Woman pleads guilty to grand larceny for stealing funds from Roslyn Harbor church

Therese Iuzzolino, 45, pleaded guilty to grand larceny Tuesday for embezzling more than $180,000 from St. Mary’s Church in Roslyn Harbor, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a press release.

The theft spanned from Dec. 2011 to April 2017, Singas said. Iuzzolino, who was a bookkeeper for St. Mary’s, digitally paid for personal credit cards and created electronic check vouchers using the church’s bank account, Singas said.

The district attorneys office expects her to be sentenced to six months in jail with five years of probation.

Iuzollino, of Merrick, must also pay back the full $183,203.64, $25,000 of which must be paid at her sentencing.

The restitution will go to the Diocese of Rockville Centre, which had reimbursed St. Mary’s for the stolen funds.

“She took responsibility for her actions,” said Iuzzolino’s attorney J. Caesar Galarza. “She was in a dark place and perhaps not thinking clearly. She got some help and she decided to own and take responsibility for her actions.”

As a bookkeeper, Iuzzolino prepared checks, maintained the church’s QuickBooks ledger, reviewed invoices and reconciled bank statements.

The defendant concealed her theft by erasing deposit and withdrawal entries in church records.

She used the money to pay a jeweler, automobile dealer, gun shops, toy stores and dental fees. She also spent it on computers, fast food and entertainment.

The church’s bank called St. Mary’s about a suspicious $5,000 check paid from its bank account in May 2017, which led to the discovery of Iuzzolino’s embezzlement.

She was then fired.

“This defendant was a trusted member of the St. Mary’s Church family, but abused that trust and stole more than $180,000 from church coffers,” Singas said. “Stealing from a house of worship is an especially contemptible act and I am grateful to St. Mary’s for their cooperation during this case.”

Iuzzolino is due for sentencing on April 29.

Ex-business administrator sentenced for embezzling from Catholic schools

A former business administrator for South Buffalo Catholic Schools was sentenced Wednesday to two months of intermittent incarceration, followed by five years' probation by State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

Dennis Potozniak of Cheektowaga admitted to writing false checks for tuition reimbursement and raffle winnings, which he deposited into an account for himself, prosecutors said. Between April 2014 and April 2017, Potozniak embezzled $49,418 from Notre Dame Academy and South Buffalo Catholic School.

In November, Potozniak pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny, which is a felony and the highest possible charge in the case against him.

Potozniak has paid $65,000 in restitution, prosecutors said.

West Seneca Baseball leader sentenced to weekends in jail in embezzlement case

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The president of the West Seneca Youth Baseball Association who stole close to $50,000 from the organization was sentenced Tuesday to spend weekends in jail for the next three months.

Kevin Chodkowski, 46, of West Seneca already has repaid $49,350 to the baseball club, the full amount that investigators could confirm that he stole. He pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny after the restitution was paid.

Chodkowski took the money when he was head of the league, from 2011-2014, and lost much of it in local casinos, according to prosecutor Christopher Jurusik.

Chodkowski is now in counseling for his gambling addiction.

Church rocked by scandal, priest accused of affair and embezzlement in New York

A New York priest is facing some very serious allegations, including theft and a secret sexual affair.

Bells ringing outside Saint Frances de Chantal. The only sense of normalness here after the parish is rocked by scandal. All focusing on the leader of the church, Father Peter Miqueli.

The details of alleged embezzlement and secret sexual escapades, all documented in a civil lawsuit filed against the Father and the Archdiocese of New York.

“He’s a troubled man. Not a good man.”

It’s a sentiment felt among many parishioners, who say for two years, they’ve complained to the diocese, only to be ignored.

The lawsuit, stating how Miqueli allegedly used his position as a pastor to misappropriate and divert hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations from parishioners at St. Frances de Chantal and at St. Frances of Cabrini on Roosevelt Island.

It also alleges he used funds to grow personal wealth, purchase a house in New Jersey, take international vacations, Illegal drugs, and for alleged weekly services of sexual affairs with a man named Keith Crist.

