Posted on: April 14, 2026 02:30 PM

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California woman indicted for more than USD3 5m theft from Hempstead union free school district

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a California woman was indicted on grand larceny charges for allegedly stealing $3.5 million from the Hempstead Union Free School District in 2024.

Donna Eckert, 66, of Escondido, CA, was arraigned today before Judge Terence Murphy on grand jury indictment charges of Grand Larceny in the First Degree (a B felony) and Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a C felony).

The defendant pleaded not guilty and bail was set at $25,000 cash, $50,000 bond, and $150,000 partially secured bond. She is due back in court on April 21, 2026. If convicted, the defendant faces up to 25 years in prison.

“This defendant made no attempts to return the millions of dollars that were wrongfully transferred into an account she controlled,” DA Donnelly said. “Instead, she made multiple cash withdrawals for her own personal use, siphoning away educational resources meant for our students. This case highlights how easily a compromised email account can go undetected. The best defense to protect yourself and your business is by confirming any change in payment information via a direct phone call to a known, trusted contact.”

DA Donnelly said that, according to the investigation, on February 14, 2024,   the IT department at a local Hempstead K-12 public charter school discovered that their finance director’s email account had been compromised and a forged email, mimicking the address of the finance director, had been sent to the Hempstead Union Free School District (“Hempstead UFSD”).

According to the investigation, on January 29, 2024, the Hempstead UFSD received the email from the mimicked address requesting electronic funds be paid to a new bank account under the name “DME Unlimited.”

On January 31, 2024, the Hempstead UFSD transferred approximately $3.5 million to the DME Unlimited account, believing it belonged to the local charter school.

The investigation determined that the business account in fact belonged to the defendant, Donna Eckert.

Two days later, on February 2, 2024, surveillance video obtained as part of the investigation captured Eckert allegedly retrieving cash from a bank teller in Escondido, CA. Bank records also obtained showed $25,000 was withdrawn from the DME Unlimited account.

Later that same day, Eckert, at another bank in San Marcos, CA, was allegedly captured on surveillance video handing cash to a bank teller at that location. Bank records revealed the $25,000 was deposited into her personal bank account that day.

On February 5, 2024, Eckert was again seen on surveillance video at the bank in Escondido, CA, where bank records showed she allegedly withdrew $313,000 from her DME Unlimited account.

The defendant then allegedly went back to the bank in San Marcos and handed a check to the bank teller in the amount of $313,000 to be deposited via cashier’s check into her personal bank account.

According to the investigation, between those two transfers, Eckert allegedly withdrew a total of $338,000 of the approximately $3.5 million wrongfully deposited into the DME Unlimited account from the Hempstead UFSD and deposited those funds into her own personal bank account.

The defendant was arrested by the Escondido Police Department in Escondido, CA on March 10, 2026, and extradited back to New York on April 1, 2026, by members of the Nassau County Police Department Fugitive Squad.

From DA