Ex-Controller For Car Dealership Charged In $800K Theft

A warning from a car manufacturer that an Orangeburg car dealership was late in more than $2 million in payments has led to charges that the dealership’s former controller stole more than $800,000 over several years.

Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said Garol Grabbe, 49, of 6 Sergio Court, Chestnut Ridge, has been indicted by a Rockland grand jury on theft and tax fraud charges in connection with the theft of more than $829,000 from daily cash deposits at Bill Kolb Jr. Subaru on Route 303 and the theft of another $8,866 by receiving double pay through manual company checks, payroll checks and direct deposits from 2007 to 2009.

Zugibe said that between January 2005 and February 2009, Grabbe was the controller for Bill Kolb Jr. Subaru and her responsibilities including overseeing the dealership’s finances and all financial records. A notice to the dealership from Subaru of America about more than $2 million in delinquent payments led to an audit by a forensic accountant and a joint investigation by the Rockland County Special Investigations Unit and Orangetown police, Zugibe said.

Zugibe said the investigation has not yet uncovered what Grabbe did with the money stolen from the car dealership. However, Zugibe said it appears that Grabbe acted alone in the thefts.

Grabbe is accused of:

- Two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, class “C” Felonies

- One count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class “D” Felony

- One count of Criminal Tax Fraud in the Third Degree, a class “D” Felony

- One count of Criminal Tax Fraud in the Fourth Degree, a class “E” Felony

- One count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class “E” Felony

The indictment accuses Grabbe of failing to report her extra income to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance for the tax years of 2007 to 2009.

Zugibe said Grabbe faces up to 15 years in state prison, if convicted.