MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Selden man pled guilty today to embezzling more than $3,000,000 from Five Town Pediatrics, PC, a local pediatric practice in Woodmere and Bellmore.
Peter Singh, 43, pled guilty before Judge William O’Brien to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a C felony). The defendant is expected to be sentenced on January 9, 2019 to three to nine years in prison and must pay a civil judgement in the amount of $3,102,764.30.
“This defendant embezzled more than $3 million from the pediatric practice where he worked and used the money to live extravagantly,” DA Singas said. “Anyone considering stealing from their employer should be mindful that modern technology makes these cases much easier to spot and to prove, and there is a heavy price to pay for thefts of this magnitude.”
DA Singas said in 2010, the defendant was an employee of Five Town Pediatrics, PC, and was promoted to practice administrator. As practice administrator, he was given unsupervised control over the practice’s human resources functions, including payroll, 401K administration, and the hiring support staff. His thefts went undetected for years despite investigations by the practice’s previous accountants.
Between 2010 and January 2018 he increased his salary by $1,126,800; paid his wife who was never an employee $1,726,791; paid his step-daughter, who was also never an employee, $136,053; and paid another company, RSS of NY, which he was a signatory on, $29,602. During this same time, Singh used the practice’s bank account to live beyond his means, including payments for a high-end Lexus, and to repay loans from his own 401K account, totaling $83,517. In total, the practice lost $3,102,764.
In January 2018, after noticing discrepancies in their finances, the physician owners hired a forensic accountant and bookkeeper who uncovered the embezzlement. The case was referred to the Nassau County Police Department’s Robbery Squad which jointly investigated the case with the NCDA’s Financial Crimes Bureau. The defendant was arrested on May 15 by the NCPD’s Robbery Squad.
No patient identification information was compromised during the embezzlement. The defendant was terminated from his position in February 2018.
Senior Assistant District Attorney April Montgomery of DA Singas’ Financial Crimes Bureau, is prosecuting this case. The defendant is represented by Scott Limmer, Esq.
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