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Phantom Vendors Scammed Bronx School Out of $173,000 

Bronx Voice 

December 4, 2024

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BRONX - A school employee and two others were charged with fraud, corruption and grand larceny as part of an alleged scheme in which phantom vendors were paid $173,000 for non work, prosecutors said. The defendants are accused of using the funds earmarked for students for “swag” clothing such as sweatshirts, shorts, t-shirts, and jackets.

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District Anastasia Coleman announced that a NYC public school employee, her husband and another person have been indicted on corruption, grand larceny, and fraud charges for stealing over $173,000 from a Bronx middle school’s funds. 

“While working at Middle School 302 in Longwood, the defendant allegedly stole much-needed funds from the school in a fraud scheme that lasted four years, enriching herself, her husband, and her friend,” Clark said. “It is unconscionable that they would deprive children in this way.”

   

Special Commissioner Anastasia Coleman said, “As alleged, this fraud, over a period of years, drained MS 302 of tens of thousands of dollars earmarked for City students.  There can be no place in our society for those who would brazenly steal the limited resources allocated for our students and their families, and there can be no tolerance for this type of fraud within the New York City school system. I would like to thank our partners at the Bronx DA’s office, especially those from the Financial Frauds Bureau, for their efforts and assistance in this matter.”

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Clark said the defendants -- Rusnelly Clase, 40, of Main Street, Yonkers, a Community Associate at MS 302, the Luisa Dessus Cruz School, in Longwood; Clase’s husband, Justin Echevarria, 37, and Lisa Michelle Geraldino, 36, of Van Buren Street, Brooklyn, an acquaintance of Clase—were arraigned today on a 296-count indictment by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Brenda Rivera. The defendants were released on supervised release. They are due back in court on January 28, 2025.

The indictment charges Clase with first-degree Corrupting the Government, second-degree Grand Larceny, Public Corruption, and multiple counts of first-degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing, first-degree Falsifying Business Records, second-degree Forgery. 

Echevarria, and Geraldino are each charged with second-degree Corrupting the Government, second-degree Grand Larceny, and multiple counts of first-degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing, first-degree and second-degree Falsifying Business Records.

According to the investigation, from 2018 through February of 2022, Clase, a community coordinator for over 10 years who had access to the school’s procurement and accounting systems, allegedly used her position to register each of her co-conspirators as a non-contracted vendor for the New York City Department of Education (DOE).

According to the investigation, over the course of approximately four years, Clase allegedly filed a substantial number of fraudulent vendor invoices, along with falsified purchase orders for “swag” clothing such as sweatshirts, shorts, t-shirts, and jackets. 

Clase then allegedly used unauthorized access to approve the invoices and trigger the payment of over $90,000 of funds to be directed to Echevarria and over $75,000 to be directed to Geraldino. The co-conspirators allegedly “kicked back” a portion of the money to Clase. Ultimately, no items were ever delivered.

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.