A former NYPD detective who followed up on tips for the department’s Crime Stoppers Unit has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison for his role in a bank fraud scheme that was busted with the help of a tipster.
Detective Michael Bonanno, 45, of Staten Island pleaded guilty to scheming with an old buddy to steal $1.5 million from New Yorkers’ bank accounts through forged checks and account numbers taken through wire transfers and using the money to pay debts and fatten their bank accounts.
Bonanno and his accomplice, longtime pal Domenic Aiello, hatched the fraud scheme after running into each other at a mall on Staten Island after they had lost touch for 20 years and Aiello said he was having money problems.
As part of the scheme, Aiello posed as his dead father at various times while helping to make bank transfers for his rogue NYPD pal, court papers say.
Bonanno had asked Manhattan Federal Judge Paul Gardephe to spare him from jail and sentence him to probation, but the judge said that, despite a clean criminal history, a cop with more than 20 years on the force should have known better.
“He destroyed his reputation, he embarrassed his family and he exposed himself to a felony conviction and prison time — all to what end?” Gardephe said.