Ladies Auxiliary president stole $23,000 in bingo money, police say

The president of a Mercer County fire company’s Ladies Auxiliary has been arrested for allegedly stealing $23,000 in bingo winnings.

NJ Advance Media reports that Hamilton Police charged Denise Weber, 58, of Ewing with theft after she failed to deposit $23,000 into the bank account of the Colonial Volunteer Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary. Sherri L. Bauerle, President of the Colonial Volunteer Fire Company, told the newspaper that the loss "resulted in the inability of the auxiliary to support the general operation of the fire company, the acquisition of furniture, payment to scholarship and other charitable contributions."

According to the article, Hamilton police said they received a tip on December 7 that more than $20,000 was missing from the ladies auxiliary bank account. A subsequent investigation found that 21 bank deposits between 2014 and 2015 were never made.

Weber, who has been employed for the past 33 years as a secretarial assistant at Thomas Edison College, is set to retire on January 1. Her biography on the college’s website states that she began her third four-year term as president of the Colonial Ladies Auxiliary organization in January 2013. She had previously served as Assistant Treasurer for the organization.

Last August, the Ladies Auxiliary tax-exempt status had been revoked by the Internal Revenue Service for failing to file documents with the federal government for three straight years, NJ.com reported.

The Ladies Auxiliary is a separate organization from the fire company.