Huntington developer pleads not guilty to bad-check charge

Embattled Huntington developer Gregory DeRosa pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Friday to a charge alleging that he wrote a $300,000 check knowing the bank account did not have sufficient funds to cover it.

DeRosa, 43, of Oyster Bay, entered his plea before Judge John B. Zollo in First District Court in Central Islip on Friday morning. He is due back in court April 25. 

DeRosa declined to comment after the proceeding. The attorney representing him at the arraignment, Central Islip-based Ira Rosenberg, did not comment.

According to charging documents, DeRosa issued the bad check last June from 36 New York Ave. in Huntington to Joaquin Rosa. DeRosa at one time had office space at that address.

The check was to be drawn from a business account at Webster Bank, the charging document said. Documents say DeRosa wrote the check as a representative of G2D Construction Corp.

DeRosa, named in several lawsuits accusing him of fraud, is founder of G2D Development Group, a real estate investment company.

Rosa, of Farmingville, could not be reached for comment.

According to the charging document, issuing a bad check is a Class B misdemeanor.

Daniel W. Russo, President of the Nassau County Bar Association, said the maximum punishment for a Class B misdemeanor is a maximum of 90 days in jail and/or one year of probation and/or a conditional discharge such as restitution.

“B misdemeanors are the lowest level crime in New York State,” Russo said.

Russo does not represent DeRosa and is not involved in the case.

On March 23, DeRosa was arrested at a Broadhollow Road address in Melville for writing the bad check, according to police, as Newsday previously reported. The arrest, according to the court document, was based in part on Rosa’s sworn testimony given on Dec. 18 last year.

Since last summer, DeRosa has been named in more than a dozen complaints surrounding questionable business practices.

Last month, a Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice granted default judgment and awarded $5.4 million to John Paci III, a real estate investor and former New York Jets backup quarterback who sued DeRosa in September.

The suit said Paci provided $4.6 million to DeRosa to purchase a building at 175 W. Carver St. in Huntington, Newsday previously reported. The suit alleges DeRosa misrepresented the likelihood that United Healthcare would become a tenant for the building.

The suit also said despite having all the funds needed to close on the building, DeRosa took out a $2.5 million purchase-money mortgage on the property, Newsday previously reported.