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Head Cashier at DOB Indicted for Stealing $68,000, DOI Says

By Trevor Kapp | September 16, 2014 6:07pm
 Charise Brody, the former head cashier at the DOB's Manhattan office, allegedly stole $68,000 over a four-year span, according to the Department of Investigation.
Charise Brody, the former head cashier at the DOB's Manhattan office, allegedly stole $68,000 over a four-year span, according to the Department of Investigation.
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MIDTOWN — The former head cashier at the Department of Buildings’ Manhattan office stole $68,000 in city funds over a four-year span by canceling code violation payments for routine infractions and then pocketing the cash, the Department of Investigation said Tuesday.

Charise Brody, 44, allegedly canceled payments from customers between January 2008 and July 2012 to clear hazardous violations and schedule elevator inspections, among other things, when the payments should not have been voided, the DOI found. A subordinate reported the questionable transactions and the Department of Buildings launched an investigation, a DOB spokesman said.

Brody, who worked for the DOB for 20 years, is charged with grand larceny and could serve 15 years in jail if convicted, according to the DOI.

“This city supervisor personally profited by taking advantage of the access and responsibility entrusted to her,” DOI Commissioner Mark Peters said in a statement.

People whose payments were canceled as a result of Brody’s actions never received refunds from the DOB, the DOI said.

The Investigation Department has since recommended implementing an online payment system, improving oversight of cash transactions, counting cash and cancelations of transaction.

“This investigation exposed a number of vulnerabilities that DOI has worked with the Buildings Department to remedy,” Peters said.