Crime, Regional Interest

Prosecutor: Former Area Attorney Charged with $130K Theft from Deceased Client’s Estate

A former area attorney is facing charges that pilfered more than $130,000 from the estate of a deceased client over the course of roughly seven years, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Thursday.   

Kathleen M. Cehelsky, 60, of Spring Lake Heights has been charged with second-degree misapplication of entrusted property, fourth-degree false uttering, and fourth-degree forgery.

An investigation by the MCPO Financial Crimes & Special Prosecutions Unit was initiated last May, following the receipt of information from the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics. The state office’s investigators had conducted a preliminary investigation of its own that resulted in Cehelsky being disbarred.

Subsequently, the MCPO investigation revealed that shortly following the death of her client in 2014 and continuing into 2021, Cehelsky at various times illegally transferred sums of money ranging from several thousand dollars to more than $56,000 from the client’s estate fund into personal accounts she controlled, with the total amount of the misappropriated funds being more than $130,000.

In doing so, she kept 10 rightful beneficiaries of the funds from receiving their inheritance; none had granted Cehelsky permission to withdraw any money. The investigation further revealed that after making the transfers, she altered her bank statements to conceal the misappropriation of funds.

Cehelsky has since returned approximately two-thirds of the funds to the estate fund. She was served the charges against her earlier this week and released on her own recognizance pending a first appearance in Monmouth County Superior Court that has been tentatively scheduled for 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 24.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office