PRESIDENT OF AUTISM CHARITY CHARGED WITH ALLEGEDLY DEFRAUDING LOCAL BUSINESSES

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced the arrest of Gregory Vasicek, 59, President of the Queens-based charitable organization Play4Autism. The defendant is accused of committing a Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, for promising to pay thousands of dollars to various vendors for goods and services for which he never paid.

“This defendant allegedly took advantage of the goodwill and generosity of Suffolk County residents to benefit himself,” said District Attorney Tierney. “My office is committed to prosecuting all those who steal, but thefts committed under the guise of a charity to benefit autistic children are particularly loathsome.”

According to the complaint, between April 21, 2022 and May 2, 2022, the defendant wrote numerous checks from the charity’s bank account to vendors, while knowing that the funds in the organization’s account would be insufficient to pay for the services and property being purchased. Among the victims of Vasicek’s scheme were a golf course and restaurant in Manorville and an amusement park in Melville. Despite repeated attempts to obtain payment from the defendant by these vendors, Vasicek never paid for the goods and services provided to him.

According to court filings, Vasicek fraudulently solicited and received hundreds of dollars in registration fees from donors for a golf outing that he represented would occur at the Manorville golf course on October 19, 2022. No such outing was ever scheduled to take place on that date, or any subsequent date at that location.

In addition to the charge of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, the defendant is also charged with three counts of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, one count of Theft of Services, one count of Scheme to Defraud in the Second Degree, and two counts of Petit Larceny.

Vasicek was arraigned in First District Court in Central Islip on November 9, 2022, in front of the Honorable Judge Eric Sachs and was released on his own recognizance. His next scheduled court date is November 28, 2022.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Stuart P. Levy of the Public Corruption Bureau.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office is asking anyone who suspects that they may have been defrauded by Vasicek or his charity to come forward and report such matters to our office at (631) 853-4626.

###

Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

725 Veterans Memorial Highway ● Building 77 ● Hauppauge, NY 11788 ● 631.852.3185

SuffolkCountyNY.gov/DA ● twitter.com/RayTierneyDA ● instagram.com/RayTierneyDA