HR manager Leslie Mroz sentenced for stealing $340G from Medford employer, DA says
A human resources manager who doubled her own salary and pumped up her savings — without her Medford employer’s knowledge — will serve two to six years in prison for embezzling more than $340,000 over three years, Suffolk County prosecutors said on Friday.
Leslie Mroz, 39, of Selden, “wasted no time abusing the trust that her employer placed in her by stealing,” District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement.
The owner of the “small family-owned” firm that hired Mroz asked not to be named, though prosecutors said the embezzlement, which included unauthorized contributions for health insurance, risked the enterprise's future.
Referring to the owner, prosecutors said: “What hurt her the most was that Mroz was considered a trusted employee and had been accepted as part of her family.”
The defendant on Oct. 5 pleaded guilty to one count of grand larceny.
Mroz's attorney, George Duncan said later Friday, "She did at court, tender her apologies for her transgressions," noting his client qualified for the state's shock incarceration program.
The program's website says it "provides selected incarcerated individuals a special six-month program, stressing a highly structured routine of discipline, intensive regimentation, exercise, and work therapy, together with substance abuse treatment, education, prerelease counseling, and life skills counseling."
Mroz possibly could be home in six to nine months, Duncan said.
Holiday celebrations around LI From house decorations and candy makers to restaurant and theater offerings, NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano checks out how Long Islanders are celebrating this holiday season.
Holiday celebrations around LI From house decorations and candy makers to restaurant and theater offerings, NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano checks out how Long Islanders are celebrating this holiday season.