Police say he embezzled at least $208,000
A Philipstown resident was arrested on Wednesday (March 12) and accused of stealing at least $208,000 from two local organizations for which he served as treasurer.
In a news release, Putnam County Sheriff Kevin McConville said Mark A. Kenny, 61, had served as a treasurer for the civic groups, which he did not name, saying they had been victims of a crime.
He said the agency’s investigation began in December when one group reported that funds apparently had been stolen from its bank account over four years. An investigator learned Kenny was also treasurer of the second group and requested its records over the past five years.
After a review, the sheriff said the investigator found Kenny had used funds for personal expenses such as gas, cellphone charges, dental bills, pet supplies, cigars, liquor, automotive and lawn equipment, building materials, dumpster rentals and dining at restaurants and bars in Putnam, Dutchess, Westchester and Orange counties.
The sheriff said Kenny also made purchases from a restaurant distributor after he submitted a credit application in the name of one of the organizations, adding he and his wife as authorized users. The investigation uncovered cash withdrawals from ATM machines and bank branches.
The sheriff said Kenny appears to have stolen at least $118,000 from one organization and at least $90,000 from the other. He was arraigned in Philipstown Town Court on three felony counts of grand larceny and released until his next court date.
No further information was available; a Philipstown court clerk said the town does not release documents from any case unless a person is convicted or by special permission from Justices Camille Linson or Angela Thompson-Tinsley. Philipstown also does not upload its records to the state’s electronic system.
Kenny’s LinkedIn profile says he is a graduate of New York University and since August has been a manager for global product risk and control at Wells Fargo. In December 2023, according to court records, he was sued by Lending Club for a $4,702 debt it said had gone unpaid.
It’s frustrating that the Putnam “civic organizations” found to have been pilfered were not identified by law enforcement. The situation sounds like a classic case of “Little League treasurer steals bake-sale proceeds.” Over the years, I have noticed dozens of stories in which a nonprofit board slept at the switch while their treasurer siphoned off funds raised by the blood, sweat and tears of their members.
Shielding the identity of the nonprofits because they are victims of a crime does not relieve the volunteer directors from the responsibility of overseeing its finances, even if they signed up to advance the organization’s mission and not pay attention to the arithmetic.