Joseph Specchio, Montclair State University alumni and former advisor to Sigma Pi’s Iota Iota Chapter was charged with third-degree theft after stealing over 43-thousand dollars from the fraternity. Campus police arrested Specchio on July 30 after evidence showed his use of bad checks and fraudulent use of credit cards in addition to theft.

Being responsible for managing Sigma Pi’s treasury, Specchio stole exactly $43,819.86 from the fraternity over the course of two-and-a-half years.

Giavanna Caratozzolo, a junior English major, was upset by Specchio’s deception.

“He is not following through on the basis on what he supposedly stood for and that’s just upsetting,” Caratozzolo said. “As well as the fact that the act of stealing from the basis of what helps these boys become something greater on a college level is even worse.”

Specchio had linked the fraternity’s funds to his personal Bank of America checking account. There were various money transfers from the Sigma Pi account to his account between February 2016 to December 2018.

Specchio used the fraternity debit card to link to his personal account on a daily basis. The money was used for personal items including goods, services, cash withdrawal, gas and food. Most of the purchases were made near his home or at Montclair State.

Katelyn MacVane, a junior English major, shared her feelings on the matter.

“I think it’s horrible that someone would do this. That money was supposed to go to that fraternity’s funds to be used for important matters,” MacVane said. “I don’t have friends in a sorority or fraternity and I honestly don’t know what they do but I do know that what that guy did was wrong.”

The members of Sigma Pi became suspicious of Specchio and obtained the bank statement from their Bank of America account.

When it was discovered that Specchio was using the organization’s bank account…