FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Former HR Director Indicted for Allegedly Embezzling Over $100,000
From Transportation Conglomerate
Defendant Requisitioned Checks Made Out to “Cash” Under False Pretense That Company Funds Were Needed to Purchase Accident Reports and Other Documents
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a former human resources director and office manager of Consolidated Bus Transit, a conglomeration of five individual bus companies, has been arraigned on an indictment in which she is charged with second-degree grand larceny and related charges for allegedly stealing more than $100,000 from the companies through a check scheme.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant was a highly-trusted employee who used her position to allegedly swindle tens of thousands of dollars from transportation companies operating under the control of her employer. I am committed to protecting local businesses from fraudulent activity and will seek to hold this defendant accountable.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Iris Davila, 41, of Staten Island. She was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an indictment in which she is charged with two counts of second-degree grand larceny, one count of third-degree grand larceny, second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, and five counts of first-degree falsifying business records. She was released without bail and ordered to return to court on February 13, 2019.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, between August 2017 and June 2018, the defendant, who was the human resources director and office manager at Consolidated Bus Transit located at 50 Snediker Avenue, in East New York, allegedly requisitioned checks made out to “cash” against each of the five bus companies that operated under the management and control of Consolidated Bus Transit. These companies included Boro Transit Inc, SNT Bus Inc., and CBT Para Transit, a transportation service for people with disabilities.
It is alleged that the defendant received approval for expenditures under the false pretense that the company funds were necessary to purchase accident reports and other documents from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and the City of New York Police Department. The defendant allegedly requisitioned 67 checks totaling approximately $48,000
between August 2017 and January 2018. She allegedly sent company “runners” to cash the checks at the bank and return the funds to her. During this 6-month period, the defendant allegedly deposited $31,150 in cash into her personal bank account. Between February 8, 2018 and June 11, 2018, the defendant allegedly deposited 85 additional checks totaling about $60,500 into her personal bank account after the bank changed its policy to only allow persons with accounts at the bank to cash checks.
The theft was discovered in June 2018 when a company accountant reviewed the cash expenditures and found that there were no documents to support the checks that were requisitioned by the defendant.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Adam Zion, of the District Attorney’s Frauds Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Christopher Blank, Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Bureau.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.