“Anytime we did fundraising, things just weren’t right. I’ve heard of a lot of things not getting paid. He’s asking for money to take care of; he doesn’t even take care of our school.”

Reporter: “you don’t have a comment?”

Father Peter Miqueli: “I have no comment”

Those who work for the parish, including the assistant pastor and other workers refused to comment.

Calls made to Crist and Miqueli were not returned.

No sighting of Miqueli at the rectory, or his brick, New Jersey home, where he’s alleged to have used church funds in order to purchase.

The lawsuit has shocked long term church members who both support and despise the Father.

“It’s just very sad. That’s all I have to say. Very sad. Very, very, very sad.”

“And whoever is saying this has to be very careful that they don’t go to hell.”

Some church members want him to step down as leader of this church before the end of the year.

Bank Won't Provide Records for Investigation

Three orthodox Jewish congregations claim KeyBank won't give them access to their own accounts to investigate a suspected $1 million embezzlement, unless a judge orders the bank to do it.
     The congregations claim that KeyBank NA, part of Ohio-based KeyCorp, acknowledged the existence of the accounts - despite the groups' lack of account numbers or other records - but refused access without a court order.
     "KeyBank took the inconceivable position that notwithstanding that the congregations are the named holders and owners of its KeyBank accounts, it would not provide the congregations with copies of their own bank records," the plaintiffs claim in Rockland County Supreme Court.
     Other banks similarly contacted "substantially complied," the plaintiffs say.
     The congregations are based in the hamlet of Nanuet, about 45 minutes northwest of Manhattan in Rockland County.
     Each of the three - Congregation and Kollel Noam Elimelech Litzensks, Cong. Lizensk, and Congregation Noam E. Lizensk - is a synagogue or school formed by Rabbi Joseph Mayer, the grand rebbe of the Lizensk sect, a Chassidic group, according to the lawsuit.
     Each of the congregations had one or more accounts with KeyBank, the complaint states, with the Key branch in New City - the Rockland County seat - as their home branch.
     The lawsuit says the congregations "for many years" employed an administrator who oversaw their day-to-day finances and had signatory powers on the bank accounts.
     Recently, though, the congregations "came to the terrible discovery that the administrator had in all likelihood embezzled in excess of $1 million from the congregations," the complaint states.
     He was fired immediately and an internal probe was launched "to confirm the embezzlement and determine the extent of the theft and the damage to the congregations," according to the lawsuit.
     The congregations hired an investigator, attorneys and an accountant. The probe was complicated by actions the administrator took "to hide his theft," including the destruction of financial books and records, the plaintiffs say.
     "Indeed, the administrator did not even leave over a single document or record from which the congregations could obtain the various account numbers for the congregations' accounts at KeyBank," the lawsuit states.
     Despite the administrator's actions, Key acknowledged the accounts. The bank also indicated that the administrator had changed the accounts' addresses to his own, the lawsuit states.
     Rabbi Mayer, accompanied by the hired investigator, visited various banks seeking account records, the plaintiffs say. But he was turned away by Key.
     "KeyBank's refusal is improper and without merit," the plaintiffs say.
     "Without intervention from the court, the congregations will be unable to obtain access to their accounts and their account documents."
     The plaintiffs want a judge to declare them the lawful owners of the Key accounts, and to order KeyCorp and KeyBank to hand over all documents and records to them and no one else. They want any old signatories removed and new account signatories accepted.
     They also want Key to pay them what's left, "upon the execution and delivery to the bank of a properly executed withdrawal slip by the congregations."
     Therese Myer, vice president and director of public relations for Key in Albany, said the bank does not comment on pending litigation.
     KeyCorp was based in Albany before a 1990s merger moved its headquarters to Cleveland. The company has more than 1,000 branches in 12 states.
     Manhattan attorneys David Wolkenstein, of Lauterbach Garfinkel Damast & Hollander, and Frederick Sosinsky represent the plaintif

Upstate NY woman accused of embezzling over $50,000 from school district union accounts

A 45-year-old upstate New York woman has been accused of embezzling over $50,000 from a school district union while she served as its treasurer.

