Nursing home owner pleads guilty to theft

OCEAN TOWNSHIP — The owner and operator of a township nursing home has pleaded guilty to stealing some $39,000 from one of the home's elderly residents.

On June 30, Michael D. Berg, 72, of Ocean Township, appeared in state Superior Court, Freehold, and pleaded guilty to an accusation charging him with one count of third-degree theft by deception, according to a release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

The charge is the result of an investigation, conducted by the Prosecutor's Office following a referral from the New Jersey Office of the Ombudsman for the Institutionalized Elderly, according to the press release

The charge relates to Berg's role as the owner and operator of Wayside Retirement Center Inc., a nursing home located in the Wayside section of the township.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the investigation revealed that from Jan. 1, 2005, through March 31, 2008, Berg received funds that belonged to a resident of the retirement center.

The funds came from the resident's pension and from other, related benefits. The resident subsequently died, according to the release.

Berg was entitled to retain a portion of the funds he received pursuant to the resident's contract with the nursing home.

However, Berg ended up retaining more than $39,000 from the resident's funds that he wasn't entitled to for his own personal purposes, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Berg is scheduled to be sentenced by Superior Court Judge Edward M. Neafsey in Freehold on July 31.

Pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office will recommend that Neafsey sentence Berg to probation, according to the release.

Additionally, the plea agreement calls for Berg to make restitution to the victim's estate in the amount of $39,629, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

The terms of the plea agreement were reviewed with, and approved by, the deceased victim's family.

Theft by deception is a third-degree crime. Under New Jersey law there is a statutory presumption that a defendant who has not previously been convicted of a crime who is being sentenced for a crime of the third degree be given a term of probation, according to the press release.

Berg pleaded guilty to an accusation. Ordinarily, under New Jersey law, a defendant cannot be prosecuted for a crime unless and until a grand jury has determined that probable cause for the crime exists. Upon a finding that probable cause exists, the grand jury returns an indictment.

An accusation, which is issued by the Prosecutor's Office, is the functional equivalent of an indictment. However, before a defendant can enter a plea to an accusation, a Superior Court judge must first make a finding that the defendant is voluntarily and intelligently waiving his right to have a grand jury consider the case, and that the defendant is agreeable to being prosecuted by way of an accusation.

The judge makes this finding by questioning the defendant and his attorney on the record in open court.