A New Hyde Park woman pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing approximately $750,000 from an elderly woman who entrusted her money to a law firm at which the thief worked, the Nassau County District Attorney’s office said.
Elizabeth Reilly, 50, pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the second degree and is expected to be sentenced to three to six years in prison on July 7, the DA’s office said.
Reilly stole the money entrusted to her employer, a Floral Park attorney, according to the DA.
As part of Reilly’s employment, officials said, she had access to checkbooks, credit cards, bank statements and other financial instruments, officials said. Neither the victim, a 91-year-old woman, or the employer’s identity were disclosed in the release.
“At an advanced age, the victim knew it made fiscal sense to trust her finances to her attorney. She couldn’t have predicted that the defendant, who was given access to her bank statements, checkbooks, and credit cards, would look at her life’s savings as a convenient payday,” District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement. “The defendant drained nearly three-quarters of a million dollars from the woman, paying for airline tickets, a gym membership, and other personal purchases. We will continue to fight for Nassau County’s seniors who, sadly, are victimized often by financial fraud schemes.”
Officials said more than 250 checks were written from the victim’s bank accounts between 2016 and 2020, totaling over $675,000.
Aside from airfare, a gym membership and beauty products, the victim’s credit card statements also showed hundreds of PayPal transactions to a local animal shelter, according to the release.
Officials said the credit card balance was paid online using the victim’s bank accounts, with the investigation revealing a device in Reilly’s home being the source of the payments.
Reilly’s employer discovered the theft in October 2020 after reviewing the victim’s credit card statements and seeing questionable activity, officials said.