Four Arraigned in Roslyn Schools Case

NEW YORK— On June 8, three former Roslyn public schools officials and a fourth person were arraigned in a Mineola, N.Y., courtroom on an indictment charging them with allegedly stealing millions of dollars from the school district. All have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Former Superintendent, Frank A. Tassone, the former Assistant Superintendent Pamela Gluckin, and Gluckin’s niece and former account clerk Debra Rigano were indicted by a grand jury on grand larceny in connection with charges which allege that they stole from the Roslyn School District over several years, according to a news release from the Office of the District Attorney of Nassau County, Denis Dillon.

In addition to last year’s the grand larceny charge, Tassone and his roommate, Stephen Signorelli, were indicted the same day for grand larceny in the second degree, along with eight other charges for allegedly falsifying business records and offering a false instrument for filing, said the release on Dillon’s Web site. The other three defendants had been earlier arrested on grand larceny charges.

The new criminal charges allege that Tassone helped Signorelli inflate bills as a handbook printing contractor to the school district and then shared in the money.

Dillion said that Gluckin made up a fictitious company and paid the company a substantial sum. Other companies, which rendered no services to the school district, received payments from the district.

State investigators and auditors say about $11.2 million was stolen from Roslyn from at least 1996 through 2004.

A Nassau County grand jury is still investigating the case, according to The New York Times, and the indictment of more people is “certainly possible,” said the assistant district attorney in charge of the case, Peter Mancuso.

In related news, the former Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations for the Mineola Union Free School District, John Jackson, was indicted on 20 charges, including grand larceny, on May 25, according to Dillon’s Web site.

The Long Island public school scandals have led to investigations, as well as comprehensive audits of certain school districts by New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Officials, lawmakers and organizations, including the NYSSCPA, have called for reforms to strengthen audits and school district accountability. Proposed legislation continues to move forward in Albany.