Marliese Ljuba will lose her insurance broker's license and pay $75,000 in civil penalties as a result of multiple violations during the years she brokered health insurance for the school district
Former Hamilton mayor John Bencivengo, left, and Marliese Ljuba, formerly of Allen Associates, a Vineland insurance brokerage.
HAMILTON — The insurance broker whose bribing of former mayor John Bencivengo led to his conviction on federal charges has agreed to state penalties for running a business that depended heavily on widespread municipal corruption.
Marliese Ljuba will lose her insurance broker’s license and pay $75,000 in civil penalties as a result of multiple violations during the years she brokered health insurance for the school district, according to a consent order received yesterday by the state Department of Banking and Insurance. Her license is scheduled to expire tomorrow.
In the consent order Ljuba admitted to making nearly $65,000 in payments to a range of school and township officials from 2004 to 2011, include straw donations made through other people and direct cash gifts. Her former firm, Allen Associates of Vineland, was paid millions of dollars in commissions from the district over the years.
Ljuba waived her right to a hearing on the violations and consented to the penalties, the order said. The $75,000 figure was negotiated with state officials, her attorney Frederick Klepp said.
“It was resolved through discussions with the deputy attorney general, my client and me. That’s what we arrived at,” he said.
Some officials and residents had called for criminal prosecution of Ljuba, but federal prosecutors gave her immunity in exchange for her testimony against Bencivengo. Reaction to the penalties was mixed yesterday.
The $75,000 fine is only a “drop in the bucket compared to the millions of dollars she’s received in commission over the years,” Council President Ed Gore said last night.
“I wish very much that the fine had been more substantial as a deterrent not only to her but to anybody else in the future who decides they want to play fast and loose with public contracts and public money,” Gore said. “It’s certainly not going to affect her at all, other than the potential future loss of income from losing her license.”
In the consent order and during Bencivengo’s trial Ljuba said she funnelled $11,000 to the 2006 campaign of Councilmen Dennis Pone, Dave Kenny and former councilman and state senator Tom Goodwin. Pone and Kenny have denied ever receiving money from her.
“The fine is ridiculously low, but I’m happy there’s at least some punishment for what she’s done,” Pone said yesterday. “Losing her license should be the bare minimum. The school board ought to consider going after her for the money that she ultimately ripped off from the taxpayers.”
Ljuba also testified she made payments to school board member Patricia DelGiudice and her 2011 campaign. DelGiudice has also repeatedly denied any relationship with her or seeing any money.
“She should be fined quadruple that amount,” DelGiudice said. “But it’s the right thing to do. It took a long time for the state to get around to it, but I’m glad they’re doing it.”
Ljuba had initially faced possible fines of up to $5,000 for the first violation and $10,000 for each subsequent violation, according to January legal filing by the banking department. Klepp declined to comment on what Ljuba planned to do without a brokerage license.
The department had described as Ljuba as depending on corruption throughout her time working for the Hamilton district, saying many of her contracts with public entities “were awarded and retained through bribes and kickbacks,” and her commissions came primarily from government bodies that used no-bid contracts, like the district.
In November Ljuba testified against Bencivengo, a close friend, as the prosecution’s star witness. During the trial, she admitted to giving him more than $12,000 in exchange for his promise to influence school board members to keep her on contract and not to put the insurance broker work out to bid.
Bencivengo was convicted on five counts related to extortion and money laundering and is scheduled to be sentenced March 13. The school board voted last July to sever ties with Allen Associates.
Contact Mike Davis at (609) 989-5708 or mdavis@njtimes.com.