The top prosecutor in a northwestern New Jersey county has resigned amid a state investigation into allegations that the office lied about its caseload to pad its budget with state money intended for fraud investigations.
James Pfeiffer, who had served as Warren County prosecutor since 2019, resigned Friday “effective immediately,” Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. Anthony Picione, deputy director of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability in the state Division of Criminal Justice, was appointed acting attorney general, Platkin said.
“I do not take such action lightly, but I am confident that this change in leadership will ensure that the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office operates with professionalism and fosters an environment where reports of misconduct are taken seriously and appropriately reviewed” , Platkin said in a statement. statement announcing the change
A 22-page report released Monday night by Platkin’s office outlined an investigation that began in 2022 when whistleblowers alleged the district attorney’s office misused grant funding from the state Attorney General’s Office for insurance fraud. It also alleges that Pfeiffer failed to cooperate with the investigation and may have intimidated witnesses.
A phone number for Pfeiffer could not be found Tuesday. In a statement to WFMZ-TV, he called the report inaccurate and denied any wrongdoing. He said he could not immediately comment on the allegations because the attorney general’s office had not given him a full report, but said he would respond in the near future.
The report cites several secret recordings of an employee who handled insurance fraud cases for the Public Prosecution Service. According to the report, the employee alleged that the agency was reimbursed for work on investigations it never actually did.