The chief financial officer of a prestigious Long Island private school has been sentenced to between eight and 25 years in prison after being found guilty of stealing more than $8 million to buy a portfolio of houses, classic cars and jewelry.
Fraudster David Ostrove, 52, spent 10 years as chief financial officer at Long Island’s Schechter School, earning $26,000 a year.
It was during that time, while holding such a trusted position, that he was able to siphon millions of dollars from the school’s coffers through shell corporations.
During his sentencing, Ostrove was told he would have to pay back all the money he stole.
Among his extravagances, Ostrove purchased five luxurious properties in Ocean Beach on New York’s Fire Island, a 1965 Ford Mustang and collections of sports memorabilia.
He also used some of the stolen money to pay for his daughter’s college tuition and buy political and sports memorabilia, as well as designer clothing and jewelry. She also went on a flashy vacation.
Fraudster David Ostrove, 52, has been sentenced to between eight and 25 years in prison after being found guilty of siphoning $8 million from his school coffers through shell corporations.
Ostrove used the funds to purchase homes on Fire Island and rent them out, receiving more than $600,000 in profits.
Following his conviction, Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney said: ‘While David Ostrove was entrusted with managing this money for the benefit of the children at Schechter School, he was secretly lining his pockets.
“The jury found that the defendant’s lavish lifestyle was funded by the tuition money of the hard-working parents of Schechter School students, and fortunately, the jury found him responsible,” Tierney said.
The prosecutor said he began the fraud scheme in 2014, using five different shell operations to divert millions.
According to a $35 million lawsuit the school filed against Ostrove in January, he would hide the funds by creating a PayPal account in the school’s name and depositing the stolen money into it.
And in 2018, he also created a gift card scheme that raised money for the Schechter School, but also stole $1.58 million from the program using one of his shell corporations.
The $8 million scam also included fraudulent expense reports that allowed him to collect about $800,000, according to the lawsuit.
“The jury concluded that the defendant’s lavish lifestyle was funded by the tuition money of the hard-working parents of Schechter School students, and fortunately, the jury found him responsible,” prosecutor Tierney said at the time. his conviction, last month.
Much of the ill-gotten gains went to Ostrove’s portfolio of five properties on Fire Island, including two worth $1.3 million and $1.8 million, within minutes of each other.
One of Ostrove’s Fire Island properties, valued at $1.8 million
Ostrove also owned this $1.2 million property, just minutes from his $1.8 million home.
The scammer also put the stolen money into sports memorabilia and a 1965 Mustang (seen in a file image).
Ostrove was director of finance at the Schechter School on Long Island, earning $26,000 a year.
The financial director will go to prison between eight and 25 years and must return the stolen money
The CFO had used $1.4 million of the stolen funds to improve the homes, but is said to have made more than $600,000 by renting out his properties on Fire Island.
Ostrove’s spending spree also focused on rare collections of sports and political memorabilia, and automobiles, including a classic 1965 Ford Mustang.
His car collection also consisted of a Lincoln Aviator SUV and a Mercedes Benz.
Ostrove is said to have used some of the stolen money to also pay for his own daughter’s education.
“When he was flushed with other people’s money, he was a pompous jerk,” said attorney Steven Bertolino. Fox Business.
‘When he bought the Fire Island property, I ended up kicking him out of my office because he was so obtuse and abusive. He was COVID, and some of the people involved swore up and down that he was a great guy. Of course, I said no, and it’s good to be right,” Bertolino said.
Before his sentencing, Schecter School told DailyMail.com that the massive fraud was “chilling” and that, if convicted, he would have been “guilty of something beyond the theft of cash: the destruction of trust.”
The school added: “Although dollars have allegedly been embezzled, what cannot be stolen is the future of the Schechter School.”
“We will emerge from this experience stronger, wiser and with a warning to all institutions that today’s online financial technology may be the weapon of choice for thieves.”