Did three people steal almost $1 million from the Greek Orthodox Church? Bingo!
Three individuals recently pleaded guilty to stealing approximately $830,000 from Greek Church charities through a church bingo hall.
The three individuals, Spiros Moshopoulos, 62 of Little Neck, Tommy Skiada, 49 of Astoria, and Daniella Radulescu, 46 of Astoria, plead guilty to second degree grand larceny after operating a bingo hall with illegally obtained licenses and pocketing the money.
The bingo hall, located at 82-18 Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights, conducted daily games for various inactive charities. The church allowed them to operate the hall thinking these charities would receive the profits.
Moshopoulos must forfeit $1 million, the $830,000 as restitution to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and an additional $170,000 as statutory forfeiture, and he and the other defendants must also surrender their bingo licenses.
Sentencing is set for April 6. The judge, Queens Supreme Court Justice Stephen A. Knopf, indicated he would sentence the defendants to three-year conditional charges.
