Attorney General James Announces Guilty Plea of Former Nassau County Co-Op President for Stealing Building Funds

November 15, 2024

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced the guilty plea of Juan Alayo, 72, of East Meadow, New York for embezzling more than $26,700 of co-op funds during his tenure as president of the Marlboro Owners Corporation cooperative in Hempstead, New York. Alayo served as president from 2016 to 2023, during which he wrote checks to himself and his company, A&J Cleaning Services (A&J), without the co-op board's permission and falsified the co-op's business records to hide his thefts. Alayo pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree and Petit Larceny for stealing co-op funds while serving as president. As a condition of his guilty plea, he has agreed to pay $26,738 in restitution to the co-op and complete 210 hours of community service.

"When co-op leaders steal from the buildings they're entrusted to manage, the entire community suffers," said Attorney General James. "Juan Alayo's neighbors elected him to oversee their building, and Mr. Alayo violated their trust to line his own pockets. My office will not tolerate anyone who breaks the law to steal from their neighbors. We will continue to hold anyone accountable who commits this type of fraud."

Alayo served as President of the Marlboro Owners Corporation, which oversees the management of a Hempstead Cooperative, from 2016 to 2023, after being elected by fellow residents. The co-op has 16 units and its residents are primarily Spanish-speaking immigrants. As president, Alayo oversaw the co-op's operations, scheduled building maintenance and repairs, and worked with vendors and contractors, earning him a $200 per month salary, which residents agreed to pay.

During his tenure as president, Alayo embezzled almost $30,000 of co-op funds by writing checks to himself and his company, A&J. These checks were neither discussed nor approved by the co-op board, who had never retained A&J's services. As president, Alayo was also responsible for maintaining the co-op's business records, which he falsified in order to hide his thefts. For example, in one instance a check for $2,466.30 was recorded in the co-op book as payment for "TRAGAR," an oil company, however, the check was actually sent to and cashed by A&J.

Alayo remained president until 2023 when he sold his apartment and moved out of the building. Later that year, a new co-op president was elected, and Alayo's scheme was discovered. When the new president reviewed the co-op's finances, he and other board members noticed some irregular transactions. Upon review of the co-op's business records, which were hand-written by Alayo, in contrast to the co-op's banking records, the board found A&J received and cashed checks that were falsely made to look as though they were for legitimate co-op expenses. Members of the co-op board reported the theft to the Nassau District Attorney's Office, which referred the matter to the Office of the Attorney General.

Alayo pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Justice Robert Bogle to Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony, and to Petit Larceny, a class A misdemeanor, and agreed to pay $26,738 in restitution to the co-op and complete 210 hours of community service. If Alayo does not pay back the restitution and complete his community service, he will be sentenced to one year in jail.

Attorney General James thanks the Nassau District Attorney's Office for their collaboration on this matter.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Jimei Hon under the supervision of Public Integrity Bureau Chief Gerard Murphy, Deputy Bureau Chief Kiran Heer, and Section Chief Nicholas Batsidis, with assistance from Legal Support Analyst Meredith Youngblood and Intern David Smalls. The Public Integrity Bureau is part of the Division for Criminal Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General José Maldonado and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.

Further assistance was provided by the New York State Police and by Detective Investigator Felix Krasnov and Senior Detective Investigator Brian Metz under the direction of Detective Supervisor Anna Ospanova and Deputy Chief Juanita Bright of the Major Investigations Unit. The Investigations Bureau is led by Chief Oliver Pu-Folkes.