Huntington Station Woman Stole From Kids Aid Company: Nassau DA

PLAINVIEW, NY — A Suffolk County woman was arrested today on charges that she embezzled more than $143,000 from a company that provided educational services to children.

Patricia Sales, 46, of Huntington Station, was charged with second-degree grand larceny. She was released on her own recognizance and is due back in court on June 14. If convicted, she could face up to 15 years in prison.

According to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas, Sales worked as the director of finance for All About Kids, a Plainview-based company that provides therapy and educational services to children with developmental delays. As part of her job, Sales had access to the company's payroll and the systems for generating checks, as well as a stamp of the owner's signature.

In February 2020, employees were looking in Sales' office for copies of bank statements, Singas said, when they found several mailed notices from the IRS. The notices said that the company had failed to pay payroll taxes since at least June 2019. All About Kids owed more than $700,000 in taxes and $140,000 in penalties. Sales was fired on Feb. 7, 2020.

The discovery sparked an internal investigation at the company, Singas said. After an in-depth review of checks, bank statements and accounting systems, Singas said that the company found that Sales had made out checks to herself. She allegedly stole $143,680 from All About Kids.