A Mount Vernon cop who was hailed as a hero for helping pluck a family from a house fire last year is now charged with scamming an Alabama company out of $800,0000, Westchester County prosecutors said.
Brandon Hunter-Carney, 26, was charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property Wednesday for allegedly creating a phony company to cash a hefty check made out to an Alabama company with the same name — and has been suspended without pay.
“The defendant stole over $800,000 from an unsuspecting business as part of a brazen check-fraud scheme,” Westchester DA Susan Cacace said in a statement.
“This is totally unacceptable and represents a serious breach of trust by an individual who would later swear an oath to uphold the laws of this state,” she said. “My message to the Westchester community is this: No one is above the law. No one is above accountability.”
According to prosecutors, Hunter-Carney somehow got a hold of a check for $800,160 made out to an Alabama company named Electric Controls and Systems, Inc., in January 2023.
He then allegedly registered a company by the same name in New York state and listed himself as the sole officer of the company, according to a criminal complaint.
Hunter-Carney then cashed the check in his company’s name and pocketed the cash, the DA said.
The alleged scam marks a fall from grace for the cop, who earned praise last year when he jumped into a burning house on North Macquesten Parkway in the Westchester County city, WPIX-11 reported.
“That’s when I climbed to the porch level of the house,” the he told the outlet at the time.
He was arraigned in Mount Vernon City Court on Wednesday and released without bail, and is now due back in court on May 13, prosecutors said.