A Rockville Centre man was sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation on Tuesday for stealing more than $900,000 from a Great Neck couple, two title insurance companies and the state Department of Labor, according to Nassau County District attorney Kathleen Rice.
Nassau County Judge Christopher Quinn ordered Gerard Timoney, 56 of Rockville Centre, to pay $20,000 in restitutions to the Great Neck couple, Rice said.
“Homeowners should be able to expect that the money set aside for taxes will be used for that purpose, not for their insurance agent’s ill-gotten gain,” Rice said in an e-mail. “With this sentence, this defendant will be held accountable for using homeowners, title insurance companies and taxpayers as his own personal piggy bank.”
Glenn Hardy, Timoney’s attorney, called the sentence a “fair and well negotiated disposition.”
Timoney pleaded guilty in March to two counts each of second and third-degree grand larceny.
The former owner of the insurance company TitleGuard Land Services Inc., Timoney was arrested in September 2012 for stealing $870,000 meant for the recording of deeds and mortgages and recording fees for taxes, Rice said in March.
Audits conducted by Stewart Title Insurance Company and Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company concluded that Timoney failed to pay the $870,000 in fees and taxes and used them for personal expenses, Rice said.
Timoney closed the company in June of 2010 as a result of the misconduct, Rice said.
Timoney was arrested again on Feb. 6 for stealing $37,504 from a Great Neck couple trying to pay property taxes on an Astoria, Queens, property, Rice said.
The couple obtained refinancing on the Queens property in May 2010.
At the closing of the deal, all parties involved in the transaction agreed that the $37,504 would be applied to payment of New York City real estate taxes by TitleGuard on behalf of the couple, Rice said.
The couple discovered in September of that year that the taxes were not paid, according to the release. TitleGuard had gone out of business by that time and the couple filed a complaint with Rice’s office.
After Timoney closed TitleGuard, he applied for unemployment insurance in July 2010, according to Rice, and was denied.
Timoney appealed the ruling in November of that same year and neglected to mention his company had been closed due to criminal misconduct, according to Rice, and received more than $30,000 in unemployment benefits.
The state Department of Labor alerted Rice’s office that Timoney would not be able to receive those benefits, due to his company’s misconduct, Rice said.
