The famend golf teacher who runs Bethpage golf course’s professional store is accusing her former enterprise companion of embezzling greater than $300,000 — then attempting to border others for his crimes, together with a young person with autism and a useless worker.
Kelley Brooke, who was named 2018’s LPGA Skilled of the 12 months, claimed within the lawsuit that the agency’s former vp, Paul O’Donoghue, pocketed a great deal of money throughout his six years managing the professional store at Bethpage State Park Golf Course on Lengthy Island.
The schemes have been innumerable, the lawsuit mentioned, and concerned O’Donoghue using nefarious measures to get his fingers on further dough — comparable to stealing cash from fictitious golf cart rental refunds on the Farmingdale complicated.
“On greater than two thousand events over six years, O’Donoghue pocketed Professional Store money receipts earlier than they have been to be deposited into Bethpage Golf’s checking account,” mentioned the go well with filed Wednesday in Nassau County Supreme Court docket.
O’Donoghue allegedly issued greater than 1,000 money refunds for golf cart rental prospects — “despite the fact that Bethpage Golf had a strict coverage prohibiting money refunds,” the criticism mentioned.
He coated up this path of deceit by creating pretend debits in Bethpage’s point-of-sale system underneath the names of his unwitting staff — together with a young person with autism who labored a spread ball picker machine, the go well with mentioned.
O’Donoghue allegedly nabbed 17 funds that he recorded as have been made by the teenager — despite the fact that the child didn’t have entry to the system or its registers, the lawsuit mentioned.
He additionally pocketed 18 money funds in 2022 and 2023 that have been “made” by an worker who had died the 12 months earlier than; took one other sequence of funds made by somebody who’d left the job in 2020; and different funds he claimed have been made by an out-of-state bookkeeper who by no means truly went to the park, the go well with mentioned.
“On account of O’Donoghue’s fraudulent schemes, involving the theft of greater than 300 thousand {dollars} in money from Bethpage Golf via his recording of false entries within the POS system on greater than two thousand events, Bethpage Golf sustained damages for which it seeks assorted aid,” the go well with mentioned.
A pristine course with 5 18-hole programs, Bethpage has hosted main golf tournaments all through its historical past, together with the US Open. Yearly, gamers compete in about 300,000 rounds of golf on its lush grounds.
Subsequent 12 months, it can additionally host the famed Ryder Cup, a biennial competitors between males’s groups from America and Europe, based on the event’s web site.
Bethpage Golf Group — of which Brooke is president — has run the course’s professional store, its driving vary, golf cart leases and personal instruction choices since January 2018, the go well with mentioned.
However Brooke and O’Donoghue shared the tasks for his or her little empire, with Brooke overseeing the broader operations whereas O’Donoghue supervised the day-to-day issues within the professional store.
The go well with mentioned O’Donoghue was the “sole particular person in possession of the professional store’s every day money receipts,” which enabled him to run his alleged rip-off with out anybody else noticing.
When Brooke regarded again on the funds, nevertheless, she seen a number of “abnormalities” with numerous items of the funds — together with golf cart leases. However the questionable transactions solely appeared to occur on the times O’Donoghue was working, the go well with mentioned.
On about 75 events, O’Donoghue even logged in as Brooke herself to report pretend transactions, the go well with mentioned.
He was even confronted about a few of the points — in late 2023, he allegedly stole greater than $3,000 in cash meant for the caddies.
When somebody requested about it, O’Donoghue acknowledged it and mentioned he’d return the cash — however he by no means did.
One other time, he took $3,000 from the Bethpage Golf protected, however by no means returned it — even after he was confronted concerning the lacking deposit, the go well with mentioned.
He additionally stole different, smaller quantities of money and solid Brooke’s signature a number of instances — together with on a $4,000 test.
Brooke fired him in July, the go well with mentioned.
O’Donoghue didn’t reply to a request for remark Thursday. Brooke declined to remark.
The authorized submitting is the most recent salvo in a brutal civil conflict between the 2 that kicked off earlier this month when O’Donoghue sued Brooke, claiming he owns half of the enterprise — despite the fact that she says he solely owns 30%.
Brooke mentioned she put $2.3 million into Bethpage Golf and that’s why she owned extra of the corporate, based on his lawsuit.
However O’Donoghue claims there’s no proof she ever did that.
Supply hyperlink
