Arlena Mann allegedly directed payments from NUMC to six bank accounts she controlled between 2019 and 2021
MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that the former payroll director of Nassau University Medical Center (“NUMC”) has been indicted for allegedly embezzling more than $121,000 from the hospital by using its payroll software to make direct payments into accounts controlled by the defendant.
Arlena Mann, 46, was indicted by a grand jury and arraigned today before Judge Fran Ricigliano on charges of grand larceny in the second degree (a C felony) and six representative counts of falsifying business records in the first degree (an E felony). The defendant pleaded not guilty and was released on her own recognizance. She is due back in court on April 25. If convicted, the defendant faces a potential maximum of 5 to 15 years in prison.
“This defendant allegedly used her access to key bookkeeping and payroll software to bilk the cash-strapped public hospital out of more than $120,000,” DA Donnelly said. “These are funds NUMC sorely needs to provide adequate services and patient care to Nassau County residents. Employees of public institutions like NUMC have a duty to perform their jobs with integrity because residents depend on it.”
District Attorney Donnelly said that, according to the indictment, between March 2019 and July 2021, while she was employed as the payroll director at NUMC, Mann allegedly used the hospital’s payroll software to arrange for payments to former NUMC employees who had recently separated from the organization.
During the process of scheduling the payments, Mann allegedly changed the banking information associated with the former employees to different accounts that she controlled.
Once payments were processed, Mann allegedly voided them within NUMC’s bookkeeping software to create the appearance that the payments were never processed and that no money was transferred. During this time period, Mann allegedly made more than fifty such transfers, involving more than fifty former employees, with a total value exceeding $121,000.
The investigation determined that the funds stolen as a result of Mann’s alleged conduct did not involve money due to any of the former employees and were exclusively NUMC funds.
The alleged theft was discovered in the spring of 2021 by an employee in NUMC’s payroll division. After an internal investigation was conducted, Mann was terminated in July 2021 and the case was referred to NCDA’s Financial Crimes Bureau.
This case is being prosecuted by Bureau Chief David Crowley of the Financial Crimes Bureau. The defendant is represented by David Ayres, Esq.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.
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