Justice Served On Embezzling GM
• In a follow-up to a story RAMP reported last November, Stephanie McNamara Bitis, the former GM of Long Island Radio Broadcasting LLC (LIRB) was sentenced Friday to 15 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $302,585.01 in restitution for using a company credit card without authorization to pay for personal luxuries such as boat maintenance and a Caribbean vacation.
Here’s some background: Bitis served as VP/GM of LIRB — which includes Eastern Long Island Triple A simulcast 92.9/96.9 WEHM/WEHN, AC WBAZ and Top 40 WBEA (101.7 The Beach) from 2015-2017. Following several years of lackluster financial results, she was terminated. A suspicious wire transfer later caused LIRB owner Lauren Stone (pictured, below) to review the company’s American Express statements for the preceding six months. After noticing several charges that appeared fraudulent, Stone engaged an outside law firm to conduct an investigation into the radio stations’ financials. That investigation revealed the shocking truth — Bitis, who had been paid $150,000 per year as GM, had charged hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal expanses on LIRB’s corporate American Express card, including a family vacation to Aruba, personal visits to the orthodontist, boat maintenance and fuel and even tax services for delinquent personal income tax payments. Bitis then concealed her fraud by submitting falsified documents to LIRB’s accountant, going as far as to create her own bogus American Express statements, removing vendors such as her orthodontist to hide the personal charges.
In October 2020, the government charged Bitis with felony Access Device Fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of imprisonment of 15 years and a fine of up to $250,000. A a November plea hearing, Bitis admitted to her crimes.
As Newsday reports, last Friday Bitis paid $125,000 of the restitution — $52,585.01 to Long Island Radio Broadcasting and $72,414.99 to Granite State Insurance Company, which had paid a claim related to Bitis’ theft to LIRB. Bitis made the payment by mortgaging her home. In a statement to RAMP, LIRB owner Lauren Stone commented, “Long Island Radio Broadcasting is pleased that today justice was served with the court’s sentence of Defendant Stephanie Bitis. Although LIRB is still picking up the pieces of the mess that was left as a result of the defendant’s fraud and embezzlement, we are hopeful that we can overcome these obstacles and continue to serve the needs of Long Island’s East End.” [Radio station photo from Newsday]
