Floral Park bookkeeper stole from two employers, says Nassau DA

A Floral Park bookkeeper was arraigned on grand larceny charges Thursday, after prosecutors said she stole about $700,000 from two employers to pay off her loans and credit card bills over the past five years.

The thefts made by Deborah Tangredi, 51, were discovered after her employer of 17 years, a Great Neck lender and real estate business, closed down in 2013 and conducted an audit going back to 2012, the Nassau district attorney's office said.

Tangredi had written checks from the business bank accounts to pay her car loan, American Express and Citi credit cards, then listed the payee on company records as someone her employer did business with, prosecutors said.

After looking at records dating back to 2009, investigators from District Attorney Kathleen Rice's office discovered Tangredi had forged 100 checks totaling $694,244.41, prosecutors said.

Tangredi then went to work for a Mineola law firm, where, DA investigators discovered, she stole $10,387.33 from her new employer by forging signatures on checks, officials said.

She was arrested Thursday and arraigned on felonies including second-degree grand larceny, two counts of third-degree grand larceny, three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and three counts of first-degree falsifying business records.

She pleaded not guilty and was released on a $25,000 bail, said her attorney, Robert Schalk of Mineola.

"We've denied the charges as they currently stand," Schalk said, "and we're waiting to review the evidence the district attorney has."

Prosecutors said Tangredi faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge.

"Given the challenges of a tough economy, employers shouldn't also have to worry that their next hire will steal company money," Rice said in a news release.