Ex-NY college staffer pleads guilty in $409,000 scam involving scrounged wine shop receipts

By AP
Monday, May 17, 2010

Ex-NY college worker admits $409,000 receipts scam

NEW YORK — A former New York University staffer has admitted bilking the school out of $409,000 in reimbursements for bogus expenses he backed up with receipts fished from a liquor store’s garbage.

John Runowicz (RUN’-oh-wits) pleaded guilty Monday to grand larceny. The sometime doo-wop musician’s plea deal calls for one to three years in prison.

The now-fired Runowicz was an NYU chemistry department administrator. Prosecutors say he scrounged 13,000 receipts from a wine shop’s trash and passed them off as documentation for spending on lab supplies and university events.

Defense lawyer Daniel S. Parker says Runowicz was struggling with about $150,000 in graduate school loans and other debts.

The 48-year-old Runowicz has a doctorate in ethnomusicology from NYU. He has made solo CDs under the name John Michael Hersey.

Filed under: Crime

Tags: , ,
YOUR VIEW POINT
NAME : (REQUIRED)
MAIL : (REQUIRED)
will not be displayed
WEBSITE : (OPTIONAL)
YOUR
COMMENT :