Wednesday, February 23, 2005
D.A. BROWN: BOOKKEEPER SENTENCED TO UP TO FIFTEEN YEARS IN PRISON FOR EMBEZZLING OVER $1 MILLION FROM LONG ISLAND CITY ELEVATOR COMPANY
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that a Queens bookkeeper has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for stealing over $1 million from a Long Island City elevator company that had employed her for over 15 years.
District Attorney Brown said, “The defendant pled guilty to ripping off her employer by falsifying payroll and expense account reports and diverting over $1 million of company monies to her personal bank account. The lengthy prison sentence imposed by the court punishes her for her crimes of deceit and greed.”
District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Maria Villa, 49, of 24-27 77th Street in East Elmhurst, Queens. The defendant pled guilty last month to Grand Larceny in the First Degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice James P. Griffin who imposed today’s indeterminate sentence of five years to 15 years in prison.
According to the District Attorney, the defendant, a bookkeeper, was employed since 1988 by the P.S. Marcato Elevator Company of 44-11 11th Street in Long Island City, Queens. The company -- founded in 1981 -- employs about 200 persons, performs elevator maintenance, modernization and repair and reports earnings of about $20 million annually.
The District Attorney said that an investigation determined that between November 2, 2000 and June 30, 2002 the defendant falsified company records -- including employee payroll and expense account reports -- and directed the company’s payroll firm to wire those monies -- in amounts ranging from $500 to $23,000 a week -- to her Chase bank branch on Jackson Avenue in Long Island City for direct deposit to her personal account.
District Attorney Brown said that the actual losses to the company exceeded $5 million. The defendant has executed a confession of judgement for $5.1 million acknowledging a civil liability for that amount to her former employer.
The investigation was conducted by Detective Sergeant Franco Russo of the District Attorney’s Detective Squad and Detective Terence Quinn, formerly of the District Attorney’s Detective Squad under the supervision of former Chief Edward T. Brady, now retired, and current Chief Lawrence J. Festa.
Assistant District Attorney Gerard A. Brave, Bureau Chief, of the District Attorney's Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau, prosecuted the case under the supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.