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NEWS from the Office of the New York State Comptroller
Contact: Press Office 518-474-4015

DiNapoli: Former Crystal Beach Fire Department Treasurer Sentenced in More Than $82,000 Theft

November 14, 2014

The former Crystal Beach Volunteer Fire Department treasurer was sentenced today in Ontario County Court after he stole more than $82,000 from the department for personal expenses and shopping sprees, according to an audit by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

“This treasurer abused his community’s trust and sunk so low that he stole the cash raised from fire department fundraisers,” DiNapoli said. “I thank District Attorney R. Michael Tantillo and the Ontario County Sheriff’s Department for prosecuting this case and seeing that justice was done.”

Judge Frederick Reed sentenced Michael Mason, 44, of Canandaigua, to one to three years in prison and ordered him to make $82,353 in restitution.

Mason was convicted of grand larceny last month after DiNapoli’s office and sheriff’s investigators uncovered more than $82,000 in missing funds from 2009 to 2013. Mason wrote checks to himself, used the department’s credit card to shop at the Waterloo Premium Outlets and stole cash from barbecue and pancake breakfast fundraisers.

Mason’s wife, Victoria Coleman-Mason, was convicted of petit larceny and ordered to pay $2,100 restitution in June.

DiNapoli encourages the public to help fight fraud and abuse. New Yorkers can report allegations of fraud involving taxpayer money by calling the toll-free Fraud Hotline at 1-888-672-4555, by filing a complaint online at [email protected], or by mailing a complaint to: Office of the State Comptroller, Division of Investigations, 14th floor, 110 State St., Albany, NY 12236.