MOTHER AND SON INDICTED IN $16 MILLION THEFT AND MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEME
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of JUDY DEL GALDO, 66, and her son JOSEPH DEL GALDO, 46, for stealing more than $16 million from the textile business where JUDY DEL GALDO had worked for more than two decades. The mother-son duo are accused of laundering the stolen money through a shell company, and then spending much of it on luxury items. They are also charged with diverting millions to JOSEPH DEL GALDO’S failing, now-defunct ambulance company. The pair was indicted on charges including Grand Larceny in the First Degree, Money Laundering in the First Degree, Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, and Forgery in the Second Degree.
“The defendants presented themselves as successful, high-rolling entrepreneurs, but the appearance of wealth and success was just a charade, forged on the backs of the owners and employees of the textile business that they are charged with victimizing,” said District Attorney Vance.
According to documents filed in court, JUDY DEL GALDO worked for 22 years as the bookkeeper for two affiliated, Manhattan-based specialty textile companies, Hi-Fashion Fabrics, Inc., and Timeless Treasures Fabrics, Inc., which were principally owned and managed by the same family. Together, the two companies employed more than 70 people from August 2003 through April 2010, the period in which the crimes charged took place.
During this seven-year period, according to documents filed in court, JUDY DEL GALDO forged the company president’s name on hundreds of checks that were deposited into a bank account in the name of “Tea-Rific Beverage, Inc.,” a corporation that had been dissolved years earlier and that was generating no actual business revenue. JOSEPH DEL GALDO was the sole signatory on this dummy account. As bookkeeper and a trusted, long-time employee, JUDY DEL GALDO managed to conceal these transactions until she retired in April 2010. The thefts from Hi-Fashion Fabrics, Inc. totaled approximately $6 million. The thefts from Timeless Treasures Fabrics, Inc. totaled approximately $10 million.
According to documents filed in court, the defendants channeled this stolen money through the shell bank account and then further dispersed it. They directed some $6.67 million to sustain JOSEPH DEL GALDO’S now-defunct ambulance company, First Response Ambulance, Inc., both in the form of monetary payments to the company and through expense payments on its behalf. The defendants squandered the rest on luxury items and excess, including more than:
• $500,000 in flights on private jets,
• $458,000 in other travel and hotel expenses,
• $368,000 in payments toward a million dollar yacht,
• $564,000 in various credit card payments
• $330,000 in payments for luxury suites and sponsorships at Madison Square Garden and the Meadowlands Sports Complex,
• $166,000 in home theater purchases,
• $42,000 in custom tailored suits,
• $54,000 in Apple and iTunes purchases,
• $62,000 in private school tuition,
• $493,000 in cash withdrawals, and
• $889,000 in mortgage and related payments on three different properties, all of which have since fallen into foreclosure.
The defendants also owned a number of vehicles, including, among others, a $127,000 Mercedes S63 and a $55,000 Infiniti QX56.
In addition to these thefts committed with her son, JUDY DEL GALDO is accused of stealing another $397,000 herself by fraudulently seeking reimbursement for company expenses that was not owed.
Assistant District Attorney Savvas S. Diacosavvas is prosecuting this case, under the supervision of Special Prosecutions Bureau Chief Thomas Wornom and Deputy Bureau Chiefs Judy Salwen and Archana Rao. Senior Financial Investigator Vincent Jones and Principal Accountant Investigator Michael Vecchio of the District Attorney’s Financial Crimes Bureau assisted in the investigation. Investigators Jonathan Reid and Behzad Ahdout of the District Attorney’s Investigations Bureau assisted in the arrest of the defendants, under the supervision of Senior Investigator Michael Wigdor and Chief Investigator John Bilich.
District Attorney Vance also thanked Investigator Antonio Webster of the Guinnett County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia and Captain Glenn Skarzynski and Officer Keith Grausom of the Sayreville Police Department in New Jersey for their assistance in arresting the defendants.
Defendant information:
JUDY DEL GALDO, D.O.B. 9/3/1944
Sayreville, NJ
Charges:
• Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class B felony, 2 counts
• Money Laundering in the First Degree, a class B felony, 2 counts
• Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, 2 counts
• Forgery in the Second Degree, a class D felony, 10 counts
• Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a class D felony, 10 counts
JOSEPH DEL GALDO, D.O.B. 6/15/1965
Buford, GA
Charges:
• Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class B felony, 2 counts
• Money Laundering in the First Degree, a class B felony, 2 counts
A class B felony is punishable by up to 25 years in prison. A class C felony is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. A class D felony is punishable by up to 7 years in prison.
