Florida man charged with stealing $56K from Lackawanna County Arts and Culture Department
Michael Anthony Patrylo, 23, of Oviedo, was arrested Friday by Oviedo Police Departmentofficers, Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher said.
The county's Arts and Culture Department informed the district attorney's office in February 2024 about two invoices totaling $56,689 to L&A Tent Rentals of New Jersey for tent rentals for the 2023 Lackawanna Winter Market. A representative from L&A Tent Rentals contacted Arts and Culture Department Director Maureen McGuigan and told her there were two outstanding invoices, Detective Colleen Catanese wrote in a criminal complaint.
After communicating with an individual who identified himself as Steve Campbell from the vendor, she sent the money electronically to an NBKC Bank account held by the rental company in December 2023. However, the real Campbell later told McGuigan they don't have an account with that bank and didn't receive the money, she wrote.
Catanese obtained bank records through a search warrant that revealed the account McGuigan sent the money to belonged to Patrylo. She also discovered the $56,689 deposit made that January and withdrawals from the account later that month to Uber, Doordash, a Delta flight ticket from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Orlando International Airport, a vacation rental, UPS, a cryptocurrency platform and travel insurance companies
Catanese charged Patrylo with felony counts of theft, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, forgery and criminal use of a communication facility. He is awaiting extradition to Lackawanna County from Florida to be arraigned on the charges, Gallagher said.
If convicted, he faces up to 47 years in prison, a $95,000 fine and a term of supervised release following imprisonment, Gallagher's office said in the statement.
The county filed an insurance claim to recoup the stolen taxpayer money and paid the real vendor that provided the tents, county officials said last year. County systems were not hacked, they said.
'Forgery, fraud, and theft of public funds erode public trust and divert resources intended for our community,' Gallagher said in a statement announcing the charges. 'Our office is committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting these types of offenses against our county.'
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