NEW YORK - Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau Wednesday announced the indictment of a former project accountant at Tishman Construction Corp. for stealing $2.8 million from the company in a phony invoicing scheme.

John Hoeffner, 47, allegedly forged vendor invoices and altered vendor checks while assigned to the Tishman construction project at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, between March 31, 2006 and May 13, 2008. He was indicted on charges of Grand Larceny, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument and Falsifying Business Records.

As project accountant, Hoeffner was responsible for receiving invoices for payment from vendors and subcontractors, preparing checks for signature by senior Tishman managers, and distributing the checks to the payees. A. Splescia, a Long Island-based surveying company, was a legitimate vendor providing work and services on the Albert Einstein College project.  Hoeffner incorporated a phony company with a similar name, “A.J. Splescian Inc.,” to carry out his scheme.  He systematically faked invoices from A. Splescia and submitted them to Tishman with payment checks to be signed.  Once the checks were issued, he altered them, making them payable to his similarly-named company, and deposited them into accounts that he controlled. 

Hoeffner altered and deposited a total of 99 such checks.  In addition, the defendant altered eight checks issued to a portable toilet vendor, “Mr. John,” adding his own surname “Hoeffner” to the checks so he could deposit them and steal the money. The 107 checks altered and deposited by the defendant totaled $2,801,578.75.

The theft was discovered by a Tishman auditor during a review of the company’s various projects. The auditor noticed a suspicious check for “A. J. Splescian Inc.,” which prompted Tishman to conduct a full-scale review of all invoices and checks from the entire Albert Einstein College project.

Hoeffner, who was arrested on June 13, 2008, is charged with one count of Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class B felony, 10 counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, a class D felony, and 10 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class E felony.

He faces 12½ to 25 years in prison on the class B felony charge, 3 ½ to seven years in prison on each of the class D felony charges, and 2 to 4 years in prison on each of the class E felony charges.