Officials: Couple Stole $771K From Special Needs Preschool For Personal Indulgences
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A couple has been sentenced for stealing about $771,000 in public funds from a Staten Island special needs preschool for their own personal use.
The New York State Comptroller's office says 71-year-old Dennis Mosesman and his wife, 72-year-old Elsie Mosesman, stole the money by falsifying business records for the Gingerbread Learning Center. Dennis Mosesman is the school's president.
They allegedly used the money to pay for landscaping at their house, car and insurance payments, flowers, gift cards and other personal expenses.
An audit of the school was conducted in 2015 after the State Department of Education received an anonymous complaint claiming Elsie Mosesman was a "no show" employee.
Dennis and Elsie Mosesman have been sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to pay full restitution and asset forfeiture. They previously pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the second degree.
