Suffolk Woman Pilfered Over $340K From Small, Family-Owned Business: Prosecutors

RIVERSIDE, NY — A Selden woman was sentenced two to six years in prison Monday for pilfering over $340,000 from the small, family-owned business where she worked for about three years, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney's office said Friday.

From February 2016 to February 2019, Leslie Mroz, 39, was employed by a Medford company where she handled payroll as the manager of human resources, prosecutors said.

Mroz's position allowed her to manipulate her salary and benefits, prosecutors said, adding, that when the theft was discovered, she was paying herself "more than double the salary that her employer had authorized."

A review of records also found Mroz was making unauthorized contributions to her retirement fund and health insurance, according to prosecutors.

Mroz's employer told prosecutors Mroz’s theft had "the potential to ruin her company, but noted "what hurt her the most was that Mroz was considered a trusted employee and had been accepted as part of her family," prosecutors said.

The name of the woman was not released.

“This defendant wasted no time abusing the trust that her employer placed in her by stealing from her employer,” Tierney said. “She will now face justice and serve prison time for her greed.”

Mroz pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree grand larceny on Oct. 5, 2022.

Her attorney, George Duncan of Islip Terrace, told Patch that Mroz was mandated to the Shock program in an upstate prison, where she will take part in a boot camp and be eligible for early release.