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Tag: grand-larceny

  • Wading River attorney charged with stealing $751K from client | Long Island Business News

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    THE BLUEPRINT:

    • charged with allegedly stealing $751,687.

    • Funds were intended for a purchase.

    • Defendant pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance.

    A Wading River-based attorney has been charged with allegedly stealing $751,687 that was designated for the purchase of a Southampton home for his client, officials said Thursday.

    Peter Giattino was charged with second-degree , the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said.

    “The allegations against this defendant reflect a serious betrayal of the confidence the victim placed in this attorney in his role as both legal counsel and fiduciary,” District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a news release about the charges.

    “The integrity of the attorney-client relationship is fundamental to our society, and this office will not allow licensed professionals to abuse their positions for personal gain,” he said.

    Giattino pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance.

    “We look forward to reviewing all the documentation that will be provided by the district attorney’s office,” Robert Macedonio, Giattino’s attorney, told LIBN.

    “Mr. Giattino is a well-respected attorney who spent approximately 10 years as a prosecutor in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office,” Macedonio said. “He is a family man, and a father of an 11-month-old child. On reviewing all the evidence, we believe these charges will be resolved in Mr. Giattino’s favor.”

    The Suffolk DA’s office said that Giattino, the principal attorney of PVG Legal Solutions, was hired June 2, 2025, to represent the client in the Southampton home purchase. The client wired funds to Giattino on June 13. Authorities allege that between June and October 2025, Giattino withdrew the money through checks, ATM transactions and cash withdrawals. He is also accused of spending part of the funds at local and out-of-state casinos.

    The real estate closing was cancelled, and the DA’s office said that the client then hired new counsel and repeatedly requested that his funds be transferred. Authorities say Giattino did not return the money, which he had allegedly spent on unauthorized personal expenses.

    Giattino is due back in court on April 8.


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    Adina Genn

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  • Alleged Queens $2.2M theft ring hit 128 Home Depots, including on LI | Long Island Business News

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    THE BLUEPRINT:

    • Authorities allege a Queens-based crew stole $2.2M from 128 Home Depot stores across nine states.

    • Thirteen defendants charged in a 780-count indictment under and face new NY theft laws.

    • Alleged crew targeted Long Island stores using coordinated communication and lookouts.

    • Stolen goods were allegedly resold via a Brooklyn storefront and Facebook Marketplace.

    Authorities say that an alleged Queens-based theft ring charged with stealing $2.2 million of goods from Home Depots had targeted 128 of the retail chain’s locations across nine states, including on Long Island.

    On Thursday, officials said that 13 people were charged in a 780-court indictment for allegedly operating a stolen goods and resale ring. Among the charges are , conspiracy and criminal possession of stolen property.

    In what the Queens District Attorney office is calling “Operation Self Checkout,” prosecutors are also leveraging new laws targeting retail theft that strengthen larceny laws by combining the value of merchandise stolen in separate incidents.

    “The defendants took breaks for lunch and dinner, sometimes hitting the same Home Depot up to four times in one day,” Queens District Attorney said in a news release.

    “The stolen items were then resold to consumers, through a Brooklyn storefront or on Facebook Marketplace,” she added.

    Commonly stolen items included insulation kits, reflective roof-coating buckets, power tools, air-conditioners, and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, authorities said.

    The alleged ring is charged with hitting Long Island locations, including Farmingdale, Westbury and Bay Shore.

    Prosecutors allege that from August 2024 to September 2025, a theft crew led by of Flushing met almost daily before dawn in East Elmhurst to plan coordinated shoplifting operations at Home Depot stores, that were typically situated near highways.

    Targets were selected based on online inventory listings, and Diaz, along with seven crew members, allegedly traveled in a van and a lookout vehicle to each location. Sometimes they would hit as many as four locations in one day, Katz said.

