RU hoops official charged with foul handling of funds
BY CHRIS GAETANO
Staff Writer

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — A township woman is expected to be arraigned in mid-January for stealing more than $75,000 from the Rutgers University Athletic Department and women’s basketball coach.

A grand jury in New Brunswick indicted Dawn Buckner, 34, of Monmouth Junction, Dec. 20 on eight charges related to the missing money. The charges include two counts of official misconduct, two counts of theft by deception, two counts of forgery and two counts of uttering a forged instrument. The charges, combined, carry a total of 53 years in prison, although Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Brian Gillet said he wanted it to be known that “we tend not to think in those terms.”

Buckner, the former director of operations for women’s basketball, is accused of stealing $75,000 from Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer’s personal and athletic budget funds over the course of three years. According to Bruce Kaplan, a Middlesex County Prosecutor, Buckner took money out of Stringer’s personal accounts as well as from a summer basketball camp account.

The money was acquired through a variety of means over the years, including writing checks to herself and to cash, and withdrawals made from ATM machines. She allegedly used the money for personal expenses such as hotels, clothing and entertainment.

According to the prosecutor, she also used a Rutgers credit card for personal expenses without compensating the university, as well as forging Stringer’s signature on at least two expense checks from the university. It was Stringer who brought the matter to authorities’ attention. The investigation was conducted by Frank Giampietro of the Fugitive Unit, and formerly of the Special Prosecutions Unit.

Gillet, of the Special Prosecutions Unit, presented the matter to the Middlesex County grand jury. He said that the matter was brought to the attention of authorities in late spring.