Synagogue bookkeeper steals more than $350K from New Jersey congregation, feds say
A woman pleaded guilty to stealing more than $350,000 from a New Jersey synagogue where she was employed as a bookkeeper, federal prosecutors said.
Stacy Margaritondo, 52, is guilty of wire fraud after admitting to regularly issuing unauthorized checks, keeping inaccurate accounting records and altering bank statements for her own benefit while working at a synagogue in Union County, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey said in a March 20 news release.
The name of the synagogue was not revealed in court records.
“Margaritondo is remorseful for her criminal conduct and pled guilty as a result of that fact,” attorney Steven Wukovits, who represents Margaritondo, told McClatchy News in a March 21 email.
Margaritondo began working at the synagogue in 2010 and was promoted to office manager and bookkeeper in July 2020, according to prosecutors.
However, from about December 2019 to May 2023, she used her role to embezzle money from the synagogue, prosecutors said.
Between December 2019 and October 2022, she issued about 55 unauthorized checks to herself from the synagogue’s bank account, according to court records.
Margaritondo forged the signature of the treasurer of the synagogue’s board of directors onto the checks, which were worth an estimated total of $161,175.61, prosecutors said.
As part of her fraud scheme, she also took about $300,000 in short-term loans from the synagogue to offset the synagogue’s account balances each month, according to prosecutors.
She is scheduled to be sentenced July 22 and faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to court records.
Union County is about a 10-mile drive southwest from Newark.
This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 3:25 PM with the headline "Synagogue bookkeeper steals more than $350K from New Jersey congregation, feds say."
