Roselle Mayor Donald Shaw altered his financial disclosure statement to indicate that the house he bought in Elizabeth is “a rental property.”
The cowardly and conniving chief executive has still refused to respond to a growing list of questions about his residency.
Meanwhile, Roselle Council President Denise Wilkerson and Councilwoman Cindy Thomas have been campaigning without making any mention of the residency issue, but they eagerly embraced the support of a city worker who is suing the borough for a second time after she collected a massive cash settlement for alleged racial and sex harassment.
Wilkerson and Thomas have embraced Shaw, as party boss Reginald Atkins also refuses to provide leadership to resolve questions about the Mayor’s residency.
During a borough council meeting in March, Shaw made false and belligerent threats of prosecution against citizens who posted questions about the issue on social media.
Shaw falsely alleged that the IP address of an unidentified individual who purportedly offered ‘a bounty’ for evidence ~which would be a perfectly legal activity ~ was “being investigated” and he threatened “I will see you in court.”
In April, NJTODAY.NEWS revealed that Shaw sold his Roselle home about two weeks after he was elected mayor in 2020, and then in April 2021 purchased the Thomas Street house in Elizabeth, which he pledged in mortgage documents under penalty for perjury to make his “primary residence.”
These facts were ascertained by obtaining documents filed with the Union County Clerk’s Office, including the deed and mortgage agreement.
Mortgage fraud involves borrowing money under false presence and it is punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison or a $1 million fine.
An example of false presence would be stating that the buyer intends to use the home as his primary residence when, in fact, it is not owner-occupied and used only as a rental property.
Shaw did not comment about why he concealed the purchase of the Thomas Street house in Elizabeth when he was legally required to disclose his personal finances.
Shaw refused to reconcile his assertion that the Thomas Street house in Elizabeth is a ‘rental property’ with the promise he made in the mortgage to use the home as his primary residence.
Shaw also declined to explain why he has not responded to numerous attempts to contact him with press inquiries about this matter or why he lied to the public about the situation.
Several high-profile activists have called for an investigation into possible crimes and the national civic group MoveOn.org has started a petition calling for Shaw’s resignation.
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