Nassau D.A.: Rocky Point Man Withheld Over $11,000 from Employees

A Rocky Point man witheld more than $11,000 from 16 employees of the Westbury Dunkin Donuts store he managed, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced Tuesday.

Rizwan Safdar, 38, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of Failing to Maintain and Preserve Payroll Records. He received a conditional discharge and paid $750 in fines and penalties.

One of Safdar’s responsibilities as manager was submitting the employees’ computer time records to the payroll company. Safdar witheld wages by altering the records and shaving hours from employees.

DA investigators reviewed the records and found that Safdar had shorted 16 employees a total of $11,398.38 over a nine-month period ending in March. One employee was shorted more than $3,700.

“I created the Labor Unit to ensure that every honest, hard-working person gets paid their fair share,” Rice said. “My office will continue to do whatever it takes to bring unscrupulous bosses to justice, and to get back every last penny owed to victimized employees.”

After the DA’s Office received a tip from an employee it began the investigation. Each of the employees was reimbursed what they were owed by the Dunkin Donuts franchise. Safdar was fired in April after franchise owners learned of his actions.