NJ code enforcement officer accused of stealing $75K in permit fees

🔴 Ex NJ local officer indicted

🔴 Cash paid for permits was stolen, police say

🔴 Code enforcement officer accused of coverup

VENTNOR — A 37-year-old former code enforcement officer has been indicted on a half-dozen charges, accused of pocketing more than $75,000 in cash payments for permits.

Michelle Calderon, from Egg Harbor Township, was a Code Enforcement Officer with the City of Ventnor before her arrest last year.

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On April 11, she was indicted on five second-degree charges:

🔺 official misconduct
🔺 pattern of official misconduct
🔺 misapplication of entrusted property
🔺 failure to make lawful disposition of property
🔺 altering computer software to commit theft

Calderon also was indicted of fourth-degree tampering with records.

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The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said that between 2021 and 2023, Calderon allegedly took cash from citizens and businesses intended as payment for various city permits and kept the money for herself.

She has been accused of then using city-owned computer to cover up more than $75,000 in stolen funds on balance sheets.

This was a joint investigation by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office’s Professional Standards & Accountability Unit and Ventnor City Police Department.

Anyone with information about the investigation involving Calderon or other serious crimes has been asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-909-7800.

Anonymous tips also can be submitted on the prosecutor’s website or via Crime Stoppers at 609-652-1234, 1-800-658-8477 (TIPS) or the Crime Stoppers Website.

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