FORMER BOOKKEEPER SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR EMBEZZLING FUNDS FROM STEAMSHIP AUTHORITY
BOSTON, Mass. - A Mashpee woman was sentenced late Friday in federal court for embezzling more than $100,000 from her former employer, the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority.
ARMINE E. SABATINI, 46, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf to 12 months and a day in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and restitution in the amount of $144,975. Sabatini pleaded guilty to two counts of embezzlement and two counts of wire fraud on August 23, 2010.
At the earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that between October 2001 and September 2009, Sabatini, a bookkeeper employed by the Steamship Authority, carried out her fraud by creating fictitious names of Steamship Authority customers and assigning refund credits to them. Sabatini then credited Steamship Authority funds – purportedly payable to the fictitious customer names she created – to credit or debit card accounts that she controlled. Sabatini conducted approximately 380 fraudulent refund transactions and misappropriated an aggregate total of approximately $145,000 in Steamship Authority funds.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Field Division made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan M. DiSantis of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.
