A former treasurer was charged with taking nearly $500,000 from the Carle Place Volunteer & Exempt Fireman’s Benevolent Association.
John Shellock was arraigned Wednesday on one count of second-degree grand larceny in Nassau County, before being released.
Shellock, 84, served as treasurer of the association for three decades, Carle Place Patch reported.
The association contacted the Nassau County Police Department in October 2023 after noticing that money was missing and they launched an investigation.
"For three decades this defendant was entrusted with securing the Carle Place Firemen’s Benevolent Association’s financial health and ensuring firefighters and their families were provided relief at their most difficult moments," Nassau County District Anne Donnelly told Carle Place Patch. "But for the last ten years, John Shellock allegedly treated the organization’s coffers like a personal checking account, writing checks to himself and paying off credit card debts, stealing a total of nearly half a million dollars of their funds while undermining the Benevolent Association’s mission."
During the investigation, they determined that Shellock wrote checks and sometimes forged signatures over 10 years into an account for the group that he created but others were unaware of. He then wrote checks to himself from that second account.
He is alleged to have taken $490,000 from the group.
Shellock faces five to 15 years in prison for these charges.
