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A purchasing secretary pleaded guilty this week to embezzling more than $145,000 over seven years from a Staten Island public school in a deal that will spare her jail time but require full restitution, officials told The Post.
Michele Cenci, who had full access to the checkbook and procurement system at PS 21 Margaret Emery-Elm Park in North Shore, used subterfuge to divert funds to herself and family members, authorities said.
Among devious schemes, Cenci disguised expenditures as payments to vendors for purchases never made, and collected duplicate payments for legitimate purchases, court documents allege.
“Stealing nearly $150,000 in school funds from one of Staten Island’s beloved elementary schools, Michele Cenci brazenly pilfered precious resources away from students and staff, betraying her colleagues, schoolchildren, and our borough,” Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon told The Post.
State Supreme Court Judge Lisa Gray offered Cenci, 55, a plea deal without prison time “over my prosecutor’s objections,” McMahon said.
“While my office fought for even more serious consequences, including imprisonment, for Ms. Cenci’s shameless criminal behavior, the judge’s plea offer ensures some semblance of accountability for her criminal acts as she will be left with a permanent criminal record,” the DA said.
Officials said Cenci used the stolen funds to “supplement” her DOE salary, which totaled $84,950 in 2024, at the expense of PS 21’s 398 students — including 30 percent with disabilities.
Cenci “attempted to avoid detection and cover her tracks by falsifying the school’s business records and used forged signatures of colleagues to make it appear that legitimate goods and services were being provided when, in fact, they were not,” said Anastasia Coleman, Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools, whose office conducted the probe.
“Instead, she was lining her own pockets.”
In January, the DA charged Cenci with two counts of grand larceny – a felony with a maximum prison sentence of five to 15 years — as well as tampering with public records, falsifying business records and forgery.
This week, Cenci pleaded guilty to one count of grand larceny.
In exchange, she will be put on probation for five years, said DA spokesman James Clinton.
Cenci agreed to make an upfront restitution payment of $46,000, then $1,500 a month until her probation ends — “and will be mandated to pay back every dollar and cent she robbed from our students,” McMahon said.
After Cenci’s indictment, SCI Coleman warned against similar fraud elsewhere in the city.
“We ask that all school administrators take the time to review their school’s budget, books and records to ensure that their funds are being allocated appropriately, and that no one else is attempting the same
sort of scheme,” Coleman said.
The city Department of Education would not explain what degree of oversight then-Principal Anthony Cosentino exercised over school finances. Cosentino referred questions about his role to the DOE press office, which said only that supervisors will get training on purchasing procedures.
The DOE said Cenci retired. She did not return a request for comment.
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