Commack woman pleads guilty to embezzling more than $250K from summer camp

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced on March 1 that Melanie I. Bergstedt, 47, of Commack pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree for allegedly embezzling approximately $250,000 from a local summer camp during the course of her employment there.

“This defendant placed her own greed above the welfare of children by stealing money earmarked for a summer camp and pocketed it for her own personal use,” said District Attorney Tierney. “If you steal from local businesses, you are also harming the Suffolk County community at large. Accordingly, you will be held to account for your actions and legally forced to repay the money you stole.”

According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during her guilty plea allocution, between 2016 and 2020, Bergstedt admitted she knowingly and intentionally stole money by diverting payments made by customers into other bank accounts during the course of her employment at the local summer camp, headquartered in Commack. The bank accounts were opened under similar names as the camp without the owner’s knowledge or permission in an effort to conceal the theft and to use those funds for her own personal benefit.

Bergstedt is required to pay restitution to the victim and if she does not, she faces up to three to 15 years in prison. She is due back in court for sentencing on May 8.

Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.