PISCATAWAY— A township police sergeant was arrested and charged with forgery and stealing $2,650 after submitting false vouchers to collect overtime that he never worked, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan and Piscataway Police Chief Kevin B. Harris announced yesterday.
Wayne Vakulchik, 44, a Piscataway resident, was charged Tuesday, Aug. 25, with committing forgery, theft by deception and attempted theft by deception between Jan. 22, 2008, and Aug. 4, 2009.
Bail was set at $5,000 for Vakulchik, who was allowed to post 10 percent of the amount.
An investigation determined Vakulchik submitted a voucher on Aug. 4, 2009, seeking overtime for a municipal court appearance when he actually was working off-duty security at a church-sponsored function in the township, officials said.
The overtime request was denied when officials realized Vakulchik had forged his supervisor’s signature on the voucher, officials said.
A subsequent review of overtime vouchers submitted by Vakulchik determined he submitted five overtime vouchers in 2009 and collected $1,250 in overtime, and, in 2008, submitted nine fraudulent vouchers and collected $1,400, officials said.
In each instance, Vakulchik requested a minimum three hours of overtime for municipal court appearances that he did not attend, officials said.
Vakulchik, who began his career with the Piscataway Police Department on March 8, 1985, has been suspended without pay from his $115,700-a-year job pending the outcome of the charges.
