Saratoga County caught in fraudulent basketball scheme
One unfortunate reality about youth travel sports nowadays is they are much more expensive than when I was growing up. After investing money into a travel team parents expect that money to be well spent. Well, many parents in the Saratoga area became incredibly suspicious when the new travel basketball team they paid for did not deliver any uniforms, or play in a single basketball tournament.
That growing suspicion led to the arrest in July of Norbert A. Sygdziak, 44, of Milton. He was arrested for allegedly collecting money from the families for a fictional team, according to the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office. Sygdziak was charged with fourth-degree larceny, first-degree scheme to defraud, second-degree scheme to defraud, and five counts of petit larceny.
The sheriff's office said the crimes took place between February and April, he was released on appearance tickets pending proceedings in the Malta Town Court.
Joe Tocci, of Stillwater, said he and his ex-wife lost $840 signing up their 12 year old son for the Saratoga Raptors program which was started by Sygdziak. According to Tocci, the Raptors had about 40 players on 12 and under and 14 and under teams. The teams practiced for about a month in Saratoga Springs as parents began to suspect something was fishy.
Tocci said there were far more than five families caught in this scam, and they lost anywhere from $500 to $1,000 each, with "about 80%" of the families pressing charges against Sygdziak.
Under two other coaches, the families were able to salvage their season by organizing a team under the name Springs City Hoopers. Tocci said they just finished their season with a championship victory in a tournament in Syracuse.
