What to Know
- Rosemarie Bader, 51, allegedly used her charter bus company's credit card to steal $1 million worth of amusement park tickets
- From January 2014 to November 2016, she allegedly fraudulently bought 23,136 tickets to Dorney Park and 13,102 tickets to Six Flags
- The company fired her in October 2016 after learning of the alleged scam
A Staten Island woman has been indicted for allegedly stealing more than $1 million worth of Six Flags and Dorney Park tickets using a credit card belonging to the Brooklyn-based charter bus company where she worked.
Rosemarie Bader, 51, was fired by Best Trails and Trail Corporation (BTTC), based in Red Hook, Brooklyn, in October 2016 once the company learned of the alleged scam, prosecutors said.
BTTC offers private and corporate charter bus packages to a variety of locations, including regional amusement parks, and often includes admission to the destinations. Bader, a 16-year employee of BTTC, was most recently employed as the sales director and as such, solely managed and coordinated the various amusement park trip packages BTTC offered to its clientele, according to the indictment unsealed by the Brooklyn district attorney's office Wednesday.
Prosecutors say she was authorized to use the company's American Express card and ordered tickets from the amusement parks, took delivery of the tickets and secured the tickets in a safe to which she alone had access. Between January 2014 and November 2016, Bader allegedly used that credit card to pay for more than 36,000 tickets to Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, and Dorney Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that were not part of any BTTC packages but were redeemed.
Bader allegedly intercepted UPS and Federal Express deliveries and stored the tickets in a personal safe under her desk to which only she had access.
"The vast majority of the tickets the defendant allegedly over-ordered and possessed were never used to fulfill BTTC’s bus-and-ticket packages, nor were the unused and unauthorized tickets returned to the amusement parks for refund, as was the company’s usual practice," the indictment alleged. "Rather, the defendant kept those tickets for her own use without authorization of BTTC."
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BTTC caught on to the alleged scheme in 2016 when a corporate accounting revealed company ticket orders to the two parks far exceeding the actual bus seats available through company run trips during those time periods. In total, Bader allegedly used the company card to fraudulently buy 23,136 tickets to Dorney Park and 13,102 tickets to Six Flags.
Bader faces multiple counts of grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. She was ordered held on bail of $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count against her. Attorney information wasn't immediately available.
