NEW YORK UPDATE ON COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM PARTNERS TRUST BANKpressconnects.com | 02/16/05 | News StoryPartners Trust exec accused of computer theft
Police: Desktops sold on eBay
BY JIM WRIGHT
Press & Sun-Bulletin

BINGHAMTON -- A Broome County banking executive is accused of stealing computers from the city bank where he worked and selling them on the Internet, city police detectives said.

Joseph M. Shay, 24, of Lewis Road in Binghamton, was arraigned Tuesday in city court on a felony charge of third-degree criminal possession of stolen property. He was released by the court Tuesday.

Police said Shay, vice president of accounting at Partners Trust, had as many as 10 desktop computers that belonged to the downtown Binghamton bank. Six of them had been sold over eBay during the past few days, Binghamton Police Bureau detective Sgt. Arnold P. Nanni said.

The investigation leading to the charge was undertaken by the bank's securities division and Binghamton detectives. Police said eBay guidelines allowed them to check the seller's background. The check turned up Shay, who was listed as a bank employee, Nanni said.

Six of the computers were seized Friday when the Binghamton Police Bureau executed a search warrant on Shay's vehicle in the bank parking lot, Nanni said. The seventh computer was seized Monday when another search warrant was executed at his home, police said.

The six computers seized Friday were boxed and ready to be shipped to their purchasers, Nanni said.

Shay had no listed telephone number and could not be reached for comment. Stephen P. Mahler, vice president of marketing and public relations at Partners Trust, declined comment Tuesday evening.

Police declined to say how the computers were removed from the second floor of the building at 99 Hawley St. Because of his position, Shay had access to the building where they were located, police said.

Partners Trust merged last year with BSB Bank & Trust of Binghamton. The location where the computers had been kept wasn't being used by the bank because the entire department had moved to the Utica area, Nanni said.

An audit of the bank's equipment at its downtown locations was being undertaken Tuesday to assure nothing else was missing, Nanni said.