Probation for swindlers at S.I. preschools

A pair of preschool educatorsturned-swindlers who bilked the city of $771,000 meant for Staten Island children with learning disabilities were sentenced to five years’ probation Tuesday after the couple agreed to pay the money back, with interest, officials said.

Dennis Mosesman, 71, and his wife Elsie, 72, of New Jersey, will have to forfeit assets worth $175,000 and then pay an additional $625,000 for a total of $800,000, the Staten Island district attorney’s office said.

Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Alexander Jeong allowed the couple (photo) to skirt jail time as long as they keep their noses clean for the next five years, against the wishes of DA Michael McMahon. “We believe such deplorable crimes deserve nothing short of prison time, but the judge on this case ultimately sentenced the defendants to five years’ probation over the strong objections of my office,” McMahon said. “This husband and wife stole taxpayer money that should have gone to help special-needs children, but instead was spent on their own personal indulgences.”

The Mosesmans, who ran the Gingerbread Learning Center, were indicted on grand larceny charges after a 2016 audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli showed that they stole $771,000 in taxpayer money to create a $150,000-a-year noshow job for Elsie Mosesman and pay for a lavish lifestyle that included home landscaping; car and insurance payments for two Mercedes-Benzes, a Porsche and a Toyota Highlander; flowers, and gift cards.

They also used the money to pay for their cell phone and life insurance bills and go on spending trips at Costco.

At the time of the couple’s arrest, the Gingerbread Learning Center operated two locations on Staten Island with about 100 students.