By Joe Anuta
Three board members of a Corona volunteer ambulance service allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the nonprofit to fund vacations and lavish meals, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Thursday.
Daniel Dominguez, 37, is accused of stealing more than $300,000 from the Corona Community Volunteer Ambulance Corps and using the cash for extravagant jaunts to Walt Disney World and Niagara Falls as well as expensive feasts, the AG said.
Then Dominguez allegedly helped another member, Daryl Adeva, 31, in skimming $8,960 from the ambulance corps, according to Schneiderman.
Even the service’s president, David Moretti, 41, partook in the fleecing, the AG said. The leader allegedly stole more than $11,000 between September, 2008 and May, 2011 for car payments and overseas money transfers, Schneiderman said.
“These emergency medical technicians, who were entrusted with providing medical services and transportation for New York residents, instead took advantage of their positions and used a not-for-profit ambulance corps as their own personal piggy bank,” Schneiderman said. “My office will continue to weed out theft and fraud in charitable organizations and prosecute criminals who take advantage of the public’s trust.”
The three were charged with various degrees of theft in Queens County Supreme Court, the attorney general said. If convicted, Dominguez would face up to five to 15 years behind bars, the AG said, while Adeva and Moretti would face as much as 2 1/2 to seven years.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