    Once inside, three to four crew members who had allegedly entered the store separately, behaved like ordinary shoppers. Prosecutors say Diaz communicated with them through their ear buds, directing what to steal based on the retailer’s website and app, how to avoid attention and when to exit.

    The crew members allegedly put the goods in large garbage bins or carts, and sometimes positioned themselves behind strategically placed sheetrock or plywood to shield themselves. Crew members allegedly used distractions to help others leave undetected.

    Another defendant, Joana Carolina Fermin, of Hicksville, allegedly monitored parking lots for police presence and advised when to reposition Diaz’s van closer to store exits.

    Daily losses per store ranged from roughly $1,800 to nearly $35,000, according to prosecutors.

    “Working with our partners at the New York State Police, we brought this brazen operation to a halt,” Katz said.

    Attorney information for the defendants was not immediately available.

    New state laws, Katz said, “provide prosecutors’ offices with tools to more efficiently investigate, and more effectively charge, organized retail theft and fencing operations.”

    Those laws, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in the news release, were enacted after a spike in retail theft after the pandemic.

    Excluding items from this operation, state police and local law enforcement partners have recovered over $2.6 million in stolen goods, made 1,261 arrests and filed 2,219 charges in 1,057 retail theft enforcement operations, according to New York State.

    On Thursday, the Queens DA’s office said that Diaz was ordered remanded. He and Fermin, according to published reports, pleaded not guilty.

    They and other crew members are due back in court on various dates in January.


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    Adina Genn

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  • Floral Park attorney sentenced for $1.7M escrow theft | Long Island Business News

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    THE BLUEPRINT:

    • Defendant stole over $1.7M from 32 clients’ escrow accounts, officials said.

    • Spent stolen funds on nightclubs, adult entertainment and personal expenses.

    • Sentenced to 3½ to 10½ years in prison and civil judgments of $1.79M.

    • Mismanagement led to canceled real estate transactions and financial harm to clients.

    A -based real estate attorney was sentenced Wednesday for stealing more than $1.7 million from the escrow accounts of over 30 clients, officials said. He later spent the money on adult entertainment, nightclubs and other personal expenses as well as to fund his law practice, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office.

    Terrance Dougherty of Oyster Bay had pleaded guilty in September to 13 counts of second-degree and one count of first-degree scheme to defraud. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 3-1/2 to 10-1/2 years in prison. The court also issued civil judgments totaling $1.79 million for 32 victims.

    “Terrance Dougherty threw his life and career away for a good time on his clients’ dime,” Anne Donnelly, Nassau’s district attorney, said in a news release about the sentencing.

    Donnelly described Dougherty as a “thief who blew through more than a million dollars, spending down the escrow funds in his business trust account until it was almost zeroed out.”

    She said that in “just five days, this defendant unbelievably spent nearly $200,000 at gentleman’s clubs in New York City and on Long Island. He was living it up while his clients faced having nowhere to live …, [s]eeing their dreams of home ownership dashed, their financial stability jeopardized and their sense of security forever tainted. Terrance Dougherty is a disgrace to the legal profession, and he will find no luxury accommodations over the next decade in state prison.”

    Officials said Dougherty maintained an attorney trust account holding from real estate transactions, including down payments and sale proceeds. Between March 2021 and November 2024, he handled at least 32 clients’ transactions. Investigators found he withheld funds, causing many transactions to be canceled or closings to proceed without the necessary money, according to authorities.

    A review of the defendant’s account showed that $1.79 million in client funds was deposited between March 2021 and November 2024, leaving a balance of $5.35 by Nov. 29, officials said. Records show he withdrew money through cash, transfers to another business account, and credit cards, using it between May and August 2024 for personal expenses, including visits to gentleman’s clubs, nightclubs, luxury hotels and restaurants.

