Bookeeper Pleads Guilty to Stealing $866G from Locust Valley Employer

By Pam Robinson

A Huntington woman pleaded guilty Friday to stealing money from her employer, a Locust Valley architecture firm.

Lori Maceluch is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11. She pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree grand larceny and two counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.

She was arraigned in July on a grand jury indictment charging her with stealing more than $866,000 over a six-year period.

The Nassau District Attorney's Office said Maceluch disguised the theft by fraudulently enhancing legitimate expenses in the company’s financial records. She used the stolen cash to fund a lifestyle that included dining at expensive restaurants and taking luxury vacations to the Berkshires, Nantucket Island, Fire Island, Florida, and the Dominican Republic.