W. Babylon Woman Accused of Stealing $316k From Employer

A West Babylon woman was charged with stealing over $316,000 from a contracting company in Great Neck where she was a bookkeeper, according to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice.

Onesta Reyes, 48, of West Babylon, was arrested on Jan. 10 by investigators and charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree.

According to Rice and investigators, Reyes embezzled a total of $316,639.40 in gross earnings and unearned reimbursements from her Great Neck contracting employer. As a bookkeeper, she used her access to the payroll system to increase her 2011 yearly salary nearly 500% – from $48,720 to $239,893.

The name of the business she worked for was not disclosed by the Nassau DA.

In addition to her salary increase, Reyes is accused to reimbursing herself for more than $89,000 of expenses, when, investigators say, she had none. Reyes was also accused of creating a second employee, under the name "Onesta V. Reyes," whose gross salary between October and December 2011 was $22,729.

Rice said Reyes also stole about $13,000 more following this until May 2012 in various other ways.

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“The notion that this defendant would steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from her employer is bad enough, but to know that she used the money to add to her wardrobe is truly stunning,” Rice said in a statement. “Now she faces a criminal conviction and years in a prison cell for this abuse of her employer’s trust.” 

An internal audit discovered the theft and was reported to the Nassau County DA's office in May 2012. Reyes was ultimately released from her position in June 2012.

Reyes faces up to 15 years in prison if she is found guilty.