A former credit supervisor at a Melville health care products company was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after prosecutors said he embezzled about $1.6 million and spent the money on his wedding, international vacations and a failed restaurant venture.
Tony Ream, 35, of Greenville, South Carolina, was sentenced Thursday, Sept. 24, in federal court in Central Islip after previously pleading guilty to wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
U.S. District Judge Sanket J. Bulsara also ordered Ream, who also used the names Tony Ream-Hendley and Tony Moul Ream, to pay $1.6 million in restitution to his former employer and a $1,000 fine.
Prosecutors said Ream was hired in 2019 to work in the credit department of a company headquartered in Melville that distributes health care products and services to dental and medical practices. He later became a credit supervisor. Ream worked as a credit supervisor for Henry Schein Inc., the Melville-based health care products distributor, according to published reports.
From approximately October 2020 through November 2024, Ream siphoned money from customer refund accounts, including some inactive accounts, and transferred the funds to bank accounts he controlled, prosecutors said.
Authorities said Ream concealed the scheme by recording the transfers as legitimate customer refunds. He also allegedly directed subordinates to take steps that unknowingly helped facilitate the fraud.
Over the four-year period, Ream transferred approximately $1.6 million from the company, according to prosecutors.
Authorities said he used the stolen money to pay for his wedding, luxury international travel and a restaurant venture in South Carolina that ultimately failed.
“The defendant profited by abusing the trust placed in him by his employer, but his lies and crimes caught up with him,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.
FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr. said Ream used money belonging to his employer and its customers to finance personal purchases.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles P. Kelly of the Eastern District’s Long Island Division.