Local media outlets report that Amy Wales of Owego is charged with grand larceny in connection with the theft from the Owego-Apalachin Employees Association. She's accused of stealing $51,065 from union bank accounts between June 2012 and June of this year.

The Tioga County Sheriff's Office conducted a three-month investigation into the alleged embezzlement after being alerted by union officials. Wales has been employed with the school district for 15 years.

Wales, who is being represented by the Tioga County Public Defender's Office, was arraigned Tuesday in Owego Village Court and released on her own recognizance. She's due back in village court on Dec. 17.

Couple accused of swindling Manlius church of $444,000 due in court,

 The embezzlement case against a Syracuse couple who served as the treasurer and finance committee chair of the United Methodist Church of Manlius is scheduled for court today.

Former treasurer Mary Meyer, 57, and John Osborn, 55, of 228 Roe Ave., are accused of wiping out the church's endowment in the amount of $444,000.

While their cases are are scheduled for today to address legal arguments -- called motions -- the defendants don't actually have to be there for the case to proceed.

But today's court date does signal that the case is headed towards trial. The judge could set a trial date if he chooses.

The wife and husband are each accused of two felony counts of second-degree grand larceny and one count of third-degree grand larceny for conduct between January 2008 and March of this year.


John Osborn was arraigned in Onondaga County Court in October on charges of embezzling $444,000 from a church in Manlius.


They were accused by an Onondaga County grand jury in October of writing unauthorized checks and making unauthorized money transfers from the church to themselves and a company Osborn owns.

Most of the stolen money was taken from the endowment, which people contributed to in their wills.

In 1992, Osborn was convicted of stealing $120,000 from the Camillus Housing Authority while he was the agency's treasurer. He was sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to repay the money.

Former Corning, New York pastor faces theft charge

A former pastor of a Corning church was charged with a felony after an audit revealed more than $18,000 may have been misappropriated.

New York State Police in Bath charged the Rev. Christopher W. Mathewson, 35, of Sharon, Pa., with fourth-degree grand larceny, a Class E felony, on Tuesday.

Mathewson was pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Corning from 2007 to 2011, police said.

After he left the church, an audit revealed that as much as $18,640 may have been misappropriated, police said.

A criminal complaint on file against Mathewson in Bath Village Court accuses him of stealing the money by using the pastor’s discretionary fund and the deacon’s emergency fund. It also accuses him of using an American Express credit card and another credit card.

Senior Investigator Curt Eaton began the investigation in December, while he was assigned to state police barracks in Painted Post. In the complaint, Eaton said Mathewson used the money for personal use from about 2009 to 2011.

Mathewson was arraigned Tuesday in Bath Village Court and released on his own recognizance.

The case has been sent to the Steuben County District Attorney’s office for consideration by a county grand jury, Eaton said.

A woman who identified herself only as the clerk of the session at the church declined to comment Thursday, referring questions to police. The session is a governing body of the church.

School Board President Quits after Theft Conviction in Bridgehampton, New York

An East End school board president is stepping down after her conviction for stealing from a former employer.

Nicki Hemby, 41, of Bridgehampton, pleaded guilty to charges of grand larceny at Southampton Town Justice Court on June 25.  She resigned from her post as school board president, by letter, Monday.  She did not mention her crime in the resignation letter, according to district officials.

Hemby was accused of embezzling more than $80,000 from Suburban Sanitation of Sag Harbor.  As part of a plea deal, Hemby will avoid jail but agreed to repay the stolen money and serve 280 hours of community service, according to Suffolk prosecutors.

Hemby became a member of the Bridgehampton school board in 2008; the thefts took place between January 2009 and November 2011, when Hemby used her employer's company credit card to pay for personal expenses, Amazon.com purchases, travel, car rentals and lodging.

Suburban Sanitation became aware of the problem when 2010 taxes were not paid. The company hired an auditor who discovered Hemby's criminal activities, according to prosecutors.

