4 Hudson Valley Churches Scammed By NV Travel Agent

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, NY — An alleged scam run by a Las Vegas travel agent has affected four Catholic parishes in the Hudson Valley. Joon H. Kim, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, arrested Vincent Maffucci, 77, of Las Vegas, with mail fraud Wednesday. The charge arises from an alleged fraudulent scheme where Maffucci, a travel agent based in Nevada, collected more than $240,000 from various parishes, including two in Westchester County and two in the mid-Hudson Valley, in connection with a tour he had organized for the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day in July and August 2016 in Krakow, Poland.

Kim said Maffucci used more than $220,000 of the funds for his own personal expenses. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

“Instead of arranging the trip, Maffucci allegedly pocketed nearly all of the money and spent it on himself,” Kim said. “Now Maffucci will face justice in federal court.”

According to Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, the two Westchester parishes that lost $240,000 were St. Patrick’s Church in Yorktown Heights and the Parish of St. Theresa and Our Lady of the Wayside Parish in Briarcliff Manor.

Also affected were St. Stanislaus Kostka in Pleasant Valley and St. John’s Parish in Woodstock. Zwilling didn't have information about how much those two churches lost.

Kim said Maffucci spent only $11,226 on the trip, which was canceled due to terrorism concerns, among other reasons. The travel agent promised refunds but, to date, most of the tour participants have not received anything.

Mail fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

As alleged in the complaint:

Every approximately two to three years, the Catholic Church organizes World Youth Day, an event for young people. Each World Youth Day is held in a different global location and attended by young people from around the world, including many people from Westchester County. World Youth Day (“WYD”) 2016 was held in Krakow, Poland.

Several parishes in and around Westchester County, New York, used a travel agency known as ITC Tours to organize their parishes’ WYD 2016 trips. VINCENT MAFFUCCI, the defendant, was the owner of ITC Tours and the person with whom the parishes dealt. In connection with the trip, MAFFUCCI provided a printed brochure, including an itinerary and a list of the various services provided in connection with the tour. Among other things, the tour was to include: “[r]ound trip airfare from JFK to Berlin returning from Budapest”; “Good 3 star hotels for 11 nights”; “Continental breakfast daily and 10 three course dinners”; “Entrance fees during sightseeing tours”; and “WYD and Solidarity fees estimated at $175.00 per person.” The brochure lists the “[c]ost per person” as “Triple $2919 Twin $3072 Single $3515.”

From in or about March 2014 until in or about June 2016, numerous parishes, including several in Westchester County, New York, sent, via Federal Express and United States mail, checks totaling approximately $240,000 to MAFFUCCI in Las Vegas, Nevada, as payment for their respective parishes’ tour participants.

Of the more than $240,000 MAFFUCCI collected for the WYD 2016 trip, he spent only $11,226 on the trip. MAFFUCCI used the remaining funds for his own personal expenses. Specifically, during the time period MAFFUCCI was soliciting and receiving checks for WYD 2016, he spent approximately $43,000 of the funds on dining, fuel, and clothing. In addition, MAFFUCCI withdrew over $94,000 in cash, and made transfers totaling over $83,000 to other bank accounts that he controlled.

In June 2016, the month before the WYD 2016 trip was to take place, MAFFUCCI cancelled the tour, citing, among other reasons, concerns about terrorism. MAFFUCCI promised full refunds to those who had already paid. To date, most of the tour participants have not received refunds from MAFFUCCI.

Photo credit: Google Maps.