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embezzlement

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Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Selden woman was sentenced to up to four years in prison for stealing more than $1 million from two Long Island construction companies, one of which she worked for as a bookkeeper, in a press release on May 28.

Mary Spora, 59, pleaded guilty on August 14, 2024, before Judge Tammy Robbins to two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a C felony) and one count of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree (an E felony).

The defendant was sentenced today to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison. NCDA recommended a sentence of 2 to 6 years in prison.

“This defendant selfishly took advantage of her employer, abusing her position and access to siphon more than a million dollars from two businesses over the course of six years,” said DA Donnelly. “Financial crimes hurt businesses and the employees who work for them. We will continue to investigate and follow the money when an allegation of financial fraud is made and hold defendants accountable for using deceit and deception to line their own pockets.”

DA Donnelly said that, between February 2017 and May 2023, the defendant worked as a bookkeeper for construction equipment company Independent Equipment Corp. (Independent) and building material company Coastal Materials (Coastal). The defendant embezzled a total of $1,152,160 from Coastal and another company under the same owner, Big Apple Concrete Supply, Inc. (Big Apple), by writing approximately 113 unauthorized checks from their bank accounts.

Spora was responsible for handling accounts payable for Independent and Coastal, and recording payments in the companies’ books. She was also responsible for preparing payments to vendors and had access to the accounting and payroll software for all three companies, as well as their financial records.

According to certified bank records, more than 75 checks from Coastal, totaling more than $608,000, were deposited into a bank account held by the defendant and her husband between March 2, 2017, and February 1, 2023.

Bank records also indicate that more than 30 checks, totaling more than $540,000, were deposited into the same bank account from Big Apple between February 15, 2017, and May 25, 2023.

An audit of Coastal and Big Apple’s payroll software records also reflected that the defendant made an entry into the software designating a company owned by her husband as payee for the checks and altered the payee information of those checks to make it appear as though a company that does do business with Coastal and Big Apple was the appropriate payee.

A review of the defendant’s bank accounts indicated that between 2017 and 2021, she spent the stolen money on personal expenses, credit card and retail store payments, and travel.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Investigative Counsel Heidi Bausk under the supervision of Major Financial Frauds Bureau Chief Maureen McCormack and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Investigations Division Rick Whelan. The defendant is represented by Robert Schalk, Esq.

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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.

Melanie Bergstedt

“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.

Leslie Mroz

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced on Jan. 27 that Leslie Mroz, 39, of Selden, was sentenced to two to six years in prison for allegedly embezzling more than $340,000 from her employer over the course of approximately three years.

“This defendant wasted no time abusing the trust that her employer placed in her by stealing from her employer,” said District Attorney Tierney. “She will now face justice and serve prison time for her greed.”

An investigation conducted by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and the Suffolk County Police Department revealed that from February 2016 to February 2019, Mroz was employed by a Medford company where she handled payroll as part of her responsibilities as the Human Resources manager. The position gave her the ability to manipulate her salary and the benefits she received. At the time her theft was discovered, Mroz was paying herself more than double the salary that her employer had authorized. A review of company records also revealed that Mroz was also making unauthorized contributions to her retirement fund and health insurance.

The owner of the small family-run Medford business where Mroz worked, who asked not to be named for privacy concerns, stated that Mroz’s theft of over $340,000 had the potential to ruin her company. However, she said what hurt her the most was that Mroz was considered a trusted employee and had been accepted as part of her family.

On October 5, 2022, Mroz pleaded guilty to one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree before Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Timothy P. Mazzei. She was sentenced on January 23 to two to six years in prison.

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