Greenport woman who embezzled $430K gets 1 year sentence
A Greenport woman who had pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $430,000 from her employer was sentenced to one year in jail last week, and will have to pay back the money she stole while falsifying checks, court officials said.
Genny David, 38, admitted in April to stealing the money over two years from Modern Packaging Inc. in Deer Park, where she had worked for nearly a decade, court and company officials said.
She was sentenced by Suffolk County judge Martin Effman Friday and must pay $444,150 in restitution; the packing company will recieve $344,150 and $100,000 will go to its insurance company to repay for the insurance payout, court records show.
Prosecutors said Ms. David used her position as payroll manager to write payroll checks to former and faked employees, then cashed the checks in her own bank account.
Modern Packing Inc. president and founder Zaki Hossain said Ms. David stole $5,000 a week from the company. An outside accountant eventually noticed the missing money, but when Mr. Hossain asked Ms. David to investigate, she told him the payroll company was looking into it, he said.
Mr. Hossain called the company himself weeks later, and discovered that the funds were being diverted into her bank account.
Ms. David stole $281,870.91 from Modern Packaging Inc. in 2011 and $148,961.65 in 2012, according to a statement by the company.
“She broke the whole trust in doing [this],” Mr. Hossain said, adding that the 130 workers were not given a bonus that year because of her theft. “It’s not fair.”
Ms. David was arrested on Dec. 13, 2012 and was indicted on a grand larceny charge in Suffolk County court this April. Ms. David was released on her own recognizance after her arraignment and pleaded guilty to the charge on Aug. 15, court records show.
She was sentenced Friday before county Judge Martin Effman.
But Mr. Hossain fears that he may not see the restitution money, noting that Ms. David has residences in other parts of the country and abroad and saying prosecutors were unable to find the stolen funds. He wrote the company was “dismayed” to learn Ms. David could be released from jail in as little as eight months.
Suffolk County District Attorney representatives could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Hossain said he thinks the lenient punishment will only encourage more crime.
“Every thief, they will come up with an idea not to pay, unless it’s enforced,” he said. “These things will happen more and more.”
