Thursday, October 1, 2026
A Rockville Centre man pleaded guilty on Oct. 9 to stealing more than $429,000 from the company where he was employed as the chief financial officer after he used the cash to finance trips, car payments, thousands of dollars in gift cards and payments to two girlfriends.
Christopher Cortese, 57, pleaded guilty as charged to second-degree grand larceny. District Attorney Kathleen Rice’s office said it will recommend 2 to 6 years in prison and $429,555.84 in restitution at his Dec. 6 sentencing. Judge Philip Grella of Nassau County Supreme Court gave a commitment of 1-1/2 to 4-1/2 years in prison plus restitution to be determined by the Nassau County Probation Department.
“Mr. Cortese stole almost half a million dollars in order to enrich his lifestyle and give away what didn’t belong to him,” Rice said in a release. “White-collar crimes like these hurt our economy and victimize the innocent employees of companies that are defrauded.”
Rice said that Cortese was employed by Kainos Partners Holding Company, LLC, a corporation that has owned and operated more than 50 Dunkin Donuts franchises, as its chief financial officer since May 2005. Kainos began investigating Cortese in 2009 after discovering a number of financial irregularities, including $53,500 for a home office, $60,000 in gift cards and more than $100,000 in trips, meals and other expenses.
In addition, Cortese hired two girlfriends as consultants, funneling $110,000 to one woman for information technology services that were never performed. Another girlfriend received $20,000 for services never performed. Cortese was fired by Kainos on Feb. 4, 2009.
