MINEOLA, N.Y.
— A Selden woman has been sentenced to up to four years in prison for embezzling more than $1.1 million from two Long Island construction companies over a six-year span while working as a bookkeeper, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Mary Spora, 59, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to two counts of grand larceny in the second degree and one count of falsifying business records in the first degree. She was sentenced by Judge Tammy Robbins to 1⅓ to 4 years in state prison. The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office had recommended a longer sentence of 2 to 6 years.
Spora admitted to writing approximately 113 unauthorized checks between February 2017 and May 2023 from the bank accounts of Independent Equipment Corp., Coastal Materials, and Big Apple Concrete Supply Inc., all companies under the same ownership.
“This defendant selfishly took advantage of her employer, abusing her position and access to siphon more than a million dollars from two businesses over the course of six years,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly.
Fraud spanned multiple companies and accounts
According to prosecutors, Spora deposited more than 75 checks totaling over $608,000 from Coastal Materials into a joint bank account she shared with her husband. She also deposited more than 30 checks totaling over $540,000 from Big Apple into the same account. The funds were spent on personal expenses, including credit cards, retail purchases, and travel.
Investigators found that Spora used payroll and accounting software access to enter false payee information, directing company payments to a business owned by her husband while making it appear the checks were going to legitimate vendors.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Investigative Counsel Heidi Bausk under the supervision of the Major Financial Frauds Bureau.
