A Connecticut woman has been charged with stealing checks given as gifts at a Bat Mitzvah at Orienta Beach Club.
Mamaroneck Village Police say Maria Ham-Sagastume, 29, of Norwalk, Connecticut, was seen on surveillance video removing checks several times from a gift box during the event October 18, 2025. Police began investigating after the family reported $1174 in missing checks about a month later.
Ham-Sagastume was working for an outside vendor contracted to cater the event.
As the investigation progressed, detectives uncovered additional thefts of gift checks from Bar Mitzvah events at other venues, including an incident at a country club in Greenburgh, NY. That case involved coordination with the Greenburgh Police Department, and those charges are filed separately.
Detectives from Village of Mamaroneck Police Department took Ham-Sagastume into custody at headquarters Jan. 6, 2026, where she was charged with Grand Larceny in the 4th Degree and released on her own recognizance.