Seaford man charged with skimming Con Ed of $3.8M
A Con Ed manager from Long Island has been charged in federal court in Manhattan with skimming $3.8 million from customer payments to the utility.
Prosecutors said John Farchione, 64, of Seaford, a former customer operations manager, and Louis Bendel, 69, of Queens, a contractor who collected customer payments, schemed to steal part of the payments and then rig the books so the money wouldn’t be missed.
The scam went on for 11 years, the government said. The two face multiple conspiracy, fraud and identity theft charges. Con Ed, in a statement after the charges were announced late on Tuesday, said it discovered the fraud and referred it to prosecutors.
“The matter involved fraud against the company, not customers,” the statement said.
A lawyer for Farchione did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Bendel’s lawyer Todd Spodek said evidence would show his client “never intended to violate the law or defraud anyone.”
Sarra Sounds Off Ep. 35: EI baseball, girls lacrosse and plays of the week On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," we look at East Islip baseball's inspirational comeback story, Jared Valluzzi has the plays of the week and Tess Ferguson breaks down the top defensive players in girls lacrosse.
Sarra Sounds Off Ep. 35: EI baseball, girls lacrosse and plays of the week On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," we look at East Islip baseball's inspirational comeback story, Jared Valluzzi has the plays of the week and Tess Ferguson breaks down the top defensive players in girls lacrosse.
