TRENTON — A New Jersey assemblyman who was arrested on Friday and accused of writing nearly $400,000 in bad checks from his military-contracting business accounts blamed the poor economy for his financial and legal problems.
The assemblyman, Robert Schroeder, a Republican from Washington Township in Bergen County, told The Record of Bergen County that his business, All Points International Distributors, had been “in decline during the Obama administration.”
The federal Government Accountability Office said it had passed over All Points for a contract to provide tents for an Army unit in Afghanistan last year, even though Mr. Schroeder’s business submitted a lower bid than competitors, because it had found the company’s past performance to be unacceptable.
Mr. Schroeder, 52, the founder and president of All Points, said that checks he had written to two suppliers bounced. He said he had written them assuming that several thousand dollars the Army owed him for a contract had been wired to the account.
Mr. Schroeder said that the checks totaled about $100,000 and that he had paid the debts.
“I made a mistake; I apologize,” Mr. Schroeder said. “I’m responsible for my actions.”
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $150,000 fine.
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