IG: State workers stole more than $62K from cystic fibrosis fund

Two local state workers were arrested Wednesday morning at their jobs for stealing than $62,000 from a fund for cystic fibrosis patients, state Inspector General Joseph Fisch announced Thursday.

Thirty-four-year-old Erin Sherman-Rohl, of West Sand Lake, and 51-year-old Sheldon Jacobson, of Rotterdam, admitted to stealing the money from New York's Adult Cystic Fibrosis Assistance Program.

The stolen money accounted for more than 10 percent of the program's annual budget, said the IG's office.

The pair stole the money in the period between May 2007 through August 2008 while Sherman-Rohl worked for Health Research, Inc., a not-for-profit organization affiliated with the state Health Department on Broadway in Menands, said the IG's office.

Sherman-Rohl, who processed claims, listed Jacobson as a medical care recipient so she could reimburse him with more than a dozen payments totaling $62,383. Jacobson cashed the checks and the two split the money, according to investigators.

The two had met while working at a group home in Albany County, and each were apparently thousands of dollars in debt.

The theft was discovered after Sherman-Rohl left health Research for a new job in September as a disability analyst at the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

The day after she left, a Department of Health employee discovered there were no vouchers to back up Jacobson's claims to the money. The IG was contacted directly afterward.

"This employee was tasked with getting needed funds to provide for severely ill patients," said state health commissioner Richard Daines, M.D. "Instead she violated the public trust. We will not and cannot tolerate this kind of conduct in this Department."

Sherman-Rohl faces felony charges of grand larceny, computer tampering, forgery, offering a false instrument for filing and defrauding the government. Jacobson is charged with grand larceny.