The president of the Dix Hills Soccer Club was charged Wednesday with embezzling more than $70,000 from the club.
District Attorney Ray Tierney said that Matthew Dickson, 44, of Dix Hills, was indicted for Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, for allegedly embezzling more than $70,000 from the Dix Hills Soccer Club while he held the positions of vice president and president of the club.
“Hundreds of children and their families join the Dix Hills Soccer Club every year to be a part of the community, make friends, and learn how to play soccer,” Tierney said. “It is
a shame that anyone would want to jeopardize that rite of passage by exploiting their position of trust to steal from those same kids and their families.”
The ditrict attorney’s office said that between April and November 2022, Dickson was responsible for paying the club’s bills. During that time, Dickson held the position of vice president, and then later, president, of the soccer club. Instead of paying the expenses, Dickson allegedly began writing checks to himself and to his corporation from the soccer club’s account without the board of directors’ permission.
Further investigation revealed that the defendant allegedly collected payments from club members through his personal Venmo account for soccer-related events, which he did not then deposit into the club’s bank account. Additionally, he failed to reimburse the club for expenses that he allegedly charged on the Dix Hills Soccer Club’s credit card.
Dickson was arraigned Wednesday on the indictment charging him with one count of grand larceny in the second degree. Dickson was ordered to be released on his own recognizance.
He is due back in court on April 12.
This case is being prosecuted by Adriana Noyola of the Financial Crimes Bureau with investigative assistance from Detective Investigator Daniel Ayrovainen of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office’s Financial Crimes Bureau.