LONG ISLAND CRIME BRIEFS

Sea Cliff

Man admits guilt in LIRR

bank-card skimming case

A man who along with his wife was caught last year retrieving bank card skimming devices at the Sea Cliff train station pleaded guilty Thursday to third-degree grand larceny and fourth-degree conspiracy, prosecutors said.

Valer Zaharia, 38, of Kew Gardens, is expected to be sentenced May 12 to 2 to 6 years in prison, the Nassau County district attorney's office said.

His wife, Teodora Zaharia, 28, of Kew Gardens, pleaded guilty March 21 to fourth-degree grand larceny, prosecutors said.

Teodora Zaharia is expected to be sentenced April 21, when prosecutors will ask for 9 months in jail and the forfeiture of $61,251.85 in cash found at her Queens apartment, authorities said.

The Zaharias were spotted retrieving two skimming devices and two hidden cameras from the ticket vending machines at the Long Island Rail Road station on Oct. 28, authorities said. They were arrested, unaware that MTA police had been monitoring the station for more than 72 hours, and accused of installing the devices at several train stations, authorities said.

The couple were part of a ring that stole debit and credit card account and PIN numbers, information used to steal tens of thousands of dollars from riders and financial institutions, prosecutors said.

Two others in the case pleaded guilty last month to felony criminal possession of forgery device. They are to be sentenced April 25.

Great Neck

Woman pleads guilty to

$316G theft from employer

A West Babylon woman pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing more than $316,000 from a Great Neck contracting company where she worked as a bookkeeper -- and spending the money on jewelry, clothes and shoes, prosecutors said.

Onesta Reyes, 49, inflated her salary, "creating fake employees, and reimbursing herself for phony expenses," the Nassau County district attorney's office said in a news release.

Reyes pleaded guilty before Nassau County Court Judge Jerald Carter to second-degree grand larceny, a C felony, authorities said. She is due to return to court June 11. Prosecutors said they will request 2 to 6 years in prison and full restitution to the undisclosed company.

"In this case, the shock of someone stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her employer to update her wardrobe is matched only by the brazen manner in which she committed these crimes," District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in the news release.

Reyes' attorney, Daniel Graber, said: "Onesta feels terrible about what happened, and she hopes that her guilty plea will help to begin to make amends."

Between January 2011 and May 2012, "Reyes embezzled a total of $316,639.40 in gross earnings and unearned reimbursements" from her employer, the district attorney said. "As bookkeeper, her duties included overseeing the payroll and billings. She used her access to the payroll system to inflate her 2011 yearly salary from $48,720 to $239,893."

Reyes also reimbursed herself over $89,000 in fraudulent expenses and created a second employee under the name "Onesta V. Reyes," whose salary was $22,729 for the last three months of 2011, prosecutors said.

"Reyes stole an additional $1,500 in bogus expenses during that time period, and stole an additional $11,815 between April 2012 and May 2012," according to the news release.

Reyes used the money to make purchases at Macy's and other stores, prosecutors said.

An internal audit uncovered the theft, and the case was referred to the district attorney's office in May 2012, prosecutors said. Reyes was fired the next month, prosecutors said.