A bankruptcy trustee claims that the controller of a Yonkers construction company pocketed extra money for two years by using an alias.
Brona McNaughton, who is also known as Brona McCarry, was the controller of Cassway Contracting Corp., according to a complaint filed March 1 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, White Plains.
She lives in Yonkers, the Bronx or Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. From March 2020 to July 2022 she was allegedly paid $121,421 in the name Shauna McNaughton, her sister or sister-in-law, according to the complaint, who uses the same addresses and never worked for the company.
The alleged double-dipping scheme is depicted by Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee Deborah J. Piazza, whose job is to liquidate the company and claw back assets that were transferred illegally.
Cassway was a drywall contractor that booked from $30 million to $32 million a year from 2020 to 2021. But the Covid-19 pandemic stopped a lot of projects, disrupted the supply of building materials, and rapidly increased costs, according to a bankruptcy declaration by owner James Cassidy.
He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in March 2022, listing $9.2 million in assets and $9.4 million in liabilities. Six months later the bankruptcy was converted to Chapter 7 liquidation.
From 2020 to 2022, when suspicious payments were issued, Brona McNaughton, aka McCarry, maintained the payroll records and paid company expenses, according to the complaint.
She received $222,305, mostly in bi-weekly consulting fees, and a $40,000 “Christmas” payment more than two months after Christmas 2019.
During the same period, she allegedly received an additional $121,421 in consulting fees and paychecks issued in Shauna McNaughton’s name.
Cassidy and his employees did not know anyone named Shauna McNaugton, the trustee states.
More irregularities were found. Brona used Shauna’s social security number. Employment records list the same email address for both women. Brona was paid as an independent contractor but no IRS W-2 wage and tax statements or 1099 independent contractor forms were issued.
Shauna never worked for Cassway, the complaint states, yet was paid substantial compensation.
Brona received Shauna’s compensation without consent or knowledge of the company, according to the complaint. Cassidy, the president, had entrusted her with the payroll and books but did not monitor her.
Piazza argues that the payments were fraudulent and must be cancelled.
She is demanding “not less than $222,305, and possibly as much as $343,726” from Brona for acts of embezzlement.
Efforts to find contact information for Brona McNaughton, to ask for her side of the story, failed.
