Admits it diverted refunds and credits to owners’ accounts
The state attorney general on Nov. 27 announced that Bottini Fuel, based in Wappingers Falls, admitted falsifying its records to steal credit balances, including $10,000 owed to the Beacon City School District for six overpayments.
The company agreed to pay $1.76 million in restitution as well as a $1.5 million fine. A whistleblower received a reward of $491,000.
The attorney general’s investigation revealed that from 2004 to 2016, when a customer overpaid for heating oil, the company did not issue a refund or credit but in many cases moved the money to pay down accounts owned by the Bottini family, their friends and select employees.
The accounting employees at the entities that overpaid Bottini didn’t know they had overpaid? I would fire them. The Beacon City School District overpaid six times. I had a small business and knew if I had credits. I double-checked all my paid invoices from month to month and payment to payment.
Ann Marie Quartironi, the deputy superintendent who oversees finances, said she was informed on Nov. 27 that the district would receive a check for $10,375 from Bottini for five overpayments between Dec. 29 and Dec. 31, 2008, totaling $5,240, plus a $5,135 balance that was transferred in 2011 to an internal Bottini account. She said the district switched from oil to natural gas between 2009 and 2011, which could have resulted in the overlooked credits, but since the transactions occurred 10 years ago, the district has no records — the state only requires districts to keep them for six.
No jail time for these crooks? Amazing. Anyone else would have been locked up.