Defendants face up to 15 years in prison
MINEOLA, N.Y. – Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced the arraignment today of two men accused of defrauding an in-home health care agency by creating false invoices for consulting services and routing the payments to a company owned by one of the defendants.
Ryan Rudnet, 41, of Oyster Bay, and Robert Trinagel, 47, of Dix Hills, surrendered this morning to NCDA Investigators. The two men were arraigned by Nassau County District Court Judge Darlene Harris on charges of Grand Larceny in the 2nd Degree (a C felony) and seven counts of Falsifying Business Records in the 1st Degree (an E felony). Rudnet was charged with an additional count of Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree (a D felony), related to an additional theft of funds from the agency.
If convicted of the top charge, they face a maximum sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison.
The men were ordered to surrender their passports by Judge Harris and were released on their own recognizance. They are due back in court on Nov. 5.
“The defendants are accused of an elaborate fraud, in which they stole more than $300,000 over the course of three years from a company that served patients who needed in-home health care services,” Acting DA Singas said. “These defendants were in positions of trust and allegedly abused that trust, using the ill-gotten gains to pay for their own personal expenses.”
Acting DA Singas said that an employee of a home health care agency doing business in Nassau County discovered in May 2015 that a number of payments were made to a company called Rovick88, Inc. Rudnet, as director of finance for the agency, approved payments for bogus consulting services on invoices submitted by Trinagel, who owned Rovick88.
Trinagel, then a senior vice president at a Nassau County insurance company, and Rudnet, stole approximately $318,000 from March 2012 through April 2015. Trinagel’s actions were unrelated to his employment at the insurance company and were unknown by the company.
Rudnet, whose share of the stolen proceeds was approximately $236,000, used the money for personal expenses such as mortgage payments, medical bills, landscaping services, pool expenses, education tuition, sports equipment, restaurants and vacations, and cash withdrawals. Trinagel allegedly used his share of the stolen funds, approximately $82,000, for personal expenses such as cash withdrawals, construction expenses, credit card payments and mortgage payments.
To date, the in-home care agency has received restitution for the theft through a $150,000 payment made by its insurer with the balance already being paid by defendant Trinagel. In addition, Trinagel has entered into an agreement with the insurer for repayment of the $150,000.
Assistant District Attorney Marshall Trager, Bureau Chief of Acting DA Singas’ Government and Consumer Frauds Bureau, is prosecuting the case. Rudnet is represented by Scott Limmer, Esq. and Trinagel is represented by Mitchell Birzon, Esq.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.