Auburn, New York Teachers Association embezzlement investigation complete

 Auburn police have finished their investigation into the embezzlement of more than $800,000 from the Auburn Teachers Association.

Police suspect the funds were taken between January 2006 and November 2012 by the union's former president, Sally Jo Widmer, who later died. They say Widmer used the money to pay personal bills and credit cards and also wrote checks to herself. They do not believe anyone else was involved in the theft.

A new union leader was elected in June 2012 and found the discrepancies in the funds.

School administrator sentenced for stealing over $200 thousand in New York

A bookkeeper at an Albany charter school will spend at least the next five years behind bars for embezzlement after having been sentenced Tuesday.

Ronald Racela, 49, received a sentence of 5 to 10 years behind bars for stealing over $200,000 from the Brighter Choice Charter School where he worked as chief financial officer.

Racela’s sentencing came after he pleaded guilty in March to one count of grand larceny.

“The state prison sentence handed down by the Court reflects the selfishness of the defendant’s actions,” said Albany District Attorney David Soares. “Mr. Racela will have a long time to think about the victims he hurt through his greed.”

Soares also expressed gratitude for Albany Police Detective Bob Wise for what he called a tremendous effort in uncovering and investigating Racela’s crimes.

Between September 2011 and December 2012, Wise’s investigation revealed that Racela made a series of improper payroll entries to himself for a total of $208,837.45.

The inquiry also revealed that Racela had been on felony probation for a separate financial crime at the time he committed the fraud. Officials at Brighter Choice were unaware of his criminal background when he was hired as CFO.

Racela must also pay $174,400.08 in restitution.

Former PTA Official Jailed After Failure to Repay Funds in New York

FROM http://www.nytimes.com


Still owing more than $17,000 to the Parent-Teacher Association she stole from for two years, Providence Hogan, a former PTA treasurer at Public School 29 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, was taken back into custody on Wednesday after she failed to make scheduled payments.

Ms. Hogan pleaded guilty in 2011 to embezzling $82,000 while she was the treasurer of the PTA, which serves one of Brooklyn’s most sought-after elementary schools. She used the money to help shore up her failing Boerum Hill spa business in Brooklyn, cover her rent and pay for fertility treatments. As part of a plea agreement, she returned $50,000 in 2011 and has since paid back more in installments, but is still short about $17,700, according to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.

“The judge felt that she would come up with the money if she was in jail,” Ms. Hogan’s lawyer, Stephen Flamhaft, said.

He said Ms. Hogan would be released next week. Ms. Hogan could still face the full sentence of two to six years if she does not make the full reimbursement by January 2014. Even if she does, she will be on probation for five years.

It is the latest episode in a story that has left scars on both Ms. Hogan and the P.S. 29 community.

Ms. Hogan filed for bankruptcy in January, the same month she closed her business, Providence Day Spa, blaming the bad economy. The PTA has asked the bankruptcy court not to eliminate her remaining debt to the group. Maura Sheehy, one of the presidents of the PTA, said the remaining $17,000 could be used for a variety of purposes, like professional development for teachers, arts enrichment or simply softening the impact of more than $1 million in budget cuts the school has faced over the past five years.

The $17,000 is roughly equivalent to the salary of an assistant kindergarten teacher, she said. The PTA collected about $200,000 in donations last year, according to tax records.

Mr. Flamhaft, referring to the other P.S. 29 parents as “parasites,” said he believed they had “no compassion.”

“They’re taking advantage of a downtrodden woman,” he added, “who’s battered and sullied by many things that went on in her life.”

Since pleading guilty, Ms. Hogan, whose daughter was in fourth grade at P.S. 29 at the time of her arrest, has been divorced and has suffered from what Mr. Flamhaft called “severe illnesses, womanly illnesses” that left her “on her deathbed.”

Told of Mr. Flamhaft’s comments, Ms. Sheehy said, “I think people hold a wide range of feelings about the situation, including an enormous amount of sympathy for Ms. Hogan’s tragic situation.”

In a blog post on her spa’s Web site, Ms. Hogan wrote: “Some transitions were not so wonderful. Illness, loss and complicated times.”

