Ex Long Island Red Cross Director Sentenced in Theft

Joseph Byrne Thursday, February 28, 2013

One of the things that really damages a business, or organization, is employee theft or embezzlement. That is the case with the Long Island Red Cross. A former American Red Cross employee who stole nearly $275,000 from the organization will be sentenced to up to nine years in prison in Suffolk County court in Riverhead, District Attorney Thomas Spota announced on Tuesday.

Deborah Leggio, 50, used the Red Cross chapter’s debit card to make ATM cash withdrawals, “sometimes as often as every couple of days” from April 2005 to November 2009, DA Spota said. “She was a signatory to the operating account, and without permission or authority, she obtained an ATM debit card in her name linked to the account.”

The investigation by the district attorney’s Economic Crime Bureau found evidence Leggio withdrew $274,301 over the four and one-half year period.

Leggio started working with the Red Cross in 2002. She moved to director of the Long Island chapter until 2010 when these allegations came to the front. She then moved to California. The DA says that Leggio will have to pay restitution to the Red Cross for more than $25,000. That is far short of the more than $200,000 that she stole, but that is a start.

There is no doubt that the Red Cross suffered from this theft, but hopefully they will be able to regain their status in the community and continue helping those in need.

joeb@longislandyellowpages.com

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