NY Woman Charged In Charity Bingo Scam
12th December, 2007
A Former employee of a New York, Coram-based handicapped advocacy charity is charged with pocketing $12,759 in earnings from bingo games, intended for charity. Prosecutors said 54-year-old Sverna Bradlely took the money and falsified reports to Brookhaven Town to cover up the thefts.
Bradley pleaded not guilty in court yesterday, and potentially faces one charge of third-degree grand larceny, which carries a maximum sentence of 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison. Her next court date is scheduled for 4th of February. In an August 24th statement to prosecutors, Bradley claimed SILO (Suffolk Independent Living Organisation) leadership directed her to skim cash from games which went unsupervised by bingo inspectors from Brookhaven Town, which looks after the games under state law.
Edward Ahern, SILO executive director declined to comment yesterday. However, according to a statement he made to prosecutors this month, the situation came to light after the charity’s bookkeeper noticed an unusual drop in bingo revenues in early 2006. Ahern said he then decided to survey 40 games between July and October 2006, kept a private tally of receipts, and compared them against deposits Bradley made into SILO’s bank account.
“The difference in the amounts that should have been deposited and the actual deposits was $12,759,” Ahern noted.
Prosecutors said that Ahern is not suspected to have a connection with the missing money, nor is anyone else other than Bradley, who resigned in November 2006 after being confronted by Ahern.
Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota urged towns to tighten up their regulation of bingo games. Last year, Long Island’s players wagered $17.6 million.
“There should be stricter enforcement,” he said. “There’s so much cash being generated and there’s such a temptation to steal.”
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