BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A former office manager from Depew will spend time behind bars after stealing more than $719,000 from her employer.
A judge sentenced 59-year-old Camille Pirrone-Hess to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison Monday for Grand Larceny.
June Brennan says she and her husband trusted Camille Pirrone-Hess. They hired her about eight years ago to be the office manager of their family company. But when they decided to sell it, they noticed something strange
You can watch our full story with the business owners below.
Between 2016 and 2023, Pirrone-Hess was working as an office manager for Lancaster Tanks and Steel. During that time, she made more than 2,000 unauthorized purchases with the company card, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The business owners say they first noticed something strange when they decided to sell the company. There was a $400 charge on one of the cards for a cabana at the New York, New York hotel in Las Vegas which the owners had not been to recently. After checking with the hotel, they discovered it was charged to Pirrone-Hess' company card.
After that, the business owners started doing some digging and uncovered other transactions. They found Pirrone-Hess was using the card to pay for vacations, event tickets, donations to charitable causes, her child's college tuition, jewelry, electronics, furniture, utility bills and other personal expenses.
Pirrone-Hess pleaded guilty in May. As a condition of the plea, she signed a confession of judgment to pay full restitution to the victims in the amount of $719,122.41. To date, the district attorney's office says she has not paid back any of that money.
“Today, my office supported the victims and asked the court to impose the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for this outrageous crime," said Acting Erie County District Attorney Mike Keane. "This defendant stole over $700,000 from these victims, causing them life-changing financial harm, and ultimately the sale of their business. Unfortunately, the court imposed a sentence close to the minimum term of incarceration.”