     

     

     


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    Adina Genn

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  • DA: Office manager stole $230K from employer, collected unemployment while working at same LI firm | Long Island Business News

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    THE BLUEPRINT:

    • resident allegedly stole $230,398 from her employer

    • Collected over $40,000 in unemployment benefits while still employed

    • Worked as office manager at electrical contractor

    • Faces and charges, with potential 15 years in prison

    A Brightwaters resident has been charged with allegedly stealing more than $230,000 from her employer and also collecting over $40,000 in unemployment benefits while still employed, officials said Friday.

    Christa Ramos now faces second-degree grand larceny and other charges, according to District Attorney Ray Tierney.

    “Stealing from a small business is not just a against one employer; it’s a crime against the backbone of our economy and the fabric of our community,” Tierney said in a written statement. “My office is committed to holding individuals accountable who exploit small businesses for personal gain.”

    Tara Laterza, an East Moriches-based attorney representing Ramos, was not immediately available for comment.

    Investigators say that between December 2018 and June 2023, Ramos worked as an office manager at Northeast Electrical Contractors, where she was responsible for paying the company’s bills. But during that time, Ramos allegedly began writing checks to herself totaling approximately $230,398 without authorization from the company’s president or vice president. These checks were reportedly deposited into her personal bank account and used for personal expenses, according to the DA’s office.

    Further investigation revealed that Ramos allegedly collected unemployment insurance benefits while working full-time at Northeast Electrical Contractors. Authorities claim she repeatedly informed the New York State Department of Labor that she was unemployed during this period. As office manager, Ramos handled the company’s mail, which allegedly enabled her to conceal the unemployment benefit payments from her employer. In total, she is accused of fraudulently obtaining more than $40,000 in taxpayer funds.

    Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro ordered Ramos held on $100,000 cash, $200,000 bond or $500,000 partially secured bond while the case is ongoing. Ramos is due back in court on Nov. 18.

    If convicted of the top count, Ramos faces up to 15 years in prison.


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    Adina Genn

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  • Jordan Neely’s uncle arrested again on theft charges in NYC

    Jordan Neely’s uncle arrested again on theft charges in NYC

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    The career pickpocket uncle of slain Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neely was arrested for the second time in as many weeks on Wednesday, according to police.

    Christopher Neely, 44, was booked at the NYPD’s 19th Precinct stationhouse in Lenox Hill on multiple counts of grand larceny stemming from three separate Manhattan heists since August last year, cops said.

    Most recently, Neely snatched a designer Chanel purse valued at $15,000 from off a woman’s chair inside a Church St. eatery between White and Walker Sts. around 8:23 p.m. on May 18, cops said.

    Christopher Neely, the uncle of Jordan Neely.

    He’s also accused of racking up thousands of dollars in bogus charges on stolen credit cards, including plastic he nabbed from a woman’s purse inside an E. 82nd St. diner between Third and Lexington Aves. at 5 p.m. on April 27, according to police.

    Detectives also connected Christopher Neely to the $8,958 in fraudulent charges an Astor Place resident spotted on their credit card bill on Aug. 19.

    Neely’s Wednesday arrest follows a May 23 run-in with law enforcement in which an NYPD pickpocket team identified him as a suspect wanted for a string of robberies.

    He ducked into the subway to evade cops, jumping a turnstile before grappling with officers in an effort to evade arrest, according to police sources.

    Jordan Neely of Manhattan is pictured while performing as Michael Jackson at the 59th. St. subway station in 2011.

    Jordan Neely of Manhattan is pictured while performing as Michael Jackson at the 59th. St. subway station in 2011. (Mariela Lombard/for New York Daily News)

    Cops have previously hit Neely with charges including rape, robbery and burglary, although most of his two-dozen priors are theft related, cops said.

    The suspect’s 30-year-old homeless nephew, Jordan Neely, was killed on an F train in Manhattan after Marine veteran Daniel Penny, 24, placed him in a chokehold on May 1.

    Penny, who was charged with second-degree manslaughter and released on $100,000 bond, claimed in a statement that he was protecting himself and other straphangers from the Michael Jackson impersonator.

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    Rocco Parascandola, Colin Mixson

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