Two Charged in Peter Pan Larceny Scheme: AG

The owner of a Boston area tour company and a former employee of Peter Pan have been charged in the theft of close to $600,000 from the bus company.

Attorney General Maura Healey announced Wednesday that Julie Katz, 56, of Chestnut Hill, has been charged with two counts of receiving stolen property over $250 and Leonard Rottenberg, 67, of Charlestown, has been charged wit three counts of larceny over $250 by scheme.

Rottenberg pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday in Suffolk Superior Court.

The attorney general's office began investigating Katz and Rottenberg in April of last year upon the request of Peter Pan Bus Company. At the time, Peter Pan was providing charter services to TourMappers North America, a tour company owned by Katz.

As Director of Operations for Peter Pan's Chelsea division, Rottenberg was in charge of providing the company's charter service and collecting the money owed to Peter Pan by its customers. Between 2009 and 2014, TourMappers netted more than $1 million for Peter Pan, about $600,000 of which was allegedly stolen by Katz and Rottenberg, according to the attorney general.

"We allege these defendants have been working together for years to steal more than half a million dollars by cutting personal checks and authorizing fraudulent invoices," said Attorney General Maura Healey in a statement. "Our office will continue to prosecute those who abuse their positions for their own financial gain."

The AG's office alleges that in 2009, Rottenberg began asking Katz to make payments to him personally rather than directly to Peter Pan. Rottenberg allegedly received more than $550,000 in checks from Katz and in return, issued checks totaling more than $200,000 to Katz from his personal account, authorities said.

According to the attorney general, none of the checks Katz sent to Rottenberg were forwarded to Peter Pan. To conceal the missing payments, Rottenberg allegedly fudged Peter Pan's accounting records and misappropriated other funds.

In a congruent scheme, the defendants also allegedly approved fraudulent invoices from TourMappers to Peter Pan for services that were not provided, such as translators and hospitality personnel. Authorities allege that Katz and Rottenberg split the profit from this scheme, which resulted in the loss of nearly $50,000 to Peter Pan.

Editor's Note: This report was written using information supplied by Attorney General Maura Healey's office. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

>>>Photo Credit: Adam E. Moreira (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons