By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A laughing ex-Merrill Lynch broker who bought a Ferrari after scamming the firm out of $780,000 pleaded guilty to grand larceny Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The money represented an advance on his salary, which was paid out before the brokerage discovered that he had lied about his qualifications for the job.
The ex-broker, Steven Mandala, laughed during the proceedings, apparently in delight over the judge's agreement to hand down a lesser sentence, his lawyer said.
Mandala faced three to nine years in prison, but was told by Supreme Court Justice Carol Berkman that he could expect two to six instead. He is to be formally sentenced on June 2.
"He was in a good mood" over the lesser sentence, lawyer Franklin Rothman said of his client's peals of laughter.
Mandala, a Chelsea resident, was hired by the firm on April 24, 2009 and was issued a large advance customarily offered to new hires as an incentive to join the company.
But he was not the hugely successful broker that Merrill Lynch thought it had hired.
Mandala, 29, withdrew $245,580 of the $780,000 advance to pay for the Ferrari and stopped showing up for work within weeks of his hiring, prosecutors said.
He was also received a subsidy for a $4,500-a-month for a condo at 450 W. 17th Street.
Mandala pleaded guilty to grand larceny. He is to be sentenced on June 2.
He must also pay the balance of the restitution he owes, about $360,000.
