Former Treasurer of Firemen’s Organization Arraigned for Stealing Funds

The former treasurer of a firemen’s group was arraigned  on charges he embezzled $490,000 from the non-profit organization over a ten-year period. 

John Shellock, 84, of Westbury, was arraigned before Judge Madeleine Petrara-Perrin on one count of second-degree grand larceny, a Class C felony. Shellock was released to pre-trial services.  If convicted, he faces up to five to 15 years in prison. He is due back in court on August 15, 2024.

Shellock was the treasurer of the Carle Place Volunteer and Exempt Firemen’s Benevolent Association since the early 1990s, and was responsible for the checking account and investment  account of the organization. The Benevolent Association provides relief, aid, and financial  assistance to disabled or indigent members of the Carle Place Fire Department, in addition to  providing funds for deceased members’ funerals. 

According to the Benevolent Association’s bylaws, for checks to be written from the organization’s checking account, two signatures are required — the treasurer’s signature, along with  that of the president or vice president. 

Between January 2013 and September 2023, Shellock allegedly used his access to the Benevolent  Association’s bank accounts to write checks to himself, forging the required co-signature. 

Shellock allegedly deposited many of the checks he wrote to himself into a Bank of America account he opened for the Benevolent Association that was not known to current leadership. He would then write checks to himself from that account and cash those checks with a Capital One  bank, where he had a personal account. He also allegedly wrote checks to credit card companies  to pay his personal bills. 

Throughout the course of the alleged scheme, he stole approximately $490,000 from the Benevolent Association. 

On October 10, 2023, the President of the Carle Place Volunteer & Exempt Firemen’s Benevolent  Association contacted the Nassau County Police Department alleging that Shellock had embezzled  funds from the organization. NCDA then opened a formal investigation. 

Shellock surrendered to NCDA Detective Investigators on August 7, 2024.  

“For three decades this defendant was entrusted with securing the Carle Place Firemen’s  Benevolent Association’s financial health and ensuring firefighters and their families were  provided relief at their most difficult moments,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne

Donnelly. “But for the last ten years, John Shellock allegedly treated the organization’s coffers  like a personal checking account, writing checks to himself and paying off credit card debts,  stealing a total of nearly half a million dollars of their funds while undermining the Benevolent  Association’s mission.”