DA: Bookkeeper At Mount Vernon Firm Wrote Checks To Herself

MOUNT VERNON, NY — A city resident who is accused of stealing from her employer by writing company checks to herself for more than a year was arrested Thursday on a warrant after failing to surrender earlier this summer. Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. alleges Sande Steelberg had stolen $142,482 in about 90 checks.

Steelberg, 50, was arraigned Thursday on a Felony Complaint in Mount Vernon City Court and charged with one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class “C” Felony.

She was the head bookkeeper of SECS, Inc., a company in Mount Vernon that manufactures precision equipment for airlines and other industries.

Prosecutors allege that between June 25, 2014 and Oct. 27, 2015, she stole about $142,482 from the company by writing roughly 90 checks made payable to herself and failing to record those checks in the company’s books. She is further alleged to have cashed those checks or deposited them into a personal bank account.

She was arrested on Aug. 31 on a warrant issued when she failed to surrender in June of this year.

This was a joint investigation carried out by the Mount Vernon Police Department and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.

Steelberg, of 22 Sheridan Ave., Mount Vernon, pled not guilty and was released on her own recognizance.
She faces a maximum of five to 15 years in state prison.

Her next court date is Oct. 2. This case is being prosecuted by Economic Crimes Bureau Chief Gwen Galef.