Amityville Man Accused Of Putting $1.7M In COVID Relief Funds In Personal Account, DA Says

MINEOLA, NY — An Amityville man is facing up to 25 years in prison Friday after prosecutors say he took a $1.7 million COVID relief check, deposited it in his personal account and withdrew more than $470,000 from the account.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said 46-year-old Marc Lindor was arraigned Thursday on one count of first-degree grand larceny and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, both of which are felonies. Donnelly said Lindor pleaded not guilty, while an attorney from Gaitman & Russo, the firm representing Lindor, declined to comment on the case.

According to the district attorney, Lindor illegally obtained a U.S. Treasury check worth almost $1.7 million in May of 2024. That check, Donnelly’s office said, had originally been issued to a Brooklyn-based home care agency. The check had been issued for a COVID-19-related employee retention tax credit, Donnelly said, but Lindor switched out the name on the check, making it read “Nicolaoca Enterprises, Inc.” as the payee. Nicolaoca Enterprises, Donnelly said, was Lindor’s own company, and the account had been opened about four months prior.

“The defendant allegedly hijacked nearly $1.7 million in taxpayer funds that were meant to provide essential care for seniors and people with disabilities in the comfort of their own homes,” Donnelly said. “While a home care agency waited on those resources, this defendant was treating the U.S. Treasury like a personal piggybank to fund his extravagant purchases and distribute ill-gotten gains to people he knew. My office will continue to pursue any individual who views taxpayer dollars as a personal payday and seek accountability in these cases.”

Those “extravagant purchases,” Donnelly said, took place after Lindor was caught on surveillance tape handing the altered check to a bank teller in Valley Stream on May 21, 2024. An investigation of the Nicolaoca Enterprises account, Donnelly said, confirmed that the funds were deposited.

After depositing the funds into the account that held a negative balance of $77.85 prior to the transaction, prosecutors said Lindor went to work withdrawing funds, pulling out more than $470,000 between June 4, 2024 and Jul. 3, 2024. These withdrawals included more than $241,000 in cash and checks and $220,000 in transfers to other bank accounts, prosecutors said. The cash withdrawals, prosecutors said, took place at Valley Stream and Queens Village banks.

In one seven-day period, Donnelly’s office said Lindor spent more than $9,000 at locations including BMW, Best Buy, J.W. Marriott and on airfare.

In the same Jun. 3 to Jul. 3 period, however, Lindor’s bank performed a periodic compliance review of the business account, during which Lindor failed to provide a proof of address, prosecutors said. The proof of address requirement could have been satisfied with a gas, water or utility bill, the DA’s office said, but Lindor failed to do so and the bank closed the business account on Jul. 10, 2024, issuing a closeout check for the $1.23 million left in the account.

Just over two weeks later, the U.S. Treasury told the bank that the original check had been fraudulently altered, and began the process of reclaiming the money, prosecutors said. Upon receiving notice of the altered check, Donnelly’s office said the bank issued a stop payment order on the closeout check.

Meanwhile, Lindor was attempting to deposit the closeout check at a Brooklyn check cashing business, prosecutors said. Unfortunately for Lindor, the check cashing business refused the deposit after his former bank said the check would bounce, prosecutors said.

Lindor then opened a new checking account under the name “Nicolaoca Enterprises, Inc.,” identifying himself as the owner of a Brooklyn auto shop, prosecutors said. Lindor attempted to deposit the closeout check at that bank’s branch in Amityville, prosecutors said, on or about Aug. 8, 2024. Due to the stop payment order, prosecutors said, the check wasn’t bounced. One year and four days later, on Aug. 12, 2025, prosecutors said Nassau County police arrested Lindor.

In the aftermath of his arraignment, prosecutors said Lindor is due back in court May 18.