St. John's University in New York President Donald Harrington Resigns Amid Scandal

Father Donald Harrington, president of St. John's University in New York City, announced Friday in a campuswide email he will resign on July 31, while barely alluding to the embezzlement scandal plaguing his administration.

"For quite a while, I have been thinking about when would be the best time to relinquish the leadership role to younger, perhaps more energetic, individuals," Harrington wrote in the letter. "The urgings of many members of the Board of Trustees and others persuaded me to remain longer than I had originally planned. But the difficulties for everyone during the past year have convinced me, after much prayer and reflection, that the time to leave the presidency has now come."

Harrington boasted about increases in donations to St. John's and a growth in the university's investment portfolio during his 24 year tenure. He avoided mentioning Cecilia Chang, a former dean and vice president of international relations at the university, who was accused of embezzling more than $1 million from St. John's prior to her November suicide.

New York magazine reported in February that Chang and Rob Wile, Harrington's chief of staff, lavishly spent university money on overseas shopping trips and expensive hotel stays. Wile also took out secret loans from a former St. John's Board of Trustees chair to help fund a real estate venture with Harrington, according to New York. The duo did not disclose the loan or the real estate project to the board.

Wile also resigned, but according to the New York Post, his resignation doesn't take effect June 30. An investigation into alleged misuse of university money on the part of both Wile and Harrington is ongoing.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, a St. John's Law School graduate, praised Harrington in a statement Friday.

"As an alumnus of its law school, I’ve witnessed with pride as Father Harrington strengthened St. John’s academically and physically with new facilities and buildings, while holding fast to the Vincentian mission that has drawn so many of the University’s alumni to public service," Kelly said.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan also celebrated Harrington in his own statement.

"Father Harrington has been a beacon of light for Catholic education in the United States for decades," Dolan said. "His leadership and thoughtful planning of growth for one of this country’s largest Catholic universities have brought a very high level of success to the St John’s community. And tens of thousands of students, alumni and faculty have been enriched by his spiritual leadership

Huntley and co-conspirators get probation in embezzlement scam in New York

Former state Sen. Shirley Huntley and her accomplices in a scam that bilked taxpayers out of nearly $30,000 through a do-nothing nonprofit received light sentences in State Supreme Court in Nassau County last week as the disgraced lawmaker awaited sentencing in Brooklyn federal court on a separate case.

Huntley, who pleaded guilty in February to filing false paperwork accounting for $29,950 that had been embezzled from the Parent Workshop, could have received up to five years in prison, but instead Justice Norman St. George gave her five years’ probation.

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had recommended the reduced sentence in light of Huntley’s cooperation with federal prosecutors in a similar scam.

While in the Senate, Huntley earmarked legislative member items — a program that has been cut from Albany due to widespread misuse — to the Parent Workshop, which was supposed to help parents get more involved in their children’s education. Member items, or earmarks, are funds distributed to lawmakers to be distributed to nonprofits in their districts.

Instead, the money went to line the pockets of the nonprofit’s treasurer and president, who also received five years’ probation for their roles in the embezzlement.

Huntley’s niece, Lynn Smith, and a former aide, Patricia Savage, each received probation and agreed to pay restitution after pleading guilty to pocketing the state funds. They both also faced up to five years in prison.

David Gantt, who pleaded guilty to falsifying records claiming he had worked as a consultant for the nonprofit, was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.

In January, Huntley pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges for covering up $87,700 in state Education Department funds she embezzled from a second nonprofit, the Parent Information Network.

Huntley, who sat on southeast Queens’ District 28 school board before being elected to the Senate in 2007 and serving on the Senate Education Committee, admitted she repeatedly filed false documents to make it appear as though the funds were legitimately used to help parents navigate the city’s school system.

She admitted she pocketed the cash and used it on lavish shopping sprees and to pay off her credit card.

She faces up to two years in prison at her sentencing in Brooklyn federal court, which was scheduled for this week.

School’s Business Manager Accused Of Embezzlement in New York

The business manager of the Eldred Central School District faces up to seven years in prison after being arrested for stealing over $20,000 of school district funds.

William Thornton, 49, of Monticello, has been charged with two counts of third degree grand larceny and one count of first degree falsifying business records, both felonies.

On Nov. 17, 2012, it was reported to State Police that $20,000 had been stolen from a school district account.   An investigation into the theft revealed that Thornton, the district’s business manager, had stolen the funds by electronically transferring the money out of the school district’s account on two separate occasions, police said.

Thornton was arraigned in the Town of Highland Court and released upon posting $20,000 bond.  

Charter school theft alleged in Albany, New York

FROM TIMESUNION.COM -

The former chief financial officer for the Brighter Choice Foundation, which provides funding and support to 10 public charter schools in Albany, has been charged with embezzling $202,837 from the organization.
The arrest Wednesday of Ronald A. Racela marks the second time in four years that Racela has been charged with grand larceny. Two years ago, Racela admitted stealing $53,931 from KeyBank in Albany, where he was employed as a manager in the Community Development Lending Group, court records show.
M. Christian Bender, executive director of Brighter Choice Foundation, said Brighter Choice officials were not aware of Racela's criminal history when he was hired as financial director of Brighter Choice Charter Schools in June 2010. Bender said Racela described his separation from KeyBank as "tense" but did not disclose he had been arrested for embezzlement eight months before he was hired by Brighter Choice.
"I knew that it had not been a smooth separation, but obviously I had no idea that it involved criminal activity on his part," Bender said Friday.
Still, a state Education Department spokesman said the agency sent written notice of Racela's criminal history to the charter school last March, when it denied the school's request to clear Racela for employment. The spokesman said the agency had first flagged an employment clearance request for Racela that was submitted by Brighter Choice in December 2011. By that time, Racela had already been working for Brighter Choice schools for about 18 months.
The Education Department conducts criminal background checks on public and charter schools employees. The agency's records indicate the request from Brighter Choice regarding Racela was immediately placed in "a hold status based on his known criminal record."
Bender said he never received the Education Department's letter last March denying Racela's employment clearance. He suggested Racela may have intercepted the documents, which are not in his personnel file.
Racela, who is on probation for his conviction in the KeyBank case, was released following his arrest this week after posting $25,000 bail. Racela's arrest by city detectives was not announced by either Albany police or the charter schools organization.
He's charged with felony counts of falsifying business records and grand larceny. Racela, paid $120,000 a year as CFO, is accused of making false payroll entries at the Brighter Choice Foundation that enabled him to get extra payroll checks over a roughly 15-month period starting September 2011, the complaint says.
Racela, 49, of Latham, was promoted from Brighter Choice Charter Schools director of finance to chief financial officer for the Brighter Choice Foundation in 2011, according to information that Racela posted on LinkedIn, a business networking website.
Bender said a new CFO hired by the foundation last fall discovered that Racela had continued collecting paychecks from Brighter Choice schools after taking a job with the foundation. Racela was allegedly using funds from the foundation to reimburse the school for the extra income, which he then pocketed, Bender said.
Racela was fired last month after he was confronted with the payroll discrepancies, Bender said.
Racela did not respond to a request for comment. His attorney, Brian W. Devane, also declined comment.
"As soon as we found out about the misappropriation of funds, we hired an outside fraud investigator to review our current financial statements and records," Bender said. "The moment the fraud investigator confirmed our suspicion, we contacted local law enforcement and filed criminal charges against the former employee."

