BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Former Jericho Road employee has pleaded guilty to theft of over $580,000 from a government program.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said 29-year-old Dejan Karlovic of Amherst pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy to the theft and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, between January and March 1, 2024, Jericho Road, which operates the Jericho Road Community Health Center, received more than $10,000 in federal grants and funding. Karlovic was employed as a Senior Grants Accountant and acted as a liaison between the program and finance side of Jericho Road. Karlovic had access to several Jericho Road commercial credit cards and other financial accounts.
Investigators said Between March 1 and June 26, 2024, Karlovic stole or intentionally converted $584,884.99 that belonged to Jericho Road by submitting fake invoices from a company called “D and D” and made them appear as expenses related to moving and relocation, a service Jericho Road provides to its clients. Karlovic then paid the fake invoices using a Jericho Road commercial credit card.
In July 2024 we spoke to leaders at Jericho Road about the theft.
"He is someone I'd known in the community," said Dr. Myron Glick, Founder and CEO of Jericho Road. "It's personal, not just because of my role in leading Jericho, because this is a family who in some ways grew up at Jericho."
"After an internal investigation, our team notified law enforcement and financial institutions of what seemed to be financial malfeasance," said Glick.
Glick said it would not impact the work they do and the team was putting policies in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.
