A Roslyn Heights man was charged with stealing more than $15,000 from the parent-teacher association of the Henry Viscardi School in Albertson, according to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice. The school serves children with severe physical and medical disabilities.
Following an investigation, John Rom, 57, was arrested Tuesday morning by DA investigators. Rice said that between February 2009 and May 2011, Rom, who served as the treasurer of the Henry Viscardi School Special Education Parents Teachers Association, embezzled $15,885 from the association by writing a series of unauthorized checks that were made payable to himself or to cash. Rom also made withdrawals from the association’s bank account for school expenses, but instead spent the money on personal living expenses after he had lost his job and home to foreclosure, Rice said.
Rom’s daughter attends the school. The theft was discovered after an audit of the PTA’s financial records.
“This defendant may have thought that the effects of the economic downturn warranted this theft, but the fact is that he stole money from children with severe disabilities that are already facing immense obstacles,” Rice said. “I want to thank the Henry Viscardi School for their assistance with this investigation.”
Investigators charged Rom with grand larceny in the third degree. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted, and was scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday in First District Court in Hempstead.
Assistant District Attorney Peter Mancuso of the Government & Consumer Frauds Bureau is prosecuting the case.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
