ALBANY — The Albany County District Attorney’s Office announced that Samuel Catalano Jr., 59, of Berlin, pleaded guilty to one count of second degree grand larceny and one count of fourth degree criminal tax fraud in Albany County Court Thursday, July 14.
In 2013, an independent audit of Parker Brothers Memorial Funeral Home in Watervliet uncovered fraudulent entries in the business record books from 2010 to 2013. A state police investigation uncovered that Catalano, with the assistance of co-defendant Mark Fiet, stole large sums of money from the business. The thefts were further covered up with false entries in the business records.
Catalano, who was the director and manager of the rural funeral homes within the business, stole more than $150,000 from the funeral home and failed to report that money as income, resulting in multiple tax law violations. He faces 2-6 years in state prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 22.
Fiet, 64, of Clifton Park, who was the director and office manager of the Watervliet funeral home, previously pleaded guilty to one count of third degree grand larceny and one count of first degree falsifying business records. He faces up to 1-3 years in state prison and will be ordered to pay between $50,000 and $65,000 in restitution when he is sentenced at a later date.
