Story by Ethan
On January 28th, 2026, the arrest of Michael Delia, age 61, was announced by Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport. Michael Delia was charged with two counts of second-degree Theft by Unlawful Taking, second-degree Money Laundering, and second-degree Failure to Turn Over Collected Tax. The arrest and charges against Michael Delia were a result of an investigation handled by the Division of Criminal Justice, Division of Taxation-Office of Criminal Investigation, and the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, Michael Delia was previously an accountant and bookkeeper hired by the victims’ to work for their companies. From 2016 until August 9th, 2023, the defendant used his position in the two companies to allegedly steal approximately $1.64 million and transfer them to both corporate and personal bank accounts he owned. A financial investigation into Michael Delia revealed that the stolen funds were used for personal credit card payments, sports betting, mortgage bills, and other unspecified personal expenses. Between January 2020 and July 2023, Michael Delia allegedly misdirected collected sales tax and other miscellaneous funds from the two companies to his controlled bank accounts totalling to $910,545. The defendant was not authorized to transfer the business funds of either company to any other location. Michael Delia allegedly had also issued authorized checks to himself exceeding his salary and earnings from the company by $733,313. The position the defendant held at the companies included the responsibility of remitting business sales tax proceeds to the Treasury of the State of New Jersey. However, Michael Delia allegedly diverted approximately $126,258 that was owed to the state treasury to be used for his own company, STP Processing, that was previously registered in 2013.
The Attorney General’s Office stated that the charges against Michael Delia are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
