Local, county, and state law-enforcement officials who pull down a paycheck and a pension are costing New Jersey taxpayers some $10 million a year.
For the past quarter century, Armando Fontoura has been looting a New Jersey state pension fund. But it won’t do any good to call the cops.
Fontoura is sheriff of Essex County. A dean among double-dippers, he draws $207,289 a year from public coffers -- $144,896 in salary plus $62,393 from his pension as a retiree of his own office.
Today is the 25th anniversary of Fontoura’s faux retirement. So far, he has collected $1.35 million in retirement cash without ever giving up his fulltime county paycheck
On Friday, August 31, 1990, Fontoura retired as county undersheriff at age 47. The following Monday he returned to work at Essex County with the same salary and duties, but a different title -- sheriff’s officer chief. One year later, he took charge as sheriff, a post he’s held ever since.
“Does it look bad? Yes,” admitted Fontoura. “No question about it, it looks bad. Was it legal? Yes.”
More details, including the list of the double-dipping sheriffs, are in the full story here.
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