By Rebecca Henely
A Manhattan accountant who worked for the TV show “30 Rock” allegedly used the NBC network’s money to line his own pockets, the Queens district attorney’s office said last Thursday.
Matthew Rudolph, 35, who worked for the show filmed in Queens in its fourth season, is accused of taking signatures of approval for a company credit card and expense checks, both of which he used to allegedly embezzle more than $13,600 from the NBC network, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.
The office charged Rudolph with grand larceny, falsifying business records and criminal possession of a forged instrument last Thursday, the DA said. Rudolph faces up to seven years in prison if convicted, the DA said.
“His alleged conduct represents a betrayal of the confidence that his employer had in him,” Brown said.
“30 Rock,” a television show conceived by actress Tina Fey about the writers of a television program similar to “Saturday Night Live,” takes place in Manhattan’s GE Building in Rockefeller Plaza but is mostly shot at Silvercup Studios at 42-22 22nd St. in Long Island City. Rudolph worked at the studio as a production accountant for the show’s fourth season, the DA said.
During his employment, Rudolph was given a credit card from NBC Universal for professional transactions along with expense envelopes to collect receipts and write down where and when the expenses were purchased, the DA said. These envelopes required signatures from the unit production manager at Silvercup Studios and NBC Universal’s comptroller in Los Angeles, the DA said.
Rudolph submitted seven envelopes, five on Jan. 20, 2010, and four on March 10, which had the initials of both the unit production manager and the comptroller documenting expenses of about $7,700, the DA said. Later examination of these envelopes revealed the explanations for the transactions did not always match the receipts, many of which were doctored, the DA said. Many of the expenditures were allegedly for personal purchases, the DA said. The signatures of the unit production manager and the comptroller were also allegedly forged by Rudolph, the DA said.
Rudolph said he had mailed the Jan. 20 envelopes to the comptroller himself instead of submitting them to NBC’s accounting department and had handed the envelopes to the comptroller March 10 when she was on a trip, according to the DA.
Rudolph also received two NBC checks totaling $6,000 on Oct. 19, 2009, and Dec. 16, 2009, for his credit card, both of which were marked with allegedly forged signatures of the unit production manager, the DA said.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
