A Sheepshead Bay man is facing grand larceny and other charges for allegedly stealing more than $300,000 from the family owned fruit and vegetable market where he worked.
The bookkeeper was arraigned in Kings County Supreme Court on Dec. 22 on one count of second-degree grand larceny, two counts of third-degree larceny, and 11 counts of first-degree falsifying business records, according to the District Attorney’s office.
“This defendant was a trusted employee who was the only person aside from the owners to have access to these bank accounts. He allegedly breached that trust to indulge in hundreds of thousands of dollars of fancy electronics, airline tickets and other items and we will now seek to hold him accountable,” said Acting District Attorney Gonzalez.
The man worked as the bookkeeper for Produce Market 2000 on Avenue U, and allegedly stole the money between November 2015 and March 2017.
Prosecutors allege that he misdirected funds meant for Best Buy, one of the market’s vendors, to his personal Best Buy credit card to pay off his own credit card debt. He allegedly did this by making false entries into the market’s bookkeeping software, and also used the company credit cards to buy products for himself, including Apple TVs, Michael Kors clothing, airplane tickets, and more, totalling is approximately $316,000, according to the District Attorney’s office.
The bookkeeper was also accused of stealing another $17,000 by collecting rental payments from properties belonging to one of market’s owners From July 2015 to January 2017, and failing to deposit them into the owner’s account.
He was ordered held on bail of $250,000 bond or $100,000 cash and to return to court on Feb. 28, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
