Woman Embezzled $150K From Long Island Charity: DA

A Flordia woman was arrested for stealing more than $152,000 from a Long Island charity and using those funds for her personal use, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said Monday.

Tina Ruggiero, 55, of Jupiter, Florida, a former Nassau County resident, is the principal of a charitable organization, the Ruggiero Strong Family Foundation.

She was arraigned Monday on a second-degree grand larceny charge.

“[Ruggiero] agreed to do work for a charity golf outing, but instead allegedly used the proceeds of that fundraiser as a personal piggybank,” Singas said in a press release. “More than $152,000 was raised for youth activities and my office will use every tool at our disposal to make sure that money is repaid.”

The DA says Ruggiero made an agreement in August 2015 with a Suffolk-based charity for a celebrity golf outing. She was to get paid $15,000 for her services and was instructed to hold the proceeds from the golf outing in a segregated bank account since Ruggiero's foundation had 501 (c) 3 status with the Internal Revenue Service, the DA says.

From Aug. 28, 2015 to Jan. 20, 2016, the DA says Ruggiero received $208,303.35 and paid $55,552.20 in expenses associated with the golf outing. She then embezzled the fundraiser's $152,751.15 in net proceeds, which was being held in a Roslyn-based Capital One Bank account, the DA says.

She spent the stolen funds on cars, restaurants, nail salons, hotels, movie theaters and other personal expenses, the DA says.

Ruggiero was indicted by a Nassau County grand jury and arrested by members of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. She was extradited to New York on May 31 for arraignment.

Ruggiero was released on her own recognizance and is due back in court on July 9. She faces a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Image via NCDA