Trustees of a New Jersey horse rescue operation will pay up to $581,000 in restitution and cease operations under an agreement that resolves a lawsuit alleging that they misappropriated contributions from online donors who thought they were saving horses from so-called kill-buyers.

In a suit filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey on Dec. 2, 2010, the Office of the Attorney General and the Division of Consumer Affairs alleged that between September 2009 and September 2010, N.J. Horse Angels, an unregistered charitable organization headquartered in Phillipsburg, and its trustees Sharon Catalano-Crumb and Frank Wikoff, used internet networking sites to raise $145, 132 in contributions from online donors. The rescue, which also operated under the names N.J. Horse Angels Rescue, N.J. Killpen Horses, Horse Angels of Facebook, Camelot Auction Horse Angels, and The Forgotten Angels, stated its purpose was to purchase at auction horses destined to processing plants in Canada and Mexico.

The suit claimed that Catalano-Crumb used more than $50,000 of those contributions for trips to Atlantic City casinos, personal meals and shopping, pre-paid phone cards, and cash withdrawals. Calalano-Crumb also allegedly used the funds to purchase jewelry for Wikoff and sent cash to her son who is serving a life sentence at Trenton State Prison.

Neal Buccino, public information officer for the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs said that under a final judgment and consent order entered earlier this week, Catalano-Crumb and Wikoff and the Department of Consumer Affairs agreed that Catalano-Crumb and Wikoff would repay $57,129 in misused donations to the Division of Consumer Affairs. The division will donate those funds to registered non-profit horse rescue organizations operating in the state