Six charged with stealing from school lunch program

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey authorities say six public employees have been charged with stealing a total of more than $10,000 from a school lunch program.

The office of the attorney general says six women face theft-by-deception charges for allegedly under-reporting their household incomes in order to fraudulently qualify their children for federally funded free and reduce-price school lunches.

Prosecutors say the charges represent the first round of prosecutions in an ongoing investigation by the state's Division of Criminal Justice and the New Jersey State Police.