Captain Accused of Possibly Stealing Police Information

It appears there is more trouble for Parsippany Board of Education member and retiring police Capt. James Carifi.

Hard on the heels of having his April 1 retirement delayed due to an in-progress Parsippany Police internal affairs probe, published reports say the township has filed a motion alleging Carifi took official and perhaps confidential documents belonging to the PPD—which, if proven, could rise to the level of theft of digital information, a second-degree offense.

The motion filed Friday before Superior Court Judge Rosemary Ramsey in Morristown accuses Carifi of using removable hard drives to transfer to his personal email police reports and confidential information about residents not wanted in connection with any crime—and that he "purged, deleted and manipulated" information from official Parsippany computers, NJ.com reported. These acts, according to the motion, took place in late March, just before Carifi left the police department's employ.

The motion also alleges that Carifi used a township-owned computer for a personal for-profit enterprise.

The township wants the court to compel Carifi to answer questions regarding the 2011 lawsuit he filed against Parsippany and former Chief Michael Peckerman. That suit claims the town denied him a promotion to deputy chief in retaliation for Carifi's whistle-blowing—in 2009 he revealed misconduct within the PPD.

The township's motion to the suit stated that Patrick Toscano, the attorney representing Carifi, cancelled an April 22 deposition after lawyer Nicholas P. Milewski of the firm Thomas P. Hanrahan and Associates, who is representing Parsippany, declined to meet with Toscano in advance and wouldn't schedule Mayor James Barberio's deposition for the same day.

Carifi, Toscano, Police Chief Paul Philipps and Mayor James Barberio were not available for comment Tuesday.

The police captain applied to retire with the state Division of Pensions and Benefits March 17 and planned to leave the department April 1, taking with him an annual pension of $108,809.16 and a potential payout for unused leave and compensatory time amounting to more than $368,482.02.

There is a dispute here as well: The state considers Carifi as retired, but the township's motion claims he resigned and was "not in good standing." If that proves true, he may not receive the payout.

Business Administrator Jasmine Lim told Patch that the payout issue was being reviewed.

As of now, the state Police and Firemen Retirement System's Board of Trustees won't consider Carifi's pension request until the probe is concluded, and if the captain is found guilty of any misconduct, the amount of his pension could be cut.

Carifi's lawyer claimed the town wants revenge against his client and has never said why Carifi is the subject of an official investigation.The township's motion denies that, adding that Carifi was never punished and that since he never took the deputy chief Civil Service examination, he simply was not eligible for the promotion.

Complicating the situation further, Paul Carifi Jr., the captain's brother, is running against Mayor Barberio in the June 4 Republican primary. 

On March 3 Dr. Louis Valori, running for Township Council on Paul Carifi's ticket, accused Barberio .

Council President Brian Stanton confirmed that on the evening of Sunday, Jan. 13,  a  on the subject of a police department media relations position. But Stanton insisted that any discussion of a possible job had nothing to do with the election and that no illegal acts were committed.

Barberio said Valori's allegations were " that Valori was angry about not being promoted to lieutenant prior to his 2012 retirement. The mayor also said that Paul Carifi's campaign is about avenging his brother.

Valori said he took his charges to the state Office of the Attorney General; shortly thereafter, investigators from the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office came to Town Hall, where they confiscated computer discs and talked with the mayor.

The Somerset Prosecutor's Office declined to comment on a pending investigation and would not confirm whether the investigators' visit had anything to do with Valori's allegations.