On December 19, 2023, AG Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) charged lieutenant Kevin Matthew, with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, after he allegedly stole narcotics evidence from storage without lawful authorization. Shortly after, he returned the drugs in conditions substantially different than when he signed the evidence out. They also discovered razor blades with cocaine residue in his office as well as cash deposits at banks to avoid transaction reporting requirements.
According to the investigation, Lieutenant Matthew was a member of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit, not a Narcotics Unit. The investigation also reported that Lieutenant Matthew searched for drug cases in police databases and signed out narcotics from the main evidence vault of the BCPO’s office in Paramus. Allegedly, Lieutenant Matthew signed out items of the narcotics evidence between October 2022 and November 2023. It was found that he took custody of numerous items that had tested positive at the New Jersey State Police Lab for cocaine and fentanyl.
Further into the investigation, Kevin Matthew was observed coming out and going to the Bergen County Prosecutors’ Office carrying bags of what seem to be the narcotics he had signed out. There were items returned to the vault that were substantially different than when they were signed out. It was revealed that Lieutenant Matthew tried presenting them as being the same evidence he had removed from the storage.
Moreover, a review of Lieutenant Matthew’s bank records showed that during the approximate time when the evidence was being improperly removed from the vault, there was a series of cash being deposited at different bank locations on different dates. This showed a pattern of deposits with the intent to avoid the federal bank’s requirement to report cash transactions.
With the ongoing investigation, Kevin T. Matthew, 47, of Cedar Grove, New Jersey, has been charged with second-degree official misconduct, third-degree tampering with public records or information, two counts of third-degree possession of a controlled substance, a disorderly person’s offense of drug paraphernalia, and third-degree structuring financial transactions. According to records, Lt. Kevin Matthew has been on leave from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office since November 3,2023.
Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to ten years in state prison and a fine up to $150,000. Third-degree charges carry a sentence of three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000. The charges are a result of an investigation by the NJ OPIA’s Corruption Bureau.
The defendant’s charges are merely accusations and is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
