Listen to this articleThe former treasurer of the Carle Place Volunteer & Exempt Fireman’s Benevolent Association was charged Wednesday with a $490,000 embezzlement scheme that allegedly spanned from 2013 to 2023, officials said.
John Shellock, of Westbury, was charged with one count of second-degree grand larceny. If convicted, he faces up to five to 15 years in prison, according to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
“For three decades this defendant was entrusted with securing the Carle Place Firemen’s Benevolent Association’s financial health and ensuring firefighters and their families were provided relief at their most difficult moments,” Donnelly said in a news release about the charges.
“But for the last ten years, John Shellock allegedly treated the organization’s coffers like a personal checking account, writing checks to himself and paying off credit card debts, stealing a total of nearly half a million dollars of their funds while undermining the Benevolent Association’s mission,” Donnelly added.
Shellock pleaded not guilty. A Legal Aid attorney is representing Shellock, and had no comment, Newsday reported.
The benevolent association provides relief, aid, and financial assistance to disabled or indigent members of the Carle Place Fire Department, in addition to providing funds for deceased members’ funerals. Shellock was responsible for the checking account and investment account of the organization.
But in October of 2023, Donnelly said, the president of the benevolent association contacted the Nassau County Police Department alleging that the defendant had embezzled funds from the organization. The DA’s office then opened a formal investigation into the matter.
The organization is funded by dues paid by its members and from Foreign Fire Insurance Funds, a 2% tax on the premiums of fire insurance policies imposed by New York State. These funds are distributed by the state to fire service entities, including fire departments and benevolent associations, officials said.
According to the benevolent association’s bylaws, in order for checks to be written from the organization’s checking account, they require two signatures – the treasurer’s signature along with that of the president or vice president. Between January 2013 and September 2023, the defendant allegedly used his access to the benevolent association’s bank accounts to write checks to himself, forging the required co-signature, officials said.
Shellock allegedly deposited many of the checks he wrote to himself into a Bank of America account he opened for the benevolent association that was not known to current leadership. He then allegedly wrote checks to himself from that account and cashed those checks with a Capital One Bank where he had a personal account. He also allegedly wrote checks to credit card companies to pay his personal bills.
Shellock is due back in court on Aug. 15.