Ilana Friedman
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Entrusted to run a Richmond cemetery,
a former official siphoned off hundreds of thousands of dollars of bereaving
families' payments and other cash to treat her husband and herself to fancy
meals, jewelry and Las Vegas entertainment.
But Ilana Friedman is paying the cost for bilking United
Hebrew Cemetery -- $1.1 million in restitution, said the office of state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman,
which prosecuted the case.
The 52-year-old Brooklyn resident was sentenced Wednesday to
a three-year conditional discharge after she and her spouse repaid their
financial debt, court documents show.
According to court papers, Mrs. Friedman and her husband,
Arthur S. Friedman, operated and controlled United Hebrew Cemetery on Arthur
Kill Road starting in the mid-1990s. At various times through September 2011,
Friedman, 56, served as superintendent, president and chairman of the board. He
also was a paid consultant through June of last year.
Mrs. Friedman variously served as vice superintendent, vice
president and treasurer until her removal in September 2011, said court papers.
She also was a paid board director.
Between 2006 and 2011, Mrs. Friedman diverted $850,000 in
cash from families and monument companies intended for the cemetery, said court
papers. She allegedly doctored the cemetery's books to conceal her actions.
The couple also helped themselves to the cemetery's credit
cards, charging tens of thousands of dollars' worth of goods and services for
their personal use, court documents said.
They spent lavishly: At least $15,000 on jewelry; they
bought groceries and electronics at Costco and treated themselves to meals in
Manhattan, Florida and Las Vegas, said court records. The Friedmans also
charged $9,000 in entertainment fees while in Las Vegas on cemetery-related
conferences, court filings said.
In April, Mrs. Friedman pleaded guilty in Stapleton Criminal
Court to a felony count of second-degree grand larceny
Read More At: Silive.com
No comments:
Post a Comment