Saturday, August 13th, 2011

A clerk at the Upper West Side St. Agnes branch of the New York Public Library (444 Amsterdam, between 81st & 82nd) was recently arrested for grand larceny. He’s accused of ripping off more than $46K from book sale fundraisers.

DNAinfo has the story on Adolfo Marrero, who was arrested early this month and released without bail. Per DNA:

The library holds the volunteer-run book sales in its basement as a way to raise cash for the budget-crunched institution. Used books from the library’s collection, as well as donated books, are sold for as little as 50 cents, with prices topping out at about $5.  But the library needs every penny — the NYPL recently announced budget cuts could mean the closure of some branches and slashed hours.

Marrero was caught because, well, he’s an idiot.

According to the criminal complaint, he was responsible for collecting cash from the book sales, recording the amount in a ledger, and depositing the money at the bank.

However, after each book sale, Marrero would write one total in the ledger and deposit a lesser amount at the bank, allegedly keeping the difference for himself. The total worked out to $46,843.70.

Record one total and deposit a lower amount? Very clever, Mr. Marrero. That’s pure diabolical genius!

Except…

There’s another library employee who oversees the funds raised by the sales. That person noticed the discrepancy and, of course, reported it to police.

Embezzlement FAIL.

Filed under: Crime, Fundraiser/Benefit, Manhattan, New York City, News, NYC, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, UWS No Comments »
Tags: 444 Amsterdam, Adolfo Marrero, book sale, Crime, Grand Larceny, New York City, NYC, NYPD, St. Agnes Library, Theft, Upper West Side, UWS