A Selden woman was sentenced to up to four years in prison on Wednesday, May 28, for stealing more than $1 million from two Long Island construction companies, one of which she worked for as a bookkeeper, according to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
Mary Spora, 59, had pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree grand larceny and one count of first-degree falsifying business records, according to the DA. Donnelly said she recommended a sentence of two to six years in prison, while the actuating sentencing is for 1 1/3 to four years in prison.
Donnelly said that, between February 2017 and May 2023, Spora worked as a bookkeeper for construction equipment company Independent Equipment Corp. and building material company Coastal Materials. She embezzled a total of $1,152,160 from Coastal and another company under the same owner, Big Apple Concrete Supply, Inc., by writing approximately 113 unauthorized checks from their bank accounts, according to the DA.
The DA said Spora was responsible for handling accounts payable for Independent and Coastal, and for recording payments in the companies’ books. She also said Spora was responsible for preparing payments to vendors and had access to the accounting and payroll software for all three companies, as well as their financial records.
Donnelly said that, according to certified bank records, more than 75 checks from Coastal, totaling more than $608,000, were deposited into a bank account held by the defendant and her husband between March 2, 2017, and Feb. 1, 2023.
Bank records also indicate that more than 30 checks, totaling more than $540,000, were deposited into the same bank account from Big Apple between Feb. 15, 2017, and May 25, 2023, the DA said.
An audit of Coastal and Big Apple’s payroll software records reflected that Spora made an entry into the software designating a company owned by her husband as payee for the checks and altered the payee information of those checks to make it appear as though a company that does do business with Coastal and Big Apple was the appropriate payee, according to the DA.
A review of Spora’s bank accounts indicated that between 2017 and 2021, she spent the stolen money on personal expenses, credit card and retail store payments, and travel, Donnelly said.
