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Employee In Westchester Sentenced In $231K Car Part Scam

A former employee of a Westchester auto dealership is going to spend a year behind bars after concocting an elaborate scheme to defraud his employer by stealing auto parts and selling them off for a profit online.

John Labarbera

John Labarbera

Photo Credit: Westchester County District Attorney's Office

Poughquag resident John Labarbera, 50, has been sentenced to a year in Westchester County Jail and must pay back more than $225,000 after pleading guilty to a grand larceny charge earlier this year for his scheme that lasted nearly four years while he was a parts manager at Curry Acura in Greenburgh.

Labarbera admitted to convincing management of the dealership to sell auto parts on eBay and, with the consent of the dealership, set up an account to sell those parts. 

Unbeknownst to ownership, Labarbera set up a second account, where he sold parts that he stole from the dealership. The scheme began in May 2011 and lasted through March 2015.

Labarbera would steal the parts, sell them on his second account, and ship them to his buyers using the dealership’s FedEx Ground account. He then accepted payments through PayPal and kept the money to himself. Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino, Jr. said that Labarbera “manipulated the inventory and accounting system of the dealership to cover up his crimes.”

In total, Labarbera stole $231,317.26, which he must pay back to the dealership. As of July 12, when he was sentenced, Labarbera had paid back $115,658.63.

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