Former Long Island Radio Broadcasting GM Stephanie McNamara Bitis had her sentencing delayed another month. Attorney’s and the judge in the case spent over an hour going back and forth on restitution, which is in the hundreds of thousands, and still could’nt come up with a number they agreed upon.
McNamara Bitis plead guilty to fraud back in November of 2020. She was accused of using the station AMEX card, for personal use, then covering it up. Her sentencing, originally scheduled for today, had been pushed back to Thursday, and now until June 7th.
McNamara Bitis was GM for Long Island Radio Broadcasting from 2015- 2017. She also worked for CBS Radio.
Long Island Radio Broadcasting owner Lauren Stone says a suspicious wire transfer caused her 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 station’s financials.
Stone says the investigation revealed that McNamara Bits had purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal charges on LIRB’s corporate American Express card. “Among other things, Bitis charged a family vacation to Aruba, personal visits to the orthodontist, boat maintenance and boat fuel and even tax services for delinquent personal income tax payments. She concealed her fraud by submitting falsified documents to LIRB’s accountant. She went so far as to create her own bogus American Express statements, removing vendors such as her orthodontist to hide the personal charges.”
Yesterday Stone told us she’s hopeful justice will be served.
