Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown
$1.50
Friday, July 29, 2022
Vol. 71, No. 30
HEALTH, WELLNESS AND BEAUTY
DRIVER IN NHP CRASH CHARGED
ROP OFFICIALS ON ANTISEMITIC FLIERS
PAGES 23-26
PAGE 2
PAGE 19
Staffer charged in $8.4M theft from Schechter West Islip man allegedly purchased 5 homes on Fire Island with stolen funds BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z An employee of the Schechter School of Long Island in Williston Park allegedly stole more than $8.4 million from the school to purchase homes on Fire Island and pay for his daughter’s college tuition, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said Monday. West Islip resident David Ostrove, 51, used the school’s PayPal and Stripe accounts to transfer funds into a personal PayPal account between March 2014 and April 2022, officials said. Ostrove then transferred the stolen funds into various other bank accounts that had him listed as the sole account holder, according to the DA. Ostrove is accused of using the stolen funds to purchase five homes on Fire Island between 2018 and 2021 by utilizing five different shell corporations, the authorities said. More than $1.4 million in stolen funds were allegedly used to renovate the Fire Island properties, resulting in Ostrove receiving roughly $600,000 in rental income, officials said. He also purchased two Mercedes Benz vehicles, a 1965 Mustang, a 2021 Lincoln Navigator and collectible coins with the stolen funds, the DA’s office said. Ostrove also allegedly used the stolen funds to finance his daughter’s college tuition and make home equity payments on his West Islip home.
Because some of the alleged activity was related to his West Islip home, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case, despite the private school being located in Nassau County, officials said. Ostrove, who spent 11 years at the school and served as its chief financial and technology officer and director of operations, is charged with first-degree grand larceny and first-degree money laundering, officials said. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of up to 25 years in prison, according to the release. “As alleged in the indictment, this defendant was trusted to oversee and safeguard the funds of this institution. However, he violated that trust and instead stole money earmarked to educate children to fund his own lavish lifestyle,” Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement. “These alleged violations are clearly not only a breach of the trust between an employee, employer, and students, they are against the law.” John LoTurco, Ostrove’s attorney, said in a statement that his client “adamantly denies” the charges handed down by the district attorney’s office. “In the meantime, we will closely scrutinize the district attorney’s evidence and financial records by retaining an independent forensic auditor to assess Continued on Page 38
PHOTO COURTESY OF TAECOLE
TaeCole Tae Kwon Do and Fitness in Albertson held a crazy hair day last week during their summer camp program.
TaeCole owner receives national honor, induction BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y
time Achievement Award and inducted into the American Martial Maggie Messina, owner and Arts Alliance Foundation Hall of master instructor of TaeCole Tae Honor July 15. Messina said she was one of six Kwon Do and Fitness in Albertson, was awarded the President’s Life- people this year to receive the award
for dedicating 4,233 of her hours to service for the nation and one of 100 to be inducted to the Hall of Honor. “Throughout our country’s history, the American story has been Continued on Page 38
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