A Long Island man has been charged with stealing more than $81,000 from a Hampton Bays veterans organization after allegedly posing for years as a decorated, wounded combat veteran with a Purple Heart he never earned.
David Agtsteribbe, 58, was arrested two days before Veterans Day, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday. Prosecutors say the man’s real military record tells a far different story: he was discharged as a private in 1988 after about a year of service, following a court-martial in which he pleaded guilty to stealing money from a fellow soldier in 1987.
Despite that record, prosecutors allege Agtsteribbe altered his discharge paperwork to make it appear he had served honorably, with an elevated retirement status. That forged documentation, they say, helped him land a job as finance officer at the Hampton Bays American Legion, a post he used to join the organization in 2021 before allegedly siphoning its funds.
Starting in 2022, prosecutors allege Agtsteribbe moved money from the Legion’s accounts into his own personal checking account, using it to cover Amazon orders, bills, a private business membership, streaming subscriptions, travel, clothing and other personal expenses. Investigators put the total theft at $81,798.31.
A pattern going back years
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said the alleged scheme went beyond ordinary theft.
“There is something particularly despicable about fabricating a military record and claiming honors you have never earned. This defendant allegedly took that disgraceful deception even further. He is accused of falsely portraying himself as a war hero, infiltrating an organization for those who actually served this country and then betraying their trust by stealing their money. Our veterans earned their honors through sacrifice and service. This defendant allegedly exploited those sacrifices for his own selfish gain. It is a shameful abuse of trust, and one that we will prosecute.”
Prosecutors say the Legion membership was not an isolated incident. Agtsteribbe had allegedly been applying for memberships in other veterans organizations since 2019, including the Military Order of the Purple Heart, and in some records claimed to be a retired lieutenant colonel rather than the discharged private his actual service record shows.
In 2023 and 2024, he allegedly submitted falsified discharge papers to the Town of Southampton in an attempt to dodge a $50 resident permit fee and secure a handicap parking permit. The elevated retirement status in his forged records may also have helped him obtain free health care and other benefits, prosecutors said.
Charges and bail
Agtsteribbe faces charges of grand larceny in the second degree, criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, two counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, and three counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. If convicted on the top count as a persistent felony offender, he faces 25 years to life in prison.
Citing his criminal history and the current charges, prosecutors requested substantial bail: $100,000 cash, a $200,000 secured bond, or a $1 million partially secured surety bond. He is due back in court on Nov. 13, 2026.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login