LI Credit Manager Steals $1.6M From Customers' Accounts For Personal Use: Feds

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — A worker for a Melville company pleaded guilty on Thursday to wire fraud in connection with his employment as a credit supervisor, the U.S. Attorney said.

Over the course of four years, Tony Ream, 34, of South Carolina, sent wire transfers totaling about $1.6 million from the company's bank account, which he controlled, and used those funds for his own personal gain, Attorney Joseph Nocella said.

When sentenced, Ream faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment.

“Ream abused his authority and betrayed his employer and its customers to fund his own lavish lifestyle,” stated United States Attorney Nocella. “In just a few years, Ream embezzled over $1.6 million and used the stolen money to pay for his wedding, luxury international travel, and for renovations to a restaurant he had opened. Ream will now be held accountable for this egregious conduct, thanks to the diligent work of our Office and our partners at the FBI.”

As outlined in court filings and statements made in court, the company, headquartered in Melville, is an American distributor of health care products and services, and serves as the world’s largest provider of health care solutions to office-based dental and medical practitioners worldwide.

Ream was hired by the company in 2019.

From approximately October 2020 through November 2024, Ream siphoned corporate funds from customer refund accounts, some of which were inactive, and diverted the funds to his own personal accounts, masking the fraud by recording each transaction as a refund that was issued to a customer, prosecutors said.

In total, Ream embezzled approximately $1.6 million from the company, which he spent on his wedding, luxury international vacations, and a failed restaurant venture in South Carolina, Nocella said.

As part of his plea, Ream has agreed to make full restitution to the company.