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Mark Ripolone, who has owned several business in Montauk over the years, pleaded guilty to grand larceny in a scheme in which he embezzled $400,000 from customers and a payroll company that worked with his businesses. KYRIL BROMLEY
Mark Ripolone. SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
A Montauk businessman has pleaded guilty to grand larceny in connection with what the Suffolk County district attorney’s office says was a yearslong scam that netted $400,000 from customers of his local companies and a payroll service that they contracted with.
Mark Ripolone, 36, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, October 24, to five felony counts of grand larceny and is expected to be sentenced to 840 hours of community service and five years of probation. He will have to pay $143,379 in restitution to victims by the time of his sentencing, which has not been scheduled yet.
Ripolone was indicted in May following an investigation by the DA’s office and the East Hampton Town Police, Sag Harbor Village Police and New York State Police into Ripolone’s actions regarding 123 Delivery, a now-defunct food delivery service, and Hampton Management Group, which organized rentals of beach chairs and evening beach bonfires for customers paying upward of $1,000 for concierge beach services.
In his guilty plea, Ripolone admitted to using bank account information submitted by customers of the two companies to steal at least $225,000 from customers’ accounts to pay for his own personal expenses, including credit card bills, his mortgage and cellphone bills.
He also admitted to a second scheme through which he embezzled $160,000 in payroll funds intended for his employees that he transferred into a personal bank account and then never reimbursed the payroll company from the businesses’ revenues.
The two schemes stretched from 2018 to 2021. Ripolone was initially arrested by Sag Harbor Village Police in 2022.
In addition to the two companies involved in the scheme, Ripolone is also an owner of Ditch Plains Taxi.
The DA’s office said that the conditions of the plea agreement require that he pay the $143,000 in restitution before his sentencing or face two to six years in prison. The judge in the case, County Court Judge John Collins, is expected to require Ripolone to do the 840 hours of community service as an alternative to a six-month jail sentence for the larceny schemes.
Michael Wright on Oct 24, 2023