In a Times Union interview two years ago, Racela described the "tremendous fiscal pressure" the charter schools were enduring due to what he said was the Albany school district's failure to pay millions of dollars in mandated tuition reimbursement fees. The district is mandated to pay the charter schools more than $14,000 for each city student enrolled in a charter school.
Racela, then director of finance for the Brighter Choice Charter Schools, wrote an email to employees stating: "no 'funny business' has occurred with the school's cash" as he explained why the school had been unable to pay employee retirement benefits. The schools' financial woes came to light after an earlier, unrelated state audit indicated Brighter Choice ended the 2009-10 school year $453,745 in the red, which was worse than the previous year, when its expenses exceeded its income by $311,638.
Court records in the KeyBank case indicate Racela increased loan amounts to four KeyBank clients and pocketed the additional funds. In a statement attributed to him in court records, Racela claimed he used the money for "personal expenses" after his wife had stopped working. In Racela's statement, obtained by KeyBank officials, he indicated stealing just $20,283 from the bank. But when he pleaded guilty to in January 2011, Racela admitted stealing more than $53,000. Racela wrote in the statement that his plan was to hide the thefts from KeyBank by using a portion of an unpaid $54,000 origination fee that he said the Albany Housing Authority owed for a line of credit on a Lark Drive property.
"No record of the fee being owed existed on Key's system," his statement reads. "Therefore, I thought that I could have a portion of the $54,000 pay for the $20,283 mentioned above."
Two years ago, Racela was sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to pay $56,627 in restitution to KeyBank, as well as $375 in court fees. It's unclear if Racela paid the restitution.
Bender said the school has tightened its financial controls.
"This is a sad episode and we have been working hand in hand with law enforcement to see that this matter is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," he said.

Timeline of the case
October 2009: Ronald Racela arrested on a larceny charge from KeyBank
June 2010: Racela hired as finance director Brighter Choice Charter Schools
January 2011: Racela pleads guilty to grand larceny
August 2011: Racela named chief operating officer Brighter Choice Foundation
March 2012: State Education Department denies employment clearance for Racela
January 2013: Racela charged with stealing $202,837 from Brighter Choice Foundation

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Amount of Eldred embezzlement still a mystery in New York

None of the missing funds with which former Eldred Central School District Business Administrator William Thornton allegedly absconded has been recovered to date. Superintendent Robert Dufour’s only reference to the matter at the school board meeting on January 10 was that he was grateful to the New York State Police for all that they did in bringing out the improprieties alleged against the embattled Thornton.
“In Eldred, it’s the state police that handle a matter of this kind,” said Doug Reiser, school board president.
Taxpayers can expect to pay $6,000 for an audit into just how much money may have been pilfered by Thornton.
Thornton, whose salary topped $86,000, or 73% higher than the state average, resigned in November for alleged financial improprieties. He has served in the position since July 2010, but held various other positions within the school district in an approximate tenure of 10 years.
The board did break for executive session to discuss legal matters, but because of the nature of executive sessions it was unclear if the Thornton case was at issue.
On the superintendent’s webpage on the school’s internet site, Dufour said that the dollar amount of missing funds would be determined by the January 10 board meeting, but Reiser said on January 11, “That’s still not a matter of public knowledge.”
“The missing money damages the district,” Reiser told The River Reporter, “but the job of the board is to address the educational needs of the students,” he said.
Thornton could not be reached for comment.

Kappry Vera, New York City High School Secretary, Embezzled Public Funds To Buy McDonald's

FROM http://www.huffingtonpost.com

A former secretary at a New York City high school is facing $9,000 in fines for inappropriately spending public dollars, mostly on fast food and "dozens of visits to McDonald's," according to the New York Daily News.
Kappry Vera resigned from Manhattan's Urban Assembly School for Construction and Design in August 2011 when school officials started investigating her suspicious spending, according to the Daily News. The school's principal noticed "questionable purchases" on the city-funded credit card intended for school purchases.
The purchases totaled more than $3,000 in personal spending between August 2009 and May 2011. Vera dropped hundreds of dollars at joints like Subway and Burger King. Trips to McDonald's, up to four times a day, totaled $765.
Vera's embezzlement charge comes nearly a year after Bronx principal Liza Cruz Diaz was removed from PS 31 over allegations that she stole about $5,000 from the school. Investigators said Cruz Diaz used some of the money to pay for her daughter's "Sweet 16" party and deleted financial records when she became aware of the probe.
Employee siphoning of public dollars for private use plagues districts nationwide. A Pennsylvania audit of the York City School District last November found that the district misspent nearly $1 million in federal taxpayer money on items just sitting in storage. Items purchased by the district include 16 boxes of hula hoops, three greenhouses, Wii video game systems, dozens of laptops, expired tickets to Hersheypark and 10 boxes of stopwatches.
In Massachusetts, the state auditor has called for sweeping reform of financial accountability for the state's 30 special education agencies after her office found several of the collaboratives had misused millions of public dollars.
The most egregious offender was the Merrimack Special Education Collaborative, which auditors found to have spent $26.7 million in "inadequately documented and potentially unallowable expenses," like $1,255 on alcohol, $18,284 on meals and entertainment, $142 for 30 pounds of swordfish for a special education director's cookout, numerous purchases totaling $5,735 in golf-related charges, and $4,576 on vehicle expenses, including gasoline "for what appears to be a personal vehicle."

