Talk about getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar.
Former finance director of the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York, Yaasmin Hooey, 35, admitted on Tuesday to stealing more than $300,000 from the organization.
That money could buy a lot of cookies! However, Hooey wasn’t spending the money on cookies. Instead, she was leading a lavish lifestyle. According to the District Attorney’s Office, Hooey spent the stolen money on cruises, cosmetic laser procedures and a $13,000 diamond ring. She also spent $18,000 in bars and restaurants. That’s a lot of food and drink even by upscale restaurant standards. She is going to miss those yummy meals in prison.
Ms. Hooey plead guilty to second-degree grand larceny and admitted stealing $311,568 between September 2008 and December 2010. According to Assistant District Attorney Lauren Littman, “She began stealing from the non-profit as soon as she began working for them.”
According to prosecutors, she stole the money by cashing or depositing into her personal bank account a series of 65 checks written off the Girl Scouts’ payroll account. Hooey admitted forging the signature of the organization’s then-chief executive.
In addition to spending the stolen money on her luxurious lifestyle, she used some of the money for “personal expenses” including groceries, a gym membership, clothing, and commuter train tickets.
She will be sentenced in the New York Supreme Court on March 6.
I think Ms. Hooey should have to perform community service after she is released from prison. She should have to sell enough Girl Scout cookies to repay the organization for the $311,000 she stole from them.
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