4 MAY 6, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Brooklyn accountant accused of scamming
Maspeth company using fake workers: DA
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
A Brooklyn woman has been
charged with embezzlement from
a Maspeth company, according to
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Vedeyah Badal, 56, of Ridgewood
Avenue, has been charged with grand
larceny and other crimes for allegedly
stealing millions of dollars from
her employer for a third of the 22 years
she worked at an interior and exterior
demolition fi rm.
Between 2012 and 2019, Badal in her
role as the company’s accountant is accused
of creating fake employees in order
to cash their checks and pocket the funds
for herself. Badal was arraigned before
Criminal Court Judge Danielle Hartman
on a three-count criminal complaint
charging her with grand larceny in the
fi rst degree, money laundering in the
second degree and falsifying business
records in the fi rst degree.
According to the charges, Badal
worked at Titan Industrial Services Inc.
for 22 years as the company’s in-house
accountant and had access and virtually
unlimited control over the business’s
fi nances throughout her tenure. In 2019,
Badal left the company. At that point,
someone discovered three employees
who existed in name only and that these
fictitious workers were getting paid
weekly.
According to the complaint, the company
owners conducted a forensic audit
and found a total of 13 phantom employees
created between 2012 and 2019. The
fake workers had bogus Social Security
numbers and were even having federal,
state and local taxes withheld from their
paychecks.
In all, the DA added that in all the defendant
allegedly embezzled $2 million
from her employer. The company lost
another $1 million paying taxes, Social
Security contributions and disability
and Medicare from the fake employees’
checks.
Katz said the audit showed several
alleged instances of hundreds of checks
written and deposited to benefit the
defendant.
Between June 2015 and March 2019,
there were 289 checks written against
the business’s M&T Bank accounts.
Those checks were allegedly deposited
into Badal’s Chase Bank account. The 289
checks totaled $630,132.
Between May 2014 and March 2019,
269 checks were drawn from the business’s
bank account with $596,326 cashed
and allegedly deposited into Badal’s
Citibank account. And from December
2015 through March 2019, the defendant
Photo via Shutterstock
allegedly cashed 132 checks at a local
check cashing business for a total of
$295,127.
Justice Hartman set Badal’s return
date for June 7. She faces up to 25 years
in prison if convicted.
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