Former bank office manager spared prison for larceny

Former bank office manager spared prison for larceny
By Matt Gryta
News Staff Reporter

Joseph D. Schneck, a former HSBC back office manager whose gambling addiction lead to him stealing almost $54,000 from the bank, today was spared a prison term by State Supreme Court Justice Penny M. Wolfgang. But the judge barred him from entering any Western New York casinos.

Schneck, 41, of Unionvale Road, Cheektowaga, was placed on probation for the next five years on his Jan. 25 guilty plea to two counts of third-degree grand larceny. Wolfgang also placed him on a government-imposed "exclusion list" that will be posted at local casinos.

Schneck, now working for a relative's construction company, admitted to stealing $53,710.70.

At the request of prosecutors, the judge ordered him to make 120 months of restitution payments of $250 beginning June 1, which would cover $30,000 of his thefts. The judge also fined him $375 in court costs.

Prosecutor Brian P. Dassero said Schneck, an HSBC employee for 18 years before he was fired a year ago, began embezzling funds at the bank's downtown Buffalo office in February 2008 and continuing until January 2010 to cover him gambling losses.

Schneck, who pleaded guilty to the highest counts a grand jury could have lodged against him, did not speak during the sentencing and declined comment afterward.