By Dustin Brown
A former New York Mets employee from Maspeth was arrested earlier this month for allegedly embezzling nearly $15,000 by pocketing cash receipts he collected from Shea Stadium ticket booths, the Queens district attorney said.
Robert Ginter, 27, of 53-146 63rd St., has been charged with third-degree grand larceny and 33 counts of falsifying business records, DA Richard Brown said. He was released on his own recognizance following his Nov. 16 arraignment and faces up to seven years in prison if convicted, the DA said.
When reached at his home Monday evening, Ginter declined to comment on the case against him.
As a part-time employee in charge of advance ticket sales for Sterling Doubleday Enterprises – which owns the New York Mets baseball team – Ginter’s duties included writing out deposit slips for cash receipts he collected from Shea Stadium ticket windows, according to the criminal complaint.
On 33 occasions between March 5 and May 16, however, Ginter allegedly pocketed part of the proceeds, only listing the remainder of the cash on the deposit slip and in the Sterling Doubleday Enterprises records, the DA said.
The pattern apparently began when Ginter collected $1,682 from Shea ticket booths on March 5 but only deposited $782 of it, allegedly keeping the remaining $900 for himself, according to the criminal complaint.
By May 16 he had allegedly pocketed a total of $14,768 via 33 separate thefts, the DA said. Although he had collected $79,521 in cash receipts from advanced ticket sales in that two-month span, he only wrote out deposit slips for $64,753, the complaint indicates.
The criminal complaint further states Ginter made 33 false entries in company records to cover up the thefts.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
