Ponzi scheme: Tomaszewski sentenced to prison and nearly $570,000 restitution | Top Story

BATAVIA — Long-awaited justice arrived Wednesday for Michael S. Tomaszewski.

Tomaszewski, 49, was sentenced to two to six years in prison for third-degree grand larceny in connection with the massive fraud he committed at his now-defunct funeral home. He will serve concurrent terms of 1 1/3 to four years each for scheme to defraud and offering a false instrument for filing, along with 364 days for improper burial.

He will also need to pay $569,434.94 in restitution in $2,000 per month installments.

“Michael, you are an embarrassment and disgrace to yourself, your family, your profession, your faith, your community, and your Polish ethnic background,” said one of his victims, Albert Kurek of East Pembroke, before Judge Charles Zambito handed down his sentence in Genesee County Court.

Tomazewski’s case was one of the largest in the county’s history. He was arrested in July 2020 after an investigation revealed a scheme which had been bilking customers over a 12-year period from March 2009 to April 2020.

He cheated his customers by failing to deposit money into clients’ accounts — as required by law — for prepaid funerals, and failing to provide services for which he was paid.

About 30 people attended the sentencing. Many were elderly, using canes and walkers as they approached to give their victim statements.

Kurek noted in his…

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