Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. has recently disclosed the guilty plea of an Upper West Side doorman for embezzling an alarming sum of money from a retired schoolteacher and her husband. The defendant, Alfredo Mateo, 38, admitted to charges including Grand Larceny in the Second and Fourth Degrees as well as Identity Theft in the First Degree, as detailed by the Manhattan DA's Office. Mateo's plea comes with an expectation of serving a 1-3 year prison sentence, along with a forfeiture and a judgement order set to recompense his victims.
Notwithstanding the wrongful loss suffered by the retired teacher and her deceased husband, District Attorney Bragg was determined to fully bring Mateo to justice. "Using more than two dozen stolen checks, Alfredo Mateo depleted the bank accounts these New Yorkers built over the course of decades of hard work," Bragg stated, as per the Manhattan DA's Office. He underscored the commitment of his office to protect elders' savings, including those who dedicated their lives to educating the youth. The victims, sadly, are not present to witness justice served - both had passed away, the husband on September 1, 2022, and the retired teacher in July 2023 while residing in a nursing home.
The statement details how Mateo, over a span of many months, wrote checks to himself from the victims' bank account, depositing them next into his own. False explanations were inscribed deliberately in the memo lines to disguise the illicit transactions. It was a fraud that extended to an annuity and pension too, hard-earned through years of teaching dedication. Mateo's ruse included stealing a form from the Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York (TRS), along with submitting falsified forms to TRS and even impersonating the nonagenarian victim over the phone in a failed bid to change membership details.
The concerted efforts of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau of the Manhattan DA's Office, as well as valuable assistance from TRS and the Special Commission of Investigation for the New York City School District, were paramount in uncovering Mateo's scheme. Assistant D.A. Thomas Reilly and Assistant D.A. Imran Ahmed were noted to be managing the prosecution of the case, under Senior officials' supervision and with investigative staff providing critical support. Special Commissioner Anastasia Coleman recognized the severity of defrauding retirees, iterating a "firm commitment to protecting the integrity of our retirement systems and the funds of our retirees." Her partnership with the Manhattan DA's Office was also acknowledged in the pursuit of this case.
What could have been lifelines for the frail and the elderly, turned by deception into a doorman's false windfall, now has culminated into a multi-year sentence and financial forfeiture. The fabric of trust that helps to hold the taut cloth of urban civility - one doorman, one tenant at a time - was breached, yet mend now it must, in the wake of justice being served. Mateo is scheduled for sentencing later this year on September 24.
