Special-needs facility employee accused of theft

A Shirley woman stole $19,000 from the Miller Place special-needs residential facility where she worked, Suffolk police said Tuesday.

Samantha Cuomo, 28, of 28 Lafayette Dr., was charged with grand larceny after police said another employee of Maryhaven Center of Hope found receipts for hundreds of phantom purchases Cuomo supposedly made for the facility's clients.

The receipts were for bus transportation, cash and the Hollywood Salon and Day Spa in Miller Place, police said, but in fact Cuomo pocketed the money for herself.

The thefts, which also involved unauthorized credit card charges on Maryhaven's credit card for dresses at Estelle's in Farmingdale, took place from January 2012 to March 2013, police said.

Police said that Cuomo, who told them she'd worked for Maryhaven for 10 years, has been fired from her job. She is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip Tuesday.