Photo Courtesy of Google
During the 2019-2020 bowling season, Vickers was the treasurer and secretary of the “Ted Guy Memorial” League that bowls at JIB Lanes on Parsons Boulevard in Flushing.
By Forum Staff
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Wednesday that Robert Vickers has been indicted by for allegedly stealing dues and prize money from members of a Flushing bowling league in 2020.
Vickers, 59, of West 52nd Street in Manhattan, was arraigned Tuesday before Queens County Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino on a 21-count indictment charging him with nine counts of grand larceny in the fourth degree, eight counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree, scheme to defraud in the first degree and two counts of petit larceny.
According to court records, during the 2019-2020 bowling season, Vickers was the treasurer and secretary of the “Ted Guy Memorial” League that bowls at JIB Lanes on Parsons Boulevard in Flushing. As such, he was responsible for collecting weekly dues from the 120-member League for a prize fund and bowling expenses. Vickers was expected to deposit the dues into a bank account in the League’s name, and, based on League standings at the close of the season, to disperse the prize monies to members.
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia/Tim Emerich
Records indicate that Vickers used league funds to make expensive purchases and gamble at casinos in NYC and Atlantic City, N.J.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the 2019-20 bowling season to prematurely end on March 11, 2020, team captains voted to pay out prize monies based on the team and individual standings for the first half of the season, and to return dues that had been paid in advance of the canceled games. Since that vote, team captains reported that Vickers had failed to pay out their team members, and Vickers claimed his account was frozen.
Records indicate that Vickers used league funds to make expensive purchases and gamble at casinos in NYC and Atlantic City, N.J.
Following an investigation and a grand jury indictment, Vickers was arrested Tuesday morning at his home in Manhattan.
District Attorney Katz said, “As alleged, the defendant took advantage of not only his position in the league, but of a global pandemic to line his pockets with funds reserved for official league activities.”
If convicted, Vickers faces up to four years in prison.
