A sex-crazed former bookkeeper for a pricey Time Warner Center sushi joint is going to prison for a year for admittedly embezzling almost $100,000 — and blowing half the money on online sex sites.
Pervy Rafael Thomas stole from Masa restaurant over the course of a year by cashing corporate checks plus giving himself unauthorized vacation pay and an $18,000 raise.
This morning he pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny and falsifying business records before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ronald Zweibel, who said he’d have preferred Thomas serve more time than what prosecutors agreed to.
“I would have liked a more enhanced sentence,” the judge told Thomas.
Thomas sat glumly at the defense table, with his chin resting on his left fist as he admitted to his thefts and records-fudging.
Asked if he was pleading guilty because he is in fact guilty, Thomas sounded resigned as he answered, “Yes, I am.”
“It appeared the defendant spent $52,000 on live Internet adult entertainment,” assistant district attorney Jose Fanjul had said in court after Thomas’s mid-January arrest.
Under today’s plea deal, a judgement was entered against Thomas for just over $100,000, a sum that includes surcharges and penalties. Any assets he acquires in the future will be garnished until that sum is paid, said his court-appointed lawyer, Eric Orzick.
“I don’t think he has any assets now,” the lawyer said. With good behavior and factoring in time served, Thomas could be sprung in half a year.
Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance took the opportunity of Thomas’ plea to remind business owners to keep vigilant watch over finances.
“For more than a year, this defendant siphoned money off the very books he was responsible for maintaining,” Vance said in a written, post-plea statement.
“This case, like so many others in which workers take advantage of their employers, should serve as a reminder to business owners to regularly review their finances to prevent theft and fraud by insiders,” he said.