Former Hamptons Radio Station Manager Pleads Guilty To Fraud: DOJ

SAG HARBOR, NY — The former general manager of the Long Island Radio Broadcasting station in Sag Harbor pleaded guilty to felony access device fraud Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Tuesday.

According to John Marzulli of the U.S. Department of Justice, Stephanie McNamara Bitis pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Gary Brown and faces 12 to 18 months in prison. She is represented by New York City attorney Thomas Kenniff.

Her case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York .

A release from LIRB said Bitis served as vice president/general manager of LIRB from 2015 to 2017, and was a member of the Sag Harbor school board.

According to LIRB owner and WEHM on-air personality Lauren Stone, a "suspicious wire transfer caused Stone to review the company’s American Express statements for the preceding six months. After noticing several charges that appeared fraudulent, Stone engaged an outside law firm to conduct an investigation into the radio station’s financials. That investigation revealed the truth — Bitis had purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal charges on LIRB’s corporate American Express card."

Bitis, Stone accused, charged "a family vacation to Aruba, personal visits to the orthodontist, boat maintenance and boat fuel and even tax services for delinquent personal income tax payments. She concealed her fraud by submitting falsified documents to LIRB’s accountant. She went so far as to create her own bogus American Express statements, removing vendors such as her orthodontist to hide the personal charges."

Marzulli could not confirm those charges and said they were not part of the public proceeding.

In October, 2020, he confirmed, the government charged Bitis with felony access device fraud.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on March 26, 2021.

“These radio stations are a passion — a true labor of love for all of us who work here. I was shocked and saddened that someone would do this to us —especially in such a small, tight-knit community. I’m thankful that justice has been served and that she will not be able to defraud anyone else," Stone said.

Kenniff said he will ask for no jail time for his client. "Ms. Bitis worked extremely hard at managing the station and turning it around from the situation she found it in when she was employed. Disputes arose regarding the personal versus business nature of expenses on her corporate American Express card. We dispute that many of those charges were personal as opposed to business."

Bitis, he said, pleaded guilty to a charge that involves the theft of no more than $1,000 in a given year, a "wild difference of opinion" than the accusations of charges contended by Stone, he said. "My client vehemently disputes that the number was $250,000 and we have ample documentation," Kenniff said.

He added that his client "has had a long and storied career in the radio broadcasting industry. This one incident by no means defines her or her career and we believe this was at worst an aberration. She ultimately decided to seek closure as opposed to protracted litigation and she looks forward to having this matter fully concluded at sentencing and moving on with her life."