Former Golf Operations Director Accused of Stealing Thousands

Inside the court case file there are 14 accounts of suspected larceny adding up to a total of $8,502 of missing cash from the Hyannis Golf Club and Pro Shop and the finger is pointing to former Golf Operations Director, Mike Ghelfi.

Ghelfi, 40, of 243 Hill and Plain Rd., East Falmouth was charged with larceny more than $250 single scheme. 

Court documents showed a long pattern of alleged systematic stealing from the golf club. According to police, the suspect allegedly used giftcards on specific transactions to steal money when purchases were paid in cash. 

For example, a customer would pay for a golf membership in cash and the suspect would allegedly void out the purchase and re-ring the purchase with the use of a gift card and pocket the cash. 

The police report raised the point that the gift cards were probably fraudulently loaded as the amounts and numbers of the cards did not match the paper certificates. What's more, in two instances the numbers of the giftcards on the receipts did not match what was on hand. 

After several months of investigation with a number of town employees and financial records, police were able to uncover suspected thefts allegedly linked to Ghelfi dating back to September 2009 and as recently as April 2011, the police report showed. 

In several cases, customers whose purchases were voided then paid with a gift certificate confirmed they paid cash and paid Ghelfi, police said.  

In addition to the 14 cases of where Ghelfi is suspected of stealing cash, there was one additional instance where payment for a golf cart repair was not paid in the correct amount to the town of Barnstable and it is suspected Ghelfi pocketed the $200 fee, the arrest report stated.

On May 16, Ghelfi and his lawyer met with town employees and he resigned, according to court documents. 

On July 29, Ghelfi was summonsed for larceny of property greater than $250 single scheme.

Ghelfi was taken into custody on Aug. 3 and he pleaded not guilty to his charges in Barnstable First District Court on Tuesday.