Joseph Ostapiuk
Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Staten Island woman has been sentenced to two years in prison for stealing over $400,000 from an NYPD charity that supports families of slain police officers, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced on Tuesday.
Lorraine Shanley, 69, a West Brighton resident, was sentenced for bank fraud and subscribing to false and fraudulent individual income tax returns, according to authorities.
“With every paycheck, thousands of New York City Police Department officers and employees donated to charity to support the surviving spouses and children of officers killed in the line of duty,’' said Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District. “Yet for years, Lorraine Shanley exploited that generosity, using her position as the charity’s volunteer treasurer to steal over $400,000 for herself and her family.”
“Today’s sentence sends a clear message that those who commit such fraud will face serious consequences,” Berman said.
From 2010 to 2017, Shanley served as a volunteer treasurer for Survivors of the Shield, a charity that almost exclusively receives donations from current NYPD employees to support the families of NYPD officers killed in the line of duty.
During the time period Shanley volunteered at the charity, Survivors of the Shield received approximately $1.9 million in donations from an average of 5,500 NYPD employees per year, officials said.
As an authorized signatory on Survivors of the Shield’s bank account and credit card, she was authorized to use the charity’s funds. However, authorities said she used the money to benefit herself and her family, fraudulently obtaining nearly half a million dollars to pay for luxuries like event tickets, airfare, hotels and high-end shopping.
In addition to her sentence, Shanley will be sentenced to three years of supervised release and has been ordered to forfeit $406,851 and to pay restitution of $406,851 to Survivors of the Shield, including $290,000 to be paid within 30 days of today’s judgment, and $103,983 to the IRS.