Diocese of NY church lady accused of embezzling committed a 'sin': Judge - NYPOST.com

From the New York Post - July 19, 2012

Manhattan judge today chided prosecutors for offering only 4 1/2 years prison to an allegedly embezzling former clerk for the Diocese of New York, calling the $1 million embezzlement "not only a crime, but a sin."


"How come you went down?" Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lewis Bart Stone asked after prosecutors announced their latest rock-bottom offer -- 4 1/2 to 9 years prison -- for accused accounts payable clerk Anita Collins.

Back in April, prosecutors had said they'd go no lower than six years prison for Collins, 69, who is charged with taking the money over the course of seven years, filling her Schuylerville, Bronx, apartment with Bloomingdales furniture, Belleek China and pricey Madam Alexander dolls.

"This is a woman who has stolen more than a million dollars from a not-for-profit religious organization," the judge told prosecutors.

"Which could be described not only as a crime but a sin. I'm not sure that your offer is fair to the organization, which has its own financial difficulties," he added.

When defense lawyer Howard Simmons made a pitch for leniency, arguing that Collins was the only caretaker for a daughter now dying from cancer in a Manhattan hospital, the judge was unmoved.

"So she created her own charitable fund out of somebody else's money," the judge said.

Collins, a hunched and frail figure who stared down at the defense table throughout today's brief hearing, has until Aug. 16 to decide if she'll go to trial, or take the 4 1/2 years.

"If you are not going to trial, I will accept the 4 1/2 to 9," the judge finally agreed.

The deal would require that Collins forfeit her assets and waive her right to appeal. Some 30 church folks -- though not Cardinal Dolan -- have written letters asking for mercy.

"She's doing poorly," the defense lawyer told reporters after court. "Her health is deteriorating. She's not eating, and not doing well in confinement. She's lost quite a lot of weight."

He added, "Four-and-a-half could very well be a death sentence for her. She's mentally and physically destroyed."

Colins had been convicted of grand larceny in 1999 for stealing from a previous employer, but the Archdiocese never did background checks when hiring her, authorities have said.

Rabbi who claimed to rescue Holocaust Torahs arrested on fraud charges

FROM WTA.ORG -

A rabbi who claimed that he rescued Torah scrolls lost during the Holocaust was arrested on fraud charges.

Rabbi Menachem Youlus, founder of Save a Torah, was arrested on Wednesday, charged with one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors accused Youlus of embezzling money from his charity for personal use and fabricating stories of rescuing lost Torahs.
"Menachem Youlus called himself the 'Jewish Indiana Jones,' but his alleged exploits were no more real than those of the movie character he claimed to resemble," said Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a statement.
The U.S. Attorney's office stated that Torah scrolls that Younus claimed to have rescued had simply been purchased from local dealers and lacked any connection to the Holocaust. The office further stated that during many of the years Youlus claimed to be personally rescuing Torahs overseas, he had not even traveled internationally.
The statement said that Save a Torah had raised $1.2 million in contributions from 2004 to 2010.
Youlus gained public notoriety after a January 2010 Washington Post article raised doubts about the veracity of his claims.
"Menachem Youlus' indictment is welcome news to all who are concerned with the integrity of Holocaust memory," said Menachem Rosensaft, vice president of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants, in a statement.