[dropcap]S[/dropcap]cott Yandrasevich, the former general manager of the Rye Golf Club, pleaded guilty in White Plains court on Nov. 6 to grand larceny and falsifying records; he will now serve one year in Westchester County jail.
Yandrasevich, 50, accepted the plea deal just days before he was set to stand trial in connection with allegations that he stole approximately $343,120 over a six-year period from members of the city-run golf club through several shell staffing companies, most notably RM Staffing, that he set up. The former general manager is also required to pay restitution to Rye for $271,120 of the money that he defrauded from the club and its members by his sentencing, which is expected to be sometime in April 2015. If he cannot pay the money back in time, Yandrasevich will serve a longer sentence of one to three years in state prison but also still owe the money.
Kerry Lawrence, Yandrasevich’s attorney, had been opposed to a plea bargain in the months leading up to the trial but said after his client pleaded guilty, “When faced with the potential consequences of going to trial Mr. Yandrasevich decided to resolve the case.
“Mr. Yandrasevich gave his heart and soul to Rye Golf Club while he was general manager, and his tireless, outstanding, innovative work there brought the club to a standard it had never reached before. He is glad to put this episode behind him,” Lawrence said in a released statement to the media.
Yandrasevich was arrested after turning himself in to the Westchester County District Attorney’s office in November 2013 and was later arraigned on an indictment of 10 felony counts of falsifying records and one felony count of grand larceny in the second degree. At his arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to all charges. Yandrasevich was facing up to 15 years in state prison, if convicted in a trial.
Yandrasevich’s guilty plea last week included just two of the 10 counts of falsifying records.
Mayor Joe Sack, a Republican, said through the city’s investigation, they knew Yandrasevich was guilty of stealing.
“So this is certainly vindication for us,” Sack, who was a councilman when the golf club scandal first unfolded in the summer months of 2012, said. “The restitution amount is welcome, but it’s only a portion of what he stole. We will continue to pursue all of our legal remedies including recovering on our insurance claim in order to be made whole.”
While Rye waits to receive $271,120 from Yandrasevich, City Attorney Kristen Wilson said the city took out an insurance claim in August 2013 for $2.4 million and continues to await the insurance company’s review of that claim.
Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for the district attorney’s office, said the restitution payment the DA’s office ordered has to be traced and proven beyond a reasonable doubt, which is why Yandrasevich’s restitution to Rye is significantly lower than the city’s insurance claim. As for the difference between the initial $343,120 that the district attorney’s office claimed that Yandrasevich stole and the $271,120 he is ordered to repay, Chalfen said it is because “it is unclear what services were rendered.”
In October 2012, Rye commissioned its own investigation into the questionable financial irregularities that had surfaced at the club. The investigation was completed in February 2013, and a report was issued claiming Scott Yandrasevich had stolen “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Yandrasevich used the money to purchase, among other things, two boats and a house for his mother in North Carolina, according to the report.
The report also implicated Yandrasevich’s wife, Anna, who acted as the “bookkeeper” and “office manager” at RM Staffing. While in that capacity, Anna Yandrasevich received a salary from RM Staffing of nearly $175,000 between November 2009 and September 2012 as well as other payments totaling $70,000. By May 2012, months prior to the scandal surfacing, Anna Yandrasevich was taking home biweekly checks of more than $4,000 from RM Staffing payroll.
However, Chalfen said, to his knowledge, Yandrasevich’s wife was not part of the district attorney’s probe.
Scott Yandrasevich, who was hired by the city to run the golf club back in 2002, resigned from his position with the club in January 2013. He relocated his family to Danbury, Conn.
