believe that he’d do such a thing,” Oliveti said.

When they finally checked the books, the situation was worse than they thought. They realized Cupo had been cashing large unauthorized checks in amounts ranging from $500 to $30,000 at Wachovia.

“Once treasurer Frank Plelaia saw this, he nearly dropped dead right there in the bank. He hasn’t been well ever since and refuses to take any officer positions or ever sign a check for the DAV again,” Fornoratto said.

Plelaia was grief stricken because Cupo had gotten his signature on some of the checks without his knowledge. While Plelaia was not in any way responsible for Cupo’s extravagant spending, the fact that he was associated with the crime left him severely shaken.

The new commander also indicated there is no paper trail that Cupo ever was disabled. It appears that Cupo never went to the VA hospital in either Newark or Elizabeth, did not receive any vet services or disability checks, he said. "

Colonel Dan email made a correct comment on this all:

"There are many fine vets out there that serve in a variety of Post/Chatpter Officer positions, several times. No post should have the

same Commander, finance officer, Adjutant, etc for 20 years... that's asking for trouble. Nor should a post officer, Club Mgr, or bar Mgr own

any vending machines, poker machines, etc in the same post... it happens and sh't could happen"