New York Criminal Lawyer Blog
You don’t have to stick up a bank to steal over a million dollars. Well, at least that is what the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is alleging in an indictment for Grand Larceny that was handed down against Robert Chiarappa. Mr. Chiarappa, along with his criminal defense attorney, was scheduled to be arraigned in NY County Supreme Court on the Grand Larceny charges today.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Mr. Chiarappa was the purchasing agent for the John Galt Corporation and is alleged to have stolen $1.2 million from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and Arch Insurance Group in connection to the abatement and deconstruction of the Deutsche Bank building.
It is alleged that from about September 2006 through October 2007, Mr. Chiarappa instructed some vendors to submit fraudulent invoices for products never delivered to the project. Mr. Chiarappa would approve of these transactions in exchange for jewelry, trips and even a car. It is further alleged that Mr. Chiarappa stole property such as clothing and boots by requesting that vendors provide him with these items and draft fake invoices. Mr. Chiarappa is even accused of being involved in approving false claims after the Deutsche Bank fire.
Although it appears that the value of the stolen property was not aggregated to be in excess of one million dollars due to the multiple victims (if it had been, the charge would be one count of Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a “B” felony punishable by up to twenty five years in state prison), Mr. Chiarappa still faces significant time in prison if convicted. Mr. Chiarappa faces up to fifteen years in state prison on the “C” felony counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree and seven years in state prison on the “D” felony counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree.