A state grand jury is seeking payroll records and court logs in connection with state Sen. Nicholas Scutari’s tenure as municipal prosecutor for Linden, according to a subpoena obtained by NJ Advance Media, in the wake of charges by city officials that he was often a no-show in the highly paid part-time job.

The startling disclosure of a criminal probe involving the powerful Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee comes amid a bitter, escalating political feud between Scutari and Linden Mayor Derek Armstead, a party rival who claimed the senator barely showed up to work when he was getting paid to be in court for the city.

Scutari, a lawyer who served as municipal prosecutor for 15 years, was fired from the appointed post in early 2019. He has vehemently denied the mayor’s allegations and threatened a lawsuit for slander.

The grand jury subpoena, served through the city’s police department Friday afternoon, asked for payroll records, court appearance logs, records showing Scutari’s use of time off, and payments made to others who served as acting municipal prosecutors when he was not there.

It also sought an accounting of contributions made on behalf of Scutari into the Public Employee Retirement System, as well as payroll taxes paid in relation to his employment.

While the specific nature of the investigation was not spelled out, the subpoena was signed by Deputy State Attorney General Samantha McCluskey, who is assigned to the Division of Criminal Justice’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. It also went beyond a request for the delivery of documents, ordering the appearance of the city’s custodian of public records before a grand jury sitting in Trenton.

The request for pension records also suggests that investigators may be looking at issues of potential pension padding, as Armstead has charged. A decade ago, former Camden County Sen. Wayne R. Bryant went to prison after he was convicted of using his influence to obtain a low-show job at the state’s medical university meant to boost his pension.

Scutari, reached by phone Friday night, was unaware of the subpoena, but said he was happy to cooperate and discuss the matter with authorities.

“What we have is a political hit job by the mayor,” he said. Scutari added that the had not been contacted by investigators. “First I’m hearing of it, is from you,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s office declined comment.

“It is our policy to neither confirm nor deny investigations,” said Sharon Lauchaire.

The broad subpoena for records tied to Scutari comes after a report commissioned by the city — first reported by NJ Advance Media — charged the senator had failed to show up for court more than half the time in 2018 while he served as municipal prosecutor. During that time, Scutari, who was paid $84,659 in his part-time role, continued to earn state pension credits, the report said.

Armstead has argued that Scutari essentially had a no-show job.

“That’s exactly what I’m characterizing it as,” the mayor said in an interview after the report came to light in October. “In 2018, he missed 57 out of 111 court sessions, all while earning $85,000 a year.”

He has repeatedly called for an investigation into Scutari’s tenure as prosecutor by both the U.S. Attorney and the state Attorney General’s office. Earlier this week, the mayor also announced plans to audit past municipal court cases that were adjudicated by Scutari when he was still municipal prosecutor.

Scutari, who is also chairman of the Union County Democratic Committee, has denied he did anything wrong and said he had “not cost the city a penny” when he was not in court. He has threatened to sue Armstead and the city council for libel, slander, and defamation. In a notice of claim filed with the city, he sought $10 million in damages.

“All we have now is an investigation born of political retribution,” he said on Friday. “I welcome any kind of inquiry by a legitimate law enforcement agency. The political play here is not legitimate.”

The bad blood between Scutari and Armstead grew out of a dispute involving Democratic county committee seats that has turned increasingly toxic. In a letter last week to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, the mayor again asked for an investigation into Scutari’s “exorbitant absences from his municipally paid and pensioned employment with the Linden Municipal Court.”

Scutari’s failure to show up in court in the past led to an appeal of a case charging that a municipal judge routinely conducted hearings without a prosecutor or defense attorney. And a lawsuit filed this past week by a woman wrongfully jailed in 2007 charged that a ‘culture of wrongdoing’ pervaded the Linden Municipal Court, citing not only the conduct of Judge Louis DiLeo, who was later ousted, but the absenteeism of Scutari.

The city has said that Scutari was required to be present three days a week in court, not including holidays, vacation or personal days, and that an additional $12,000 was spent on substitute prosecutors due to his absences.

Scutari has maintained he was not required to be in court any specific day, and that he paid for attorneys to substitute for him when he could not be there — often because of legislative sessions.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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