A suburban New York woman admitted to stealing another person’s identity in order to scam more than $180,000 from the Jewish National Fund.

Marie Augustin, 42, of Westbury, Long Island, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Nassau County Court to third-degree larceny and first-degree identity theft, the The Associated Press reported.

Prosecutors said Augustin used a fake driver’s license in another person’s name and opened several bank accounts in the names of companies contracting with the Israel charity in order to cash checks stolen from the group’s office in Rockville Centre, L.I.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Augustin first came to the attention of authorities when she deposited a stolen check for $71,239.24 and then tried to withdraw the cash from the account.

She deposited two other large checks into other fake accounts, according to the Nassau County District Attorney. The identity theft victim had no ties to the JNF, the district attorney said, according to Long Beach Patch.

Augustin is expected to be sentenced on Sept. 29 to two consecutive terms of nine months in jail and required to pay $180,577.48 to the JNF.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount