NJ child welfare worker got paid off for insider info, state says

☑️ Susaida Nazario was an IT employee

☑️ She promised information about two cases

☑️ She accepted payment in both cash and property

TRENTON — A tech employee of the state Department of Children and Families was charged with accepting money and property to share information about two unrelated cases.

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said Susaida Nazario, 44, of Trenton, offered to take payment in exchange for information about a case, including confidential files being handled by the Division of Child Protection & Permanency in March 2021.

Nazario falsely claimed to be a caseworker and said she could connect the individual with a co-worker who could provide additional information.

Platkin said Nazario created fictitious identities for her "co-workers" including separate phone numbers and communicated through texts and phone calls from both numbers.

Nazario made the same offer to a second person involved in a DCF case she was interested in romantically. She accepted both cash and property as payment in exchange for confidential files and a promise for a "favorable resolution" to the case.

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Using her position

“This case underscores our commitment to ensuring there is accountability when public employees violate their duty and the public’s trust,” Platkin said in a statement. “As alleged, this defendant used her position and access to DCF records in order to obtain and divulge confidential information for her own financial benefit.”

Nazario was charged with acceptance or receipt of an unlawful benefit by a public servant for official ubehavior, theft by deception, two counts of second-degree official misconduct and pattern of official misconduct.

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