Queens bowling league theft pinned on Manhattan man

A Manhattan man was arrested for allegedly stealing funds from a Queens bowling league this week. Photo by Jon Ross/Flickr

By Jacob Kaye

A Manhattan man stole money from a bank account he was asked to manage and left little to spare for the Queens bowling league that funded it, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.

Robert Vickers, a 59-year-old from Midtown Manhattan, was charged with grand larceny in Queens Criminal Court after he allegedly dipped into funds meant for the 120-member Queens bowling league he served as treasurer for.

Prosecutors pinned the case of the missing funds on Vickers after he was found to have made a number of large purchases and began making gambling trips to New York City and Atlantic City casinos.

According to the charges, Vickers served as the treasurer and secretary of the Ted Guy Memorial Bowling League, which rolls at the JIB Lanes on Parsons Boulevard, during the 2019 through 2020 season.

As per his title, Vickers collected members’ weekly dues – which were supposed to later be used as a cash prize for the league’s winners. He also was supposed to use the funds to cover the league’s expenses, and was expected to make regular deposits into a bank account belonging to the league.

Prosecutors allege that when the pandemic began, the bowlers voted to pay out the prize money to the team that did best in the first half of the season. All the other funds that were expected to be used for future games were to be paid back to the members.

However, Vickers never made the payouts and later told members of the league that the account was frozen.

But prosecutors say that at the time, Vickers was using the money to bankroll personal purchases.

Vickers was arrested in his Manhattan home on Tuesday.

“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,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “The defendant has been apprehended and faces serious charges.”

Vickers was arraigned before Queens County Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino on a 21-count indictment, which included nine counts of grand larceny, eight counts of criminal possession of stolen property, two counts of petty larceny and scheme to defraud charges.

The Manhattan man was ordered to return to court on Dec. 13.

He faces up to 4 years in prison if convicted.