WHITE PLAINS – The former treasurer of the Patterson Fire Department has pled guilty to wire fraud and false subscription to tax returns in connection with his embezzlement of more than $1.1 million from the department.
When sentenced next February, Albert Melin, 46, of Patterson, who could face up to 20 years in federal prison.
During his tenure as treasurer, Melin wrote checks to the two businesses he owned and also charged expenses from his companies to the Patterson Fire Department’s debit card. He wrote over 130 fraudulent checks, using the money he stole to make payments on his home mortgage and pay personal expenses including the cost of family vacations.
He failed to report the stolen income on his personal tax return for 2014 and falsely reported some of the embezzled money as revenue on the corporate tax return for one business in an effort to disguise its source.
