THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2005

D.A. BROWN: FORMER COMPTROLLER CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLING $42,000 IN FUNDS FROM QUEENS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF
Allegedly Used Bulk of Money to Pay Off Credit Card Debts

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that the former comptroller of the Lexington School for the Deaf – a nonprofit charitable organization in Jackson Heights that has operated as the main hard-of-hearing school in the metropolitan area since 1864 – has been charged with embezzling $42,000 from the school’s checking account.

District Attorney Brown said, “As a charitable organization, the Lexington School for the Deaf relies heavily on government aid and private donations to provide tuition-free education to hundreds of deaf children from kindergarten through high school. In an atmosphere of such giving, it is disheartening to see someone, such as the defendant, allegedly use his position of trust as the school’s chief fiscal officer to siphon off tens of thousands of dollars in school funds for his own personal use.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as James Gutierrez, 33, of 222-89 Braddock Avenue in Queens Village. Arraigned last night before Queens Criminal Court Judge Gene Lopez, the defendant was charged with one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, four counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree and one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree. Judge Lopez set bail at $5,000 and ordered a return date of January 3, 2006. If convicted, the defendant faces up to seven years in prison.

The District Attorney said that, according to the charges, between January 1, 2004 and September 1, 2005, the defendant was employed as the comptroller for the Lexington School for the Deaf in Jackson Heights and, among his duties, was to issue and sign checks and to direct bookkeepers to make entries in the school’s business records. It is alleged that during an audit by the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities and a subsequent review of the records by the school, irregularities were uncovered in the school’s checking account. Specifically, fourteen checks totaling more than $42,000 were discovered which lacked backup documentation to indicate that they were made for legitimate business purposes. Five of the checks were made payable to Fleet Bank and credited to a credit card account and the remaining nine were made payable to the “NYC Department of Finance.” In examining Fleet Bank’s credit card accounts it was determined that the credit card account belonged to the defendant, who allegedly tried to conceal these payments as legitimate business expenses by noting in school records that the payments went to an elevator company and other contractors doing business with the school.

District Attorney Brown expressed his appreciation to the Lexington School for the Deaf, located at 30th Avenue and 75th Street in Jackson Heights, for referring the matter to his office and for its assistance in the investigation.

The investigation was conducted by Detectives Richard Lewis and Ketty Larco of the District Attorney’s Detective Bureau under the supervision of Sergeant John W. Kenna and Lieutenant Robert J. Burke and the overall supervision of Deputy Chief Albert D. Velardi and Chief Lawrence J. Festa.

Assistant District Attorney Diane M. Peress, Deputy Bureau Chief, of the District Attorney’s Economic Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Gregory C. Pavlides, Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.

It should be noted that criminal charges are merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.