Former Hillsborough School Business Administrator Indicted in Overtime Kickback Scheme

NEWARK, N.J. — A federal grand jury returned an indictment Friday charging former Hillsborough Township School District business administrator Kevin P. McCann and co-worker Jennifer A. Jasionowicz in an overtime fraud and kickback scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

The charges target the district's former top finance official, who oversaw payroll and budgeting for a K-12 system that serves roughly 7,200 students across eight schools in Somerset County. The indictment alleges McCann and Jasionowicz manipulated overtime records so that ineligible payments were made, with a portion kicked back to one or both defendants.

Exact dollar amounts and the number of fraudulent payments were not detailed in the charging document.

The case shifts the matter from internal district review to active federal criminal prosecution in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. If convicted, the defendants face statutory penalties under fraud and conspiracy statutes cited in the indictment.

The district itself must now respond to any subpoenas or requests for records, and its current leadership will face questions about how the scheme operated inside the business office.

Downstream, the indictment requires the school district to examine every overtime transaction approved during McCann's tenure for similar irregularities. New Jersey school districts must also report material financial findings to the state Department of Education; a conviction or guilty plea would likely trigger such a filing and could affect the district's standing in future state aid calculations.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey will next present evidence to a trial jury or negotiate plea terms, setting a timetable that could produce a resolution within 12 to 18 months under standard federal criminal scheduling.

This is the latest federal prosecution of a New Jersey school administrator accused of misusing public education funds. The Department of Justice has pursued similar kickback and payroll fraud cases in other districts, focusing on business administrators who control overtime and vendor payments.