A Rutgers employee has been charged with stealing more than $3,000 from students who attended a private tutoring program, authorities said.
The Rutgers University Police Department said Tuesday that an unidentified student was arrested Monday after an investigation revealed the Rutgers employee had been paying $2,000 a month for the tutoring service.
The student was charged with third-degree theft.
Police said they also learned the employee, identified as Joseph “Joey” Smith, had been using the name “Rutgers T-shirts” to send students gifts for Christmas and New Years.
Smith was a tutor at the university’s Career & Technical Education program, where students pay $2.75 a month per student.
The Tutor-in-Residence program provides tutoring to people with disabilities, but is available only to students who meet certain criteria, according to the university.
The tutoring company, called Rutgers T-shirt, was founded in 2004.
Smith, who was the director of human resources for the company, had previously worked as a senior software engineer at Apple, the company said.
The university said it is cooperating with law enforcement.
Ruthers spokesman Jason Reichert said the university is cooperating fully with law-enforcement agencies.
The school has no record of any student fraud, Reichers said.
Smith’s lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
