Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that charges have been filed against nine individuals for stealing more than $67,000 from the New York State Department of Labor.
The nine have been charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D Felony, and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a Class E Felony. Six defendants turned themselves in to the DA’s office this morning, while the DA’s office has issued warrants for two defendants, and a third is scheduled to turn himself in on Friday.
If convicted of the charges, each defendant faces a maximum of seven years in prison.
“Stealing from the government affects everyone and will not be tolerated under my watch,” DA Rice said. “We pay our hard-earned tax dollars and expect they will be used for the benefit of all, not for the greed of few. I applaud the work of the Department of Labor, and my new bureau, the Consumer and Government Frauds Bureau, in investigating these defendants.”
Each defendant is alleged to have falsely reaffirmed their unemployed status on a weekly basis, even though each had obtained work for at least some of the time they were receiving unemployment benefits.
The defendants are Ana Marie Cruz, 41, of Long Beach; Leah Doyle, 36, of Massapequa Park; Juan Estrella, 56, of Uniondale; Louis Gigi, 54, of Massapequa; Virgil Longo, 48, of Levittown; Alejandro Otero, 45, of Island Park; Rubens Ribeiro, 53, of West Hempstead; Ian Robinson, 56, of Uniondale; and Beverly Simmons, 34, of Hempstead.
The defendants will be arraigned this afternoon in First District Court, Hempstead. Assistant DA Stephani Meister will be handling the cases against Otero, Ribeiro, and Robinson, while Assistant DA Connie Gentile will be handling the case against Cruz and Assistant DA Beth LaVelle will be handling the cases against Doyle, Estrella, Gigi, Longo, and Simmons.
The Assistant DA’s are members of the DA’s newly-created Government and Consumer Frauds Bureau. DA Rice has thanked the New York State Department of Labor for their involvement in the investigation.
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