Juan Alayo, former president of Hempstead co-op, pleads guilty to almost $30,000 in restitution, AG says

New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced Friday that the former president of the Hempstead Co-op Board has pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $30,000 from the co-op.

Juan Alayo, 72, of East Meadow, pleaded guilty Thursday to grand larceny, a felony, and petit larceny, a misdemeanor, after he was caught embezzling more than $26,738 by writing checks to himself and his cleaning company and by falsifying the cooperative’s business records. to cover up his thefts, according to a news release from James’ office.

Residents of the Hendrickson Avenue home alerted authorities when they reviewed the co-op records after Alayo moved out, prosecutors said.

“Juan Alayo’s neighbors elected him to oversee their construction and Mr. Alayo violated their trust to line his own pockets,” James said in a statement.

Alayo’s attorney, Jack Posner of Garden City, declined to comment. Alayo could not be reached on Friday.

Under the terms of the guilty plea, Alayo will make restitution to the co-op and perform 210 hours of community service or go to prison for a year, prosecutors said.

Alayo was elected by neighbors from 2016 to 2023 to lead the board of directors of Marlboro Owners Corp.

Alayo’s position paid him $200 a month and involved scheduling the building’s maintenance and maintaining the co-op’s records. Prosecutors described a scheme discovered by the new board president after Alayo left the co-op in which Alayo wrote and cashed checks to his company, A&J Cleaning Services, that looked like they were for a legitimate co-op. costs.

For example, a $2,466.30 check he wrote to Tragar, a legitimate home heating company, was actually sent and cashed to A&J, prosecutors said.