A former chief financial officer and comptroller of a not-for-profit organization in Burlington County, New Jersey, has been sentenced to eight years in state prison for stealing more than $2.5 million from the company, money laundering, and tax evasion. The announcement was made by Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin.
Colleen Witten, 56, of Buena, New Jersey, received her sentence on November 12, 2025, from Superior Court Judge Philip E. Haines in Burlington County. She was also ordered to pay approximately $2.58 million in restitution to the victim company—an amount reduced by any funds returned prior to sentencing—and $185,546 in restitution to the New Jersey Division of Taxation. As of sentencing, about $1.19 million remained outstanding to the company.
Witten pleaded guilty on June 18, 2025, to theft by unlawful taking (second degree), financial facilitation of criminal activity (second-degree money laundering), and failure to pay state taxes (third degree).
Her husband, Allan Witten, also 56 and from Buena, was previously sentenced on August 6, 2025 by Judge Haines to three years in state prison for receiving stolen property related to the same scheme. He was jointly ordered with Colleen Witten to pay $189,000 in restitution after pleading guilty on June 18 to receiving stolen property (second degree).
Attorney General Platkin said: “This case reflects our unbreakable commitment to pursue justice for victims and hold accountable those who abuse their positions of trust to commit crimes.”
DCJ Director Theresa L. Hilton stated: “This defendant stole funds from a non-profit that works to help adults with disabilities. She now knows the true price of trying to enrich herself through crime.”
Legal Chief Pablo Quiñones added: “This Office is leading the way in the fight against white-collar crime in New Jersey. We will continue to uncover and prosecute the most complex and harmful financial crimes impacting the people of our great State and hold fraudsters accountable for preying on vulnerable victims.”
At her plea hearing Colleen Witten admitted that between May 2019 and March 2024 she diverted approximately $2.58 million while serving as comptroller and later CFO at the not-for-profit organization. She altered board minutes without authorization so she could open a bank account under the company’s name; she then used this account along with other company accounts under her control for personal expenses such as credit card payments; home renovations; buying additional residences in Tennessee and Newfield; as well as purchasing vehicles including a recreational vehicle, Harley Davidson motorcycle, and Corvette Stingray sports car.
She also admitted using an unauthorized bank account opened under the company’s name as part of laundering money through a landscaping business owned jointly with her husband—conducting transactions designed at least partly to conceal that these funds had been stolen.
Colleen Witten further acknowledged failing to pay taxes on illicit proceeds during several tax years between 2019 and 2023.
Allan Witten admitted at his plea hearing that he knowingly deposited a $189,000 check issued by the victim organization into their landscaping business’s account even though no work had been performed for it.
The investigation involved detectives from DCJ assigned to the Office of Securities Fraud and Financial Crimes Prosecutions alongside investigators from the New Jersey Division of Taxation.
Deputy Attorneys General Jack Daily and Veronica Daddario handled prosecution duties under Legal Chief Quiñones’s supervision.