“The defendants presented themselves as successful, high-rolling entrepreneurs, but the appearance of wealth and success was just a charade, forged on the backs of the owners and employees of the textile business that they are charged with victimizing,” said District Attorney Vance.
According to documents filed in court, JUDY DEL GALDO worked for 22 years as the bookkeeper for two affiliated, Manhattan-based specialty textile companies, Hi-Fashion Fabrics, Inc., and Timeless Treasures Fabrics, Inc., which were principally owned and managed by the same family. Together, the two companies employed more than 70 people from August 2003 through April 2010, the period in which the crimes charged took place.
During this seven-year period, according to documents filed in court, JUDY DEL GALDO forged the company president’s name on hundreds of checks that were deposited into a bank account in the name of “Tea-Rific Beverage, Inc.,” a corporation that had been dissolved years earlier and that was generating no actual business revenue. JOSEPH DEL GALDO was the sole signatory on this dummy account. As bookkeeper and a trusted, long-time employee, JUDY DEL GALDO managed to conceal these transactions until she retired in April 2010. The thefts from Hi-Fashion Fabrics, Inc. totaled approximately $6 million. The thefts from Timeless Treasures Fabrics, Inc. totaled approximately $10 million.
According to documents filed in court, the defendants channeled this stolen money through the shell bank account and then further dispersed it. They directed some $6.67 million to sustain JOSEPH DEL GALDO’S now-defunct ambulance company, First Response Ambulance, Inc., both in the form of monetary payments to the company and through expense payments on its behalf. The defendants squandered the rest on luxury items and excess, including more than:
• $500,000 in flights on private jets,
• $458,000 in other travel and hotel expenses,
• $368,000 in payments toward a million dollar yacht,
• $564,000 in various credit card payments
• $330,000 in payments for luxury suites and sponsorships at Madison Square Garden and the Meadowlands Sports Complex,
• $166,000 in home theater purchases,
• $42,000 in custom tailored suits,
• $54,000 in Apple and iTunes purchases,
• $62,000 in private school tuition,
• $493,000 in cash withdrawals, and
• $889,000 in mortgage and related payments on three different properties, all of which have since fallen into foreclosure.
The defendants also owned a number of vehicles, including, among others, a $127,000 Mercedes S63 and a $55,000 Infiniti QX56.
In addition to these thefts committed with her son, JUDY DEL GALDO is accused of stealing another $397,000 herself by fraudulently seeking reimbursement for company expenses that was not owed.
Assistant District Attorney Savvas S. Diacosavvas is prosecuting this case, under the supervision of Special Prosecutions Bureau Chief Thomas Wornom and Deputy Bureau Chiefs Judy Salwen and Archana Rao. Senior Financial Investigator Vincent Jones and Principal Accountant Investigator Michael Vecchio of the District Attorney’s Financial Crimes Bureau assisted in the investigation. Investigators Jonathan Reid and Behzad Ahdout of the District Attorney’s Investigations Bureau assisted in the arrest of the defendants, under the supervision of Senior Investigator Michael Wigdor and Chief Investigator John Bilich.
District Attorney Vance also thanked Investigator Antonio Webster of the Guinnett County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia and Captain Glenn Skarzynski and Officer Keith Grausom of the Sayreville Police Department in New Jersey for their assistance in arresting the defendants.
Defendant information:
JUDY DEL GALDO, D.O.B. 9/3/1944
Sayreville, NJ
Charges:
• Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class B felony, 2 counts
• Money Laundering in the First Degree, a class B felony, 2 counts
• Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, 2 counts
• Forgery in the Second Degree, a class D felony, 10 counts
• Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a class D felony, 10 counts
JOSEPH DEL GALDO, D.O.B. 6/15/1965
Buford, GA
Charges:
• Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class B felony, 2 counts
• Money Laundering in the First Degree, a class B felony, 2 counts
A class B felony is punishable by up to 25 years in prison. A class C felony is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. A class D felony is punishable by up to 7 years in prison.
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