Former manager at facility charged with stealing from residents with special needs, police said

A former manager at a home for residents with special needs has been charged with stealing about $50,000 from the accounts of 11 victims, Suffolk police said Wednesday.

Police said Financial Crimes Unit detectives began an investigation in January after administrators at the Maryhaven Center of Hope discovered "an employee was stealing money" from the personal accounts of residents at the center on North Ocean Avenue in Medford. That investigation culminated with the arrest Tuesday of Jazzame Paranzino, 29, of Lafayette Drive in Shirley.

Paranzino was charged with third-degree grand larceny, police said. She pleaded not guilty during her arraignment Wednesday in Central Islip and was released on her own recognizance without bail, her Freeport attorney Mark Silverman said, adding she is set to return to court Sept. 9.

"This is a new case and we were just apprised of these allegations," Silverman said. "We have to see what documentation there is — and she denied any culpability."

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”