An Amityville man was indicted on grand larceny charges for allegedly possessing a nearly $1.7 million U.S. Treasury check and depositing the funds into his business bank account, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced.

Marc Lindor was arraigned on Thursday, April 16, on charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of a forged instrument. He pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on May 18. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

In May 2024, Lindor allegedly illegally obtained a nearly $1.7 million check originally issued to a Brooklyn-based home care agency for a COVID-19-related employee retention tax credit, Donnelly said. The check was fraudulently altered to list Lindor’s own company, Nicolaoca Enterprises, Inc., as the payee, she said.

On May 21, 2024, surveillance video obtained as part of the investigation captured Lindor allegedly handing the altered check to a bank teller in Valley Stream, and it was later revealed through an investigation that the funds were deposited into Lindor’s business account named Nicolaoca Enterprises, Inc., which he opened in January 2024, Donnelly said.

At the time of the deposit, the business account held a negative balance of $77.85, the DA said. Between June 4, 2024, and July 3, 2024, Lindor allegedly withdrew more than $470,000 from the account, she said.

Investigators found that Lindor transferred $220,000 to bank accounts belonging to other people and allegedly withdrew approximately $241,000 in cash and checks at bank branches in Valley Stream and Queens Village in Queens, Donnelly said.

Bank records obtained during the investigation revealed Lindor spent more than $9,000 in just seven days on various expenses, including at BMW, Best Buy, JW Marriott, and on airfare, the DA said.

During that same one-month period, Lindor’s bank conducted a periodic review of his business account to determine whether it was fulfilling its compliance requirements, and following his failure to provide proper proof of address, the bank closed Lindor’s business account around July 10, 2024, Donnelly said.

The bank issued a closeout check for the remaining balance of roughly $1.23 million, she said.

Around July 29, 2024, the U.S. Treasury notified the bank that the original check had been fraudulently altered and initiated a formal reclamation request, to which the bank immediately issued a stop payment order on the closeout check, Donnelly said.

Source: LI Press