Bookkeeper Stole $2.6M From Delaware River Waterfront Corp: Feds

Philadelphia PA

27 April, 2021

12:47 PM

Description

PHILADELPHIA — The woman tasked with overseeing funds of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation has been federally charged with stealing more than $2.6 million from the group, authorities said. Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams Tuesday said Angela DiPietro-Sabatine, 57, of Pennsauken, New Jersey, was arrested and charged by Indictment with ten counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, and aiding and abetting, all stemming from her alleged theft of more than $2.6 million dollars from the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC). The DRWC is a non-profit, quasi-governmental entity whose mission is to design, develop, and manage the central Delaware River waterfront from Oregon to Allegheny avenues in Philadelphia for residents' benefit. According to the Indictment, DiPietro-Sabatine the accounting administrator at DRWC, where she managed the accounts payable and receivable, bank reconciliations, and general ledger work. The Indictment alleges that she used the non-profit's computerized accounting software at its Philadelphia offices to create false expense items for legitimate vendors of DRWC, invoicing services that were never rendered. DiPietro-Sabatine then generated DRWC checks for these false expense items, manipulated the computerized accounting software to change the payee on the check from the legitimate vendor to herself, and forged the signatures of DRWC's authorized signatories, the President and Vice President, on these unauthorized checks made payable to herself, authorities said. She is alleged to have spent the stolen proceeds on personal expenses, including gambling and luxury vacations, according to authorities. The Indictment claims that this scheme occurred for at least seven years, resulting in the theft of more than $2.6 million from DRWC. If convicted, DiPietro-Sabatine faces a maximum possible sentence of 230 years in prison, a six-year mandatory minimum sentence, a $4,250,000 fine, and restitution of more than $2.6 million.