Jan. 10, 2019 By Christian Murray
A 37-year-old Manhattan woman was indicted Wednesday for allegedly stealing $35,000 in insurance payments from a dental practice located at 39-01 Main St. in 2017.
Katerin Rochet, who was hired by Flushing Dental Group as an office manager, allegedly forged her employer’s business records and then opened up several bank accounts–claiming that she was the president.
She funneled insurance money through those business accounts between January and May 2017, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office. The money would then be transferred to her mother’s personal bank account.
“The defendant, who was a trusted employee, used her position to steal from the people who gave her a job,” said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown in a statement. “This kind of brazen thievery will not be tolerated.”
Rochet was arrested and arraigned on a nine-count indictment charging her with third-degree grand larceny, first-degree falsifying business records, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and second-degree identity theft.
Her bail was set at $25,000 and she has been ordered to return to court on March 14. If convicted, she faces between three and a half to seven years in prison.