Former Carle Place FD Treasurer Embezzled $490K: Nassau DA

MINEOLA, NY — A former treasurer for the Carle Place Volunteer & Exempt Fireman’s Benevolent Association was arraigned Wednesday on charges that he embezzled nearly $500,000 from the non-profit organization, prosecutors said.

John Shellock, 84, of Westbury, was arraigned on one count of second-degree grand larceny. He was released to pre-trial services.

"For three decades this defendant was entrusted with securing the Carle Place Firemen’s Benevolent Association’s financial health and ensuring firefighters and their families were provided relief at their most difficult moments," Nassau County District Anne Donnelly said. "But for the last ten years, John Shellock allegedly treated the organization’s coffers like a personal checking account, writing checks to himself and paying off credit card debts, stealing a total of nearly half a million dollars of their funds while undermining the Benevolent Association’s mission."

On October 10, the President of the Carle Place Volunteer & Exempt Fireman’s Benevolent Association contacted the Nassau County Police Department alleging that Shellock had embezzled funds from the organization. The District Attorney's office then opened a formal investigation.

Between Jan. 2013 and Sept. 2023, Shellock allegedly used his access to the Benevolent Association’s bank accounts to write checks to himself, forging the required co-signature, Donnelly said.

Shellock allegedly deposited many of the checks he wrote to himself into a Bank of America account he opened for the Benevolent Association that was not known to the current leadership, the D.A's office said.

He would then write checks to himself from that account and cash those checks with a Capital One Bank where he had a personal account.

Throughout the alleged scheme, Shellock stole approximately $490,000 from the Benevolent Association.

If convicted, he faces up to five to 15 years in prison. Shellock is due back in court on August 15.