A New Jersey couple has been spared prison time after admitting to stealing $771,000 from New York City intended for special-needs children in order to fund a lavish lifestyle that included luxury cars and home landscaping.
Dennis Mosesman, 71, and his wife, Elsie, 72, were placed on five years’ probation on Tuesday after they agreed to pay back the money with interest.
The couple, who live in West Long Branch, New Jersey, will be required to forfeit assets worth $175,000 as well as pay an additional $625,000, according to the New York Daily News.
The sentence was imposed on the couple by Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Alexander Jeong.
Dennis Mosesman, 71, and his wife, Elsie, 72, were placed on five years’ probation on Tuesday after they agreed to pay back the money they stole from a special needs pre-school in order to fund a lavish personal lifestyle
The district attorney, Michael McMahon, disagreed with the judge’s decision, saying that the couple should have done time behind bars.
‘We believe such deplorable crimes deserve nothing short of prison time, but the judge on this case ultimately sentenced the defendants to five years’ probation over the strong objections of my office,’ McMahon said.
‘This husband and wife stole taxpayer money that should have gone to help special-needs children, but instead was spent on their own personal indulgences.’
In 2016, New York state authorities indicted the Mosesmans for grand larceny.
Dennis was the president of the Gingerbread Learning Center in the Willowbrook section of Staten Island.
The pre-school caters to children between the ages of three and five years old.
Its student body is made up of about 100 children with developmental challenges.
According to an audit conducted by New York state authorities in 2015, the expenses which were listed in the school’s consolidated fiscal reports from 2010 to 2013 were unreasonable when compared with the items on which the money was said to have been used.
A closer look at the books revealed that Dennis created a ‘no show’ job for his wife which paid her an annual salary of $150,000, plus benefits, according to the Staten Island Advance.
Elsie was listed on the school’s web site as an ‘educational director.’
Dennis Mosesman was president of Gingerbread Learning Center (above), a special needs pre-school in Staten Island
Her husband, meanwhile, was found to have used taxpayer funds earmarked for the school for his own personal needs.
He spent $18,936 to landscape his yard.
Dennis also took out $56,966 to pay for cars and auto insurance costs, which included two Mercedes-Benzes, a Porsche, and a Toyota Highlander.
He also spent $3,561 for flowers that he sent to his wife and daughters; $7,002 to cover cell phone bills for his daughter and son-in-law; $2,656 on Staples supplies for his daughter; $220 to buy a domain name for his daughter’s professional website; $17,835 on shopping trips to Costco; $42,877 for life insurance, with his wife listed as a beneficiary; and $6,786 in gift cards.