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http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/122205DeafEmbezzlement.html
QUEENS---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.
James Gutierrez, 33, of Braddock Ave., Queens Village, has been 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.
He was arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge Gene Lopez and released on $5,000 bail. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.
"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", Queens district attorney Richard Brown said. "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 said that, according to the charges, between Jan. 1, 2004 and Sept. 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, 14 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.
QUEENS---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.
James Gutierrez, 33, of Braddock Ave., Queens Village, has been 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.
He was arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge Gene Lopez and released on $5,000 bail. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.
"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", Queens district attorney Richard Brown said. "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 said that, according to the charges, between Jan. 1, 2004 and Sept. 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, 